“Guitarist Nate Radley has the one thing that all musicians would kill for: he makes you want to listen.” -Ken Micallef, JazzTimes

“A perceptive young guitarist with an introspective but assertive style” -Nate Chinen, New York Times

“Nate Radley is one of the significant guitarists to enter jazz in the last five years” -Thomas Conrad, Stereophile Magazine

“One of the tastiest and most consistent players on the scene” -David R. Adler, New York City Jazz Record

“Nate Radley eschewed the overindulgence of most jazz guitarists, in pursuit of a soloing style that flowed with thematic movement and intent compositional logic.” -Daniel Lehner, Allaboutjazz

“Radley is a mood architect who’s able to move from states of desolation to anger to repose with relative ease.” -Dan Bilawsky, AllAboutJazz

“Radley plays from his home-base in order to reference outer space.” Ariel Bitran, Stereophile.com 

Nate Radley is guitarist and composer who leads his own group, can be heard with a variety of collaborative projects, and works as a sideman in numerous bands both in the New York area and around the world. 

Nate’s most recent release is “Puzzle People” on Steeplechase Records (2021) and features a trio setting with Adam Nussbaum on drums, and Jay Anderson on bass. The album includes originals and covers of pieces by Roger Miller, Isham Jones, and Victor Young.

In 2019 Nate release a series of through-composed guitar duets entitled “Eight Guitar Duets.” This project explored different styles of contrapuntal and textural composition for two guitars and was recorded and performed with guitarist Ben Monder. The project was self released on Bandcamp, and was accompanied by a video release on YouTube of the recording sessions. The scores and parts for these pieces are available on this site.

Nate’s previous releases are 2014’s “Morphoses” on Fresh Sound/New Talent with Loren Stillman on saxophones, Matt Pavolka on bass, and Ted Poor on drums; 2013’s “Carillon” on Steeplechase with Chris Cheek on saxophone, Matt Clohesy on bass, and Ted Poor drums; and 2012’s “The Big Eyes” on Fresh Sound/New Talent with Loren Stillman, Pete Rende on keyboards, Matt Pavolka, and Ted Poor.

Nate also performs with a variety of collaborators based in New York city. The bands he performed and recorded with include the Loren Stillman Quartet, Alan Ferber nonet, Sean Smith trio, Behn Gillece quartet, Chuck Braman trio, Marc Mommaas’ Landmarc, Kris Davis’ Infrasound, the Jon Gordon group,  Akiko Pavolka’s House of Illusion and the Dave Smith Quintet. Other bandleaders he has performed with include Chris Cheek, Ingrid Jensen, Adam Nussbaum, John O’Gallagher, Shane Endsley, Chris Speed, the Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra, Andy Statman, Darcy James Argue, Cecile Mclorin Salvant, and Andrew Rathbun. Reflecting a recent interest in country music, Nate has also been performing with Country and Western Swing bands in the area, including Jason Loughlin’s String Gliders and Hope Debates and North Forty. 

Nate has recorded for labels such as Fresh Sound/New Talent, Sunnyside, Steeplechase, Artistshare, Pirouette, Clean Feed, New Amsterdam and Tone of a Pitch. He has performed throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe and at jazz festivals such as the North Sea Jazz Festival, the Montreal Jazz Festival, and the Atlanta Jazz Festival.

Nate studied jazz guitar and composition at New England Conservatory in Boston, MA where he received a Master’s in Music. He studied with John Abercrombie, Bob Brookmeyer, Jerry Bergonzi, and George Russell. He also has a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Chicago.

Nate is currently an Associate Professor in the guitar department at Berklee College of Music. In addition Nate has taught clinics at high schools and universities throughout the United States.