Ernesto Díaz-Infante acoustic guitar

Shortly after hearing about Jim Ryan’s death, I recorded solo acoustic guitar pieces as a 'yoik' to him. From the Saami people, a yoik is meant to reflect a person or place. This does not mean that it is a song about the person or place, but that the yoiker is attempting to transfer 'the essence' of that person or place into song - one yoiks their friend, not about their friend. He lives on in our music and will be missed.
I played with the Bay Area improviser in his Left Coast Improv Group in the early 2000’s. He was a ‘Beat’ character, a philosopher, who loved to discuss music and life. He inspired a type of playing that was relaxed; equal parts freedom and listening - dedicated to Jim Ryan, poet, writer, philosopher, and improvising musician who passed on 27 December 2023 [Ernesto Díaz-Infante]