Ryan Dragon

Pronouns: The Herb Alpert School of Music

Faculty, Jazz Trombone

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Ryan Dragon Headshot
Email address: rdragon@calarts.edu
Phone number: 661-253-7816
Office address:
B322
California Institute of the Arts
24700 McBean Parkway
Valencia, California 91355
Degrees:
  • Berklee School of Music

Ryan Dragon is a trombonist and a fixture on the LA jazz and studio scenes and avant-garde community.  After spending a number of years performing on the east coast where he attended the Berklee school of music and performed with Cirque du Soleil, Ryan moved to Los Angeles where he quickly became one of the most highly sought after young trombonists in the area. 

Known for his virtuosity and distinctive approach to improvisation, Ryan has contributed his playing live and on recordings with Herbie Hancock, Quincy Jones, The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, John Legend, Usher, Gwen Stefani, Imagine Dragons and Panic at the Disco. Film score credits include soundtracks for Crazy Rich Asians, Ice Age 5, Money Monster. His playing and soloing can be heard on multiple Grammy nominated albums with Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band and John Beasley’s MONK’estra.

In 2016, Ryan released his second album, Kid Songs, on Orenda records.  Ryan performs actively with his Kid Songs quartet and is the co-leader of the extreme trombone musical comedy duo Dragon/Sellers.

Ryan hails from Orange County, California where his original artistic influences were his mother and father (a dancer and trombonist respectively). He currently resides in East Los Angeles with his wife, Noelle, a fabulous musician and woodwind doubler.