Andrew Richards

The August Session was cut live, in one five-hour gathering, at Big Orange Sheep Studio in Brooklyn. It’s an intimate recording, balancing Richards’ tenor vocals with the discreet piano work of Moshe Elmakias. Stacy Dillard joins in on five numbers, adding his saxophone to the mix to compliment Elmakias’ fluid melodic improvisations.

Richards pens melodies that draw on the best aspects of jazz, folk and pop music. “Andalusian Love” opens the record, with Elmakias playing subtle, Baroque-like fills while Richards sings softly, describing the “son of the Moor and the girl of the Jew” dancing in the Spanish moonlight. Richards slips into his lower register to whisper the lyrics on “Ocean In Between.” Elmakias plays the melody on the bass keys, as Richards expresses the heartache he feels for a bygone love.

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The August Session was cut live, in one five-hour gathering, at Big Orange Sheep Studio in Brooklyn. It’s an intimate recording, balancing Richards’ tenor vocals with the discreet piano work of Moshe Elmakias. Stacy Dillard joins in on five numbers, adding his saxophone to the mix to compliment Elmakias’ fluid melodic improvisations.

Richards pens melodies that draw on the best aspects of jazz, folk and pop music. “Andalusian Love” opens the record, with Elmakias playing subtle, Baroque-like fills while Richards sings softly, describing the “son of the Moor and the girl of the Jew” dancing in the Spanish moonlight. Richards slips into his lower register to whisper the lyrics on “Ocean In Between.” Elmakias plays the melody on the bass keys, as Richards expresses the heartache he feels for a bygone love.

Dillard and Elmakias lay down a laid-back samba rhythm for “My Little Suede Shoes,” a Charlie Parker tune with new lyrics by Richards. He invites a partner to join him in a dance across New York’s landscape, slipping into a Louis Armstrong growl for two verses. “Eleanor Rigby” and “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” are arranged as ballads, with Richards adding subtle scats to the end of the lines of the Stones’ tune. “Arthur McBride,” a traditional Irish antiwar song, is sung simply, with Elmakias providing right hand trills here and there. The set closes with “There’s Only Now,” a poignant co-write with Elmakias, that reminds us that every minute of this life is pre- cious. — j. poet (DownBeat Magazine, April 2024)

Burlington native Andrew Richards made the big move to New York City in 2021. The former University of Vermont student hasn't wasted any time turning around a confident, sonically gorgeous self-titled debut LP. A vocalist with a classically smooth tone and subtle, assured delivery, Richards is also an innovative and clever composer.

Backed by drummer Ben Freidkin, bassist SeaJun Kwon and Israeli pianist Moshe Elmakias, Richards presents eight original songs that, while rooted in jazz, show flashes of soul and funk. It's sophisticated, well-crafted music that manages to feel simultaneously like a throwback and utterly modern. The band even throws in a tribute to Richards' home state, covering the classic John Blackburn and Karl Suessdorf tune "Moonlight in Vermont." It's nice to know that even in the concrete jungle of NYC, Richards still has Vermont on his mind. - Chris Farnsworth (Seven Days, February 2023)

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