Ryan Marquez

Ryan Marquez is a pianist, composer, producer, arranger, bandleader, teaching artist, and sonic storyteller whose work bridges the musical traditions of Kansas City and St. Louis. Rooted in jazz, blues, gospel, soul, hip-hop, and contemporary production, his creative practice explores memory, identity, community, spirituality, social history, and the power of sound to connect people across generations.

Raised in Kansas City, Marquez began performing at an early age through the Mayfield Towns Memorial Blues Jams. While still a child, he appeared at the Kansas City Blues and Jazz Festival and performed in two Kansas City Chiefs halftime shows at Arrowhead Stadium. He later moved to St. Louis to study jazz piano at Webster University, developing a multidisciplinary career encompassing live performance, recording, composition, production, arts education, mentorship, and community-centered collaboration.

In 2025, Marquez performed with the Kansas City Symphony as part of Morgan Freeman’s Symphonic Blues Experience, alongside musicians associated with the Ground Zero Blues Club. His recent production credits include work with Wiz Khalifa and Louis King, and in '25 he performed on Unwrapped Vol 9 with the House of Vibe All Stars featuring a collaboration with internationally acclaimed pianist Jesus Molina.

Marquez’s newest Ryan Marquez Trio recording, Magic Moments (2026), features acclaimed vocalist, bassist, and bandleader Janet Evra performing his original jazz arrangements of the music of Burt Bacharach. The album also features nine-time GRAMMY Award winner and NEA Jazz Master Randy Brecker.

His current projects also reflect a longstanding commitment to socially engaged and multidisciplinary art. Through his membership in the Solid Sound Collective and his partnership with the Action Art Collaborative, Marquez contributed original music and underscoring to Action, a theatrical work examining the unmaking of St. Louis’s Veiled Prophet tradition. That collaboration led to his work with legendary civil rights activist Percy Green, for whom Marquez was commissioned to compose two original songs in '24.

Building upon that work, Marquez received support through a Regional Arts Commission grant to develop The Sound of Action, an upcoming full-length album inspired by activism, civic memory, resistance, and the continuing struggle for social change. His first musical composed, Eleventh Hour Radio (2026), further extends his work with the Action Art Collaborative and Solid Sound Collective, using music and collaborative storytelling to engage with history, community, and the urgency of the present moment.

On August 11, 2026, Marquez will release Legend of RAM, the third installment in his trilogy of deeply personal “heart records.” The project follows I AM RAM from 2020 and LIFE OF RAM from 2022, completing a body of work that documents his emotional, spiritual, and artistic evolution through original songwriting and production.

In 2026, Marquez was selected as an artist-in-residence for Kansas City’s Art in the Loop program, presenting work inspired by home, ancestry, memory, and the cultural connections between Kansas City and St. Louis. He is also a former Kranzberg Arts Foundation artist-in-residence and a recipient of funding from the Regional Arts Commission.

Beyond the stage and studio, Marquez is deeply invested in arts leadership, education, and mentorship. He serves on the board of the Gospel Music Institute, facilitates the Artists INC professional-development workshop for Mid-America Arts Alliance, and works as a facilitator for Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts through its Upstart program. Throughout his career, he has provided music education and mentorship through organizations including HEAL Center for the Arts and Jazz St. Louis.

His broader performance and recording credits include collaborations with Terence Blanchard, Fred Wesley, Kirk Whalum, Chance the Rapper, Nelly, Ruthie Foster, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Randy Brecker, and other internationally recognized artists. His music has received more than 20 television and media placements across MTV, VH1, BET, ESPN, The CW, E!, FOX, and Nickelodeon.

Marquez also performed on Dylan Triplett’s Who Is He?, winner of the 2023 Blues Music Award for Best Emerging Artist Album. His original composition “Playground” was named the number-one song of 2022 by Kansas City radio station 90.9 The Bridge.

A member of the Recording Academy and an ASCAP songwriter and publisher, Marquez has also served as a Missouri Arts Council Touring Performer. Whether performing at the piano, creating in the studio, composing for theatrical and multidisciplinary projects, mentoring emerging artists, or facilitating community-centered programs, his work reflects a lifelong commitment to musical excellence, cultural connection, creative innovation, and meaningful storytelling.