John Richmond

Richmond is the real thing. I've caught him several times at The Turning Point Cafe and he's taken care of business on the bandstand with the likes of Dave Schnitter, Jerry Weldon, Bobby Porcelli, and Walt Weiskopf. The Cecil's gig [April 17-18 09] is of special interest because Richmond has worked a couple of times with [Bob]DeVos and has a good rapport with the guitarist and Steve Johns.

John Richmond
The Turning Point Cafe
Piermont, NY
July 14, 2008

A few months ago I started reviewing sets performed at The Turning Point Cafe, a small, intimate club which features jazz on Monday nights. The common denominator of the shows is tenor and soprano saxophonist John Richmond, who also serves as the series curator. Although I kept coming back to the club ostensibly to hear veteran saxophonists like Bobby Porcelli and David Schnitter interact with first rate rhythm sections, it was Richmond's solos that always stayed in my mind.

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Richmond is the real thing. I've caught him several times at The Turning Point Cafe and he's taken care of business on the bandstand with the likes of Dave Schnitter, Jerry Weldon, Bobby Porcelli, and Walt Weiskopf. The Cecil's gig [April 17-18 09] is of special interest because Richmond has worked a couple of times with [Bob]DeVos and has a good rapport with the guitarist and Steve Johns.

John Richmond
The Turning Point Cafe
Piermont, NY
July 14, 2008

A few months ago I started reviewing sets performed at The Turning Point Cafe, a small, intimate club which features jazz on Monday nights. The common denominator of the shows is tenor and soprano saxophonist John Richmond, who also serves as the series curator. Although I kept coming back to the club ostensibly to hear veteran saxophonists like Bobby Porcelli and David Schnitter interact with first rate rhythm sections, it was Richmond's solos that always stayed in my mind.

Accompanied by a trio of longtime associates and minus another front line instrument, Richmond's July 14th gig proved to be an ideal means of gaining a fuller appreciation of his talents. During a seventy-five minute, seven selection set, a number of themes emerged. Instead of reaching for facile, emotionally charged climaxes, Richmond primarily invested in the solos as a whole. There was power in the movement and juxtaposition of small, telling gestures. Digressions were brief and meaningful. Only on reflection I realized what a large amount of information Richmond included in every improvisation. It was rewarding to concentrate on the details—things like his moving from a hard, thickset tone to a thinner more fragile sound in just a couple of bars; or, briefly rushing ahead of the beat and then inserting a pregnant pause.

Richmond's full-bodied sound became even more plush during the course of an “In Your Own Sweet Way” solo. He slowly and patiently grained momentum, hitting the tenor's upper register before sounding some foghorn tones. A soprano feature on Frank Foster's “Simone” gleefully danced and included hard swinging tangents and brief jumbled interludes. Never straying too far from the melody and a ballad feel, he displayed a veritable treasure trove of embellishments of Tadd Damenon's “Soultrane.” Richmond's wickedly propulsive phrases animated the standard “I'll Remember April.” At one point he spit out several seemingly unconnected notes and then rapidly shaped them into a coherent form.

By David A. Orthmann, All About Jazz
Bobby Porcelli Quintet/ [featuring John Richmond]
The Turning Point Cafe
Piermont, New York
April 14, 2008

Even in a region which boasts an abundance of accomplished tenors, Richmond's reemergence after several years away from the New York City scene is a stroke of good fortune. Throughout the set there was a fine contrast between his muscular tone and his unforced way of swinging and sustaining momentum. Like Porcelli, Richmond avoided tangents and anything resembling a cliche. His solo on “Along Came Betty” melded brief cries, stark blues locutions, and hard-charging runs, while staying in close contact with the rhythm section. The saxophonist briefly took some of the edge off his tone during the Latin section of Horace Silver's “Nica's Dream,” resuming with the heartier sound as he pounced on the tune's straight up swing bridge.

By David A. Orthmann, All About Jazz
David Schnitter/ [featuring John Richmond]
The Turning Point Cafe
Piermont, New York
June 2, 2008

Tenor and soprano saxophonist John Richmond had no difficulty distinguishing himself in such fast company. Employing a full yet supple tone which made the horn speak, he was the band's most emotionally direct soloist. Even when notes started to spill from the horn during “Tenor Madness,” Richmond communicated with the audience and kept in touch with the rhythm section's every change in direction. He started off “Along Came Betty” by echoing the last four notes of [John] Hart's solo. Bright singing melodies yielded to low earthy tones, and he resolved extended lines with ease.

"Saxophonist John Richmond was one of the most promising young voices on his instrument when he emerged in the eighties playing with the bands of bassist Ray Drummond and drummer Alvin Queen. In his own groups featuring the likes of Kenny Kirkland, Mulgrew Miller and Jeff "Tain" Watts the horn man also revealed a burgeoning ability as a leader and composer. Now with his return to the New York scene after a hiatus of more than a decade Richmond seems poised to deliver on the promise of his early days." —Russ Musto, All About Jazz

"...solid...contemporary...individual...quite varied..." —Owen Cordle, JazzTimes

"...a fine tenor player...fluid... a genuine contender...improvisations are swinging, eloquent" —Lee Jeske, Cash Box, Downbeat

"...plays with harmonic intelligence..." —George Coleman

"...tenor sound is deep and dark...solos well crafted..." —Armen Donelian, pianist, educator, from Jazz World review

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