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Richie Cole: Blue Collar Bebopper
by Rob Rosenblum
Jazz alto saxophonist Richie Cole wants to reach out to you, whether you are the mayor of a highly popular tourist city or just a guy dropping over for a couple of beers. “I play for people," says Cole. “People are all the same. If they understand or want to understand jazz, I welcome them." Recently, Richie Cole spent a few days in Charleston, South Carolina, winning over hundreds of new friends, with his friendly banter, ...
Continue ReadingRichie Cole: Have Yourself An Alto Madness Christmas
by Rob Rosenblum
Christmas music is a sort of sub genre of American pop, mostly maudlin and uninspiring in its lyrics, harmony and melody. Yet, it is a perennial magnet for jazz artists. On the other end of the spectrum is Richie Cole, a brash altoist and sort of a merry prankster bebop artist. Fans and critics alike have delighted in his ability to take the complex structures of the music of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie and mold them into ...
Continue ReadingRichie Cole: Have Yourself an Alto Madness Christmas
by Jack Bowers
Yes, there are jazz musicians who earn more bread than Richie Cole, and others who rank higher in the popularity contests that double as polls. There aren't many, however, who have more fun making music than the well-traveled alto saxophonist who, late in life, has found a place to call home in Pittsburgh, PA. On Cole's superb new seasonal album, Have Yourself an Alto Madness Christmas, the warmth and happiness fairly burst from the leader's horn on ...
Continue ReadingRichie Cole: Richie Cole Plays Ballads & Love Songs
by Jim Trageser
Alto saxophonist Richie Cole has made quite the career with his brand of hard bop, generally coming at melody almost as an unintended consequence of his heavy focus on improvisational interpretation. On his latest release--itself an unintended consequence of a recording date arriving without half the scheduled musicians able to attend--Cole taps into his inner Johnny Hodges. Caressing, gentle, lush, it is a side of Cole that's never been explored over a full album before. The ...
Continue ReadingJim Holman: Explosion!
by AAJ Italy Staff
Al suo esordio discografico, il pianista Jim Holman si racconta attraverso gli stretti e veloci flussi estemporanei dell'hard bop. L'album, registrato in due sessioni, si avvale della partecipazione separata di due sassofonisti, Richie Cole e Frank Catalano, e di un scambio nella sezione ritmica tra Rusty Jones e Rick Shandling alla batteria al fianco del contrabbassista Brian Sandstrom.La scaletta racchiude rivisitazioni di brani celebri, nella maggior parte del periodo tra gli anni '50 e '60, ma troviamo anche ...
Continue ReadingJim Holman: Explosion!
by Hrayr Attarian
Up-and-coming Chicago pianist Jim Holman channels all his musical influences into his debut recording without losing his own personal identity. The resulting Explosion! is an intriguing album that treads the border between hard bop and bolder styles. Recorded in two sessions, the disc features Holman in the company of more established musicians like saxophonists Frank Catalano and Richie Cole. Holman deftly leads both quartets and is not overshadowed by his more experienced band mates on almost all ...
Continue ReadingRichie Cole: The Man With the Horn
by Ken Dryden
Richie Cole mislaid the tapes to this 1981 session long ago, finally running across them in his basement while looking for something else a quarter-century later. His working band at the time included Philippine pianist Bobby Enriquez (whom the alto saxophonist gave the nickname “The Wildman" for his frenetic playing upon hearing him for the first time in a Hawaiian hotel lobby), guitarist Bruce Forman, bassist Marshall Hawkins and drummer Scott Morris. This session actually predates his Alive! at the ...
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