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Jazz Articles about Mike Richmond
Charles Chen: Building Characters
by Jack Bowers
San Francisco-based pianist and educator Charles Chen returns with Building Characters, his second recording in as many years, and as on his debut album, Charles, Play! (Cellar Music, 2024), he is backed by an all-star supporting cast that includes a front line of trumpeter Randy Brecker and saxophonists Bob Sheppard and Lawrence Feldman. They bolster a sharp and powerful rhythm section consisting of bassist Mike Richmond and drummer Adam Nussbaum. Missing are the members of Chen's quartet ...
Continue ReadingAtlantico: A Stovepipe Hat Made From Silk
by Mark Sullivan
This album by the European/American quartet Atlantico co-led by French jazz pianist Sebastien Paindestre and U.S. reed and woodwind player Dave Schroeder completes the band's planned triptych, following New Easter Island (La Fabrica'son, 2019). For this sequel they are joined by acoustic bassist Mike Richmond (replacing Martin Wind) and drummer John Hadfield (replacing Billy Drummond). Tenor saxophonist Billy Drewes (who had played on one track on the last outing) guests on four tracks, expanding the group to a quintet.
Continue ReadingMarty Elkins: 'Tis Autumn
by C. Michael Bailey
There exists a group of jazz musicians dedicated to pre-bebop jazz who have traditionally populated the catalogs of the Nagel-Heyer and Arbors record labels. These musicians include Herb Pomeroy, Max Kaminsky, Randy Sandke, Harry Allen, and Dave McKenna. Central to this group is vocalist Marty Elkins who, while in college, discovered the recordings of Ella Fitzgerald, Ellis Larkins, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday's Lady in Satin (Columbia, 1959), falling in love with the period and its repertoire. Elkins moved from ...
Continue ReadingMarty Elkins & Mike Richmond: 'Tis Autumn
by Dan Bilawsky
Vocals, bass and Golden Age jazz standards. That's all that's here and it's all that's needed. Working their way through ten classics penned between 1926 and 1947, vocalist Marty Elkins and bassist Mike Richmond get right to the heart of jazz history. Their music has an easy draw to it, but there's absolutely no drama behind that magnetism--no too-clever-by-half rewrites, outside antics or fancying of futurism in interpretation(s). Grounded with a sense of respect for the material, this duo delights ...
Continue ReadingJohn Clark: I Will
by Glenn Astarita
French hornist John Clark along with his venerable band-mates go straight to the heart with their expressive and altogether grand rendition of Coltrane’s hypnotically melodic, “India”. Bright, rousing horn charts, and fluent phrasing by Clark get things off to a rather rapid and somewhat boisterous start! Here, the pre-eminent french hornist and his fine cast including, drummer Bruce Ditmas, saxophonists Alex Foster, Chris Hunter and others assist Clark in compiling this outstanding production consisting of jazz standards and Clark originals. ...
Continue ReadingJohn Clark: I Will
by Joel Roberts
The French horn is not the first instrument that comes to mind when one thinks of jazz. In modern jazz history, there have been only a handful of musicians -- David Amram, Julius Watkins, Gunther Schuller -- who have achieved any acclaim on the instrument. John Clark is another. A veteran of the progressive big bands of Gil Evans, Carla Bley, and McCoy Tyner, and a current member of the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, Clark is probably the most in-demand ...
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