Jazz Articles about Richard Simon

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Betty Bryant: Nothin' Better To Do...

by Pierre Giroux
January 24, 2026

Betty Bryant's nothin' better to do.. radiates the natural confidence of a seasoned club date, where the music speaks for itself. A pianist, singer, and composer whose artistry has been shaped by decades of experience rather than trends (at the impressive age of 96), Bryant brings a storyteller's instinct and a deep respect for melody to this session. Producer Robert Kyle, himself a seasoned saxophonist and flautist, places her in a setting that is both intimate and expansive, featuring a ...

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Betty Bryant: Lotta Livin'

by Jack Bowers
February 8, 2024

First, double-check to make sure there aren't any misprints. No, it's an honest-to-goodness fact that Betty Bryant--who sings, plays piano, wrote four of the nine numbers and arranged half a dozen on her fourteenth album--really was almost ninety-four years old when Lotta Livin' was recorded in 2023. Bryant's rough and edgy voice is remarkably strong and steady, while her piano playing simply defies any generational labels. As a vocalist, no note seems out of her reach, and ...

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Richard Simon: Pacific Standard Time

by Jack Bowers
October 1, 2002

If one harbors any doubt that there is life after seventy (or even eighty!) — and an abundance of swinging Jazz to be produced by those who’ve reached those plateaus — he or she need only listen attentively to bassist Richard Simon’s Pacific Standard Time to erase any such misgivings. While Simon himself is a (relatively) young whippersnapper, his guests — guitarist Al Viola and reedman Sam Most — are eighty–three and seventy–one, respectively, and weren’t much younger when PST ...

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Richard Simon: Covering the Basses

by AAJ Staff
March 1, 1999

Here’s a concept album with a fun concept: a melodic bassist playing the compositions of other bassists. Richard Simon has surrounded himself with top West Coast talent (Buddy Collette, Al Viola, Art Hillery) and made a session that shows the group as well as his technique.

It’s a broad spotlight, and everybody gets to shine. Simon’s “Melatonin” uses the chords on “In a Mellow Tone”, and is a relaxed swinger of the old school. Collette struts his confident sax through ...

like 112

Richard Simon: Covering the Basses

by Jack Bowers
July 1, 1998

On the second release for his own UFO-Bass label, bassist Richard Simon pays tribute to a number of other well-known timekeepers with a laid-back session whose aura is one of a late-night club date in which everyone is simply having a grand time grooving on the music they love and appreciate. After opening with a pair of disarming originals by Simon ("Melatonin," which brings Duke's “In a Mellow Tone" up to date, and “Theme from Poultry-geist"), the group essays tunes ...