Tyshawn Sorey

New Jersey-born jazz drummer, pianist, composer, and educator Tyshawn Sorey is an expressive performer with an ear for modern creative acoustic jazz and expansive avant-garde classical works. Born in 1980 in Newark, Sorey holds an undergraduate degree from William Paterson University and a Master of Arts in composition from Wesleyan University. He has studied composition on the doctoral level at Columbia University and has taught at the School for Improvisational Music, the New School, and Wesleyan University.

Along with leading his own projects, Sorey has been a regular member of trumpeter Dave Douglas' Nomad ensemble as well as saxophonist Steve Coleman's Five Elements band. He has also racked up extensive performance experience with such artists as Wadada Leo Smith, Misha Mengelberg, Vijay Iyer, Steve Lehman, Myra Melford, and Anthony Braxton, among others.

As a solo artist, Sorey debuted in 2007 with That/Not, followed by Koan in 2009. He also collaborated on several trio albums with pianist Kris Davis and saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock, including 2010's Paradoxical Frog. He has released several classical-leaning albums albums on Pi Recordings, including 2011's Oblique - I and 2014's Alloy. In 2015 he was awarded the Doris Duke Impact Award from the Doris Duke Foundation Performing Arts Awards. The following year he released his fifth album, The Inner Spectrum of Variables, which showcased his composition for piano trio and string trio.