George Colligan

George Colligan has earned an international reputation as a multi-instrumentalist (drums, trumpet, organ, keyboards), composer, accompanist, teacher and bandleader, as well as a widely read jazz blogger. Winner of the 2015 DownBeat Critics Poll (Keyboard), he has maintained a long-standing musical association with jazz legend Jack DeJohnette, including extensive U.S. touring with An Evening with Jack DeJohnette and Savion Glover. More recently, Colligan toured the U.S. and Canada as a leader with his trio featuring Buster Williams and Lenny White.

With more than 130 recordings to his credit as a sideman, Colligan has collaborated with an extraordinary range of jazz artists, including John Scofield, Cassandra Wilson, Don Byron, Ravi Coltrane, Chris Botti and many others. His most recent release, King’s Dream (PJCE Records, 2022), is his 36th album as a bandleader and features faculty and alumni from Portland State University.

After fifteen years in New York City, Colligan now resides in Portland, Oregon, where he serves as Full Professor at Portland State University. His work has been recognized with multiple grants, including awards from the Regional Arts and Culture Council, South Arts Jazz Road and PSU Faculty Development. He has also received the PSU College of the Arts Dean’s Council Award for Research, Scholarship and Creativity (2020) and the Researcher of the Year Award from the PSU College of the Arts (2021).

Throughout his career, George Colligan has toured, recorded and performed as a sideman with an exceptional list of jazz luminaries, among them Lonnie Plaxico, Gary Bartz, Benny Golson, Miguel Zenón, Tom Harrell, Steve Coleman, Eddie Henderson, Jane Monheit, Michael Brecker, Nicholas Payton, Christian McBride, Mingus Big Band, Lee Konitz, Randy Brecker and Stefon Harris, among many others.

Critical response to Colligan’s work has been consistently strong. All About Jazz has described him as “an equally deserving torch-carrier of the piano trio tradition,” while Jazz Times has praised his technique and improvisational mastery, noting performances that have inspired standing ovations and affirming his place among the most accomplished creative artists of his generation.