Background
Growing up in Oneonta – a small central NY college town – Wyatt was lucky enough to be surrounded by musicians of various backgrounds who exposed him to music at a young age. By the time he was a teenager, Wyatt was teaching private guitar lessons and playing in bars, restaurants, theaters, farms, churches, and cafes throughout the region.
Wyatt began his college career at SUNY Oneonta, where he continued to develop his abilities as a multi-genre sideman. Within only a few weeks of his freshman year at college, Wyatt found himself gravitating towards the college’s Jazz musicians (Bill Farrish, Rich Mollin, Dr. Arthur Falbush) and decided to pursue Jazz full-time. Soon Wyatt transferred to SUNY Purchase, where he eventually graduated earning his B.M. in Jazz Studies. While at Purchase, he was fortunate to study closely with esteemed musicians such as Jon Faddis, Vic Juris, Paul Meyers, Ted Piltzecker, and Kenny Washington. Wyatt had the honor of performing with the Purchase Latin-Jazz Orchestra at the Birdland Jazz Club in Manhattan, as well as Technos College’s Fall Festival in Tokyo Japan as sole accompanist to Lucy Wijnands.
Outside of school, Wyatt kept busy performing around the NYC metropolitan area, Connecticut, and upstate with various artists. During this time he performed at venues including Cleopatra’s Needle, Rockwood Music Hall, and The Bitter End.
Career
Relocating back to Oneonta NY in 2020, Wyatt has continued to establish himself as an in-demand sideman and bandleader. He maintains a busy performance schedule, appearing at a variety of venues throughout Central NY, the Catskills, NY state Capital Region, and Northeast. He was performed and collaborated with venerated regional and national artists including Keith Pray, Joe Barna, Kimberly Hawkey, Eric Finland, Evan Jagels, Michael Benedict, Lucy Wijnands and more.
In 2022 he co-founded the band Killdeer Trio with bassist Evan Jagels and drummer Sebastian Green. The Trio plays all original music -- including many of Wyatt’s compositions – and released its debut self-titled album in May of 2023. In February 2024, the group opened for the Joel Frahm Trio at the Troy Winter Jazz Festival at Alias Coffee in Troy NY.
When he isn’t gigging with Killdeer Trio or backing other artists, Wyatt performs often as a solo guitarist, duo, and with his Standards Trio. The Standards Trio and duo have been staffed by musicians such as Matt Neidbalski, Joe Barna, Rich Syracuse, Evan Jagels, Brad Monkell, Tarik Shah, Lou Smaldone, and Jeff Siegel. The Trio has performed at venues including Proctors Theater in Schenectady, Lark St. Tavern in Albany, The Otesaga Hotel in Cooperstown, and The B-Side Ballroom in Oneonta.
Wyatt is currently an Artist in Residence and Adjunct Professor at Hartwick College in Oneonta. Since 2020, he has worked with liberal arts and music students alike in private lessons, ensembles, and classroom settings teaching jazz, popular music, and aural skills.
Recent Work
Wyatt released his debut solo guitar album “Solo ‘24” on April 19th, 2024 through Matt Niedbalski’s label Signal Path Records. The album features covers of jazz standards and pop tunes, ranging from Duke Ellington, Ornette Coleman, and Big Thief. The album features all first takes recorded live in Oneonta NY at the historic Wilber Mansion in the heart of the small city.
In April of 2024, Wyatt Ambrose helped curate and run the first annual “Hartwick Jazz Day” featuring trumpeter Ray Vega at Hartwick College with his colleagues Evan Jagels and Gregg Norris. Offerings of the festival included individual and group masterclasses open to both Hartwick students and community members. The festival was concluded with a concert by Ray Vega accompanied by Wyatt, Evan Jagels, and drummer Ryan Hamme.
In the summer of 2023, Wyatt created his youth focused improvisation workshop series the Young Improvisers Collective. The five-week workshop series brought together area musicians ages 13-18 to learn improvisation as a means of collective music making across a variety of genres. The group of students performed a concert weaving together works by Herbie Hancock, Cream, Pink Floyd, and John Coltrane.