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Richard Kalman

Since 2001, I have been involved in jazz performance--in jazz and gospel chorus's, jazz combos, vocal ensembles, and big band jazz.

About Me

I led a vocal jazz harmony group that performed in the San Francisco Bay Area in restaurants and other venues from 2001 to 2017. I have been co-leading the Albany Jazz Big Band from 2008 to the present. I have a BA in Jazz Studies from CSU Sonoma and have studied vocals with jazz recording artists Madeline Eastman, Mark Murphy, Faye Carol, Kitty Margolis, Sheila Jordan, and jazz piano with Mark Levine. I am a former member of the Oakland Jazz Choir and the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir.

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My Jazz Story

Jazz records were played at home in my youth, and we attended a few jazz concerts. As an adult, I took up folk guitar and then piano and played through the entire Beatles song book. I longed to improvise to jazz standards like the jazz greats and so seriously studied jazz, earning a BA in Jazz Studies. Thereafter, I began a career teaching and performing vocal jazz and formed a vocal ensemble, and not long ago, a big band jazz ensemble.

My House Concert Story

I've attended several jazz house concerts, as well as shows in nightclubs, festivals, street fairs, and so on. The music is always out front and alive, and exciting. Comingling with the musicians after the show is always a delight at gatherings.