OA2 Records Artist Rich Pellegrin

Through it all, Pellegrin does as the great pianists do...diving forward to take solos that are by turns florid and cracked, balletic and modern
Downbeat Magazine

Rich Pellegrin began playing piano at the age of five, but spent his teenage years preoccupied with drums and percussion. His playing is noted for its intensity, conviction, directness of expression, and percussive yet sonorous tone quality.

As a pianist, composer, and bandleader, he has released five albums on Origin's OA2 label. His 2019 record Down was reviewed in DownBeat Magazine, which described "moments of absolute bliss" and wrote, "Pellegrin does as the great pianists do, supplying encouragement and graceful touches in the background, before diving forward to take solos that are by turns florid and cracked, balletic and modern." He is currently working on a multi-volume solo project.

Pellegrin has written extensively on Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Brad Mehldau, Robert Glasper, and Bill Evans. His research has been presented at conferences around the world and featured on the NPR segment The Academic Minute. His writings appear in numerous books and journals and he recently served as Guest Editor of a special issue of Jazz Perspectives devoted to John Coltrane.

Pellegrin is currently a faculty member in the University of Florida Department of Composition, Theory, and Technology, and is an affiliate faculty member of the Center for Arts, Migration, and Entrepreneurship. He lives in Seattle when not teaching in Gainesville.