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Rich Halley
Rich Halley is a saxophonist and composer who has released more than two dozen critically acclaimed recordings. He performs in settings that range from solo to large groups and frequently with the Rich Halley 4 which includes Michael Vlatkovich on trombone, Clyde Reed on bass and Carson Halley on drums. Rich also leads the Outside Music Ensemble, a four horn two percussionist group that performs acoustically in outdoor settings.
For over two decades, Rich was the leader of the Lizard Brothers, a sextet whose performances combined exploration and jazz tradition. He was the leader of Multnomah Rhythm Ensemble, a group that combined new jazz with multi-media.
Rich has performed throughout the US, in Canada and in the Middle East. He has performed with Andrew Hill, Bobby Bradford, Vinny Golia, Tony Malaby, Julius Hemphill, Michael Bisio, Oliver Lake, Obo Addy, Michael Vlatkovich, Rob Blakeslee and Bert Wilson. Rich is a founder of Oregon's Creative Music Guild.
Rich Halley was educated as a field biologist. His lifelong interest in nature and his love of adventure has informed his music and led him on many trips into wilderness regions around the world. He lives in Portland, Oregon.
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Rich Halley 4: Dusk And Dawn
by Alberto Bazzurro
Alla testa del suo collaudatissimo quartetto, il settantasettenne tenorsassofonista dell'Oregon Rich Halley confeziona il suo nuovo album, solido e affidabile come sempre (incisione in quel di Portland nel novembre 2023), per quanto, alla lunga (questo dovrebbe essere il sesto capitolo del gruppo dal 2011, tutti su Pine Eagle, anche se nel caso in oggetto dopo un'attesa di nove anni), certi meccanismi, oliatissimi e del tutto congrui, non possano per forza di cose sorprendere più, il che ci fa dare una ...
Continue ReadingRich Halley 4: Dusk And Dawn
by Glenn Astarita
Rich Halley 4's Dusk and Dawn, is a noteworthy testament to the power of jazz as a narrative medium. The album captures the essence of transitional moments, both in time and sound, weaving a tapestry of intricate melodies and intriguing improvisational sequences. Halley, a veteran of the jazz scene with twenty-six recordings as a leader and collaborations with luminaries like Vinny Golia and Oliver Lake, brings his extensive experience to bear on this project. From the opening track, ...
Continue ReadingRich Halley: Fire Within
by Troy Dostert
The cover and title of Rich Halley's latest, Fire Within, have a menacing edge, alerting us to the incendiary qualities that are always a part of the tenor saxophonist's music. But one of the remarkable things about Halley's output is that it is never one-dimensional; there are abundant nuances and surprises to keep a listener engaged, with plenty of rhythmic fervor and lyricism even amidst the more anarchic moments. And as he is united once again on his third outing ...
Continue ReadingFinding The Fire Within With Rich Halley And More
by Bob Osborne
On this show we feature recent and new releases from Rich Halley, Pat Thomas's Ism, Angel Bat Dawid, John Herberman, Pernille Bévort 3, Joe Santa Maria, Rajna Swaminathan, Rebecca Nash, Ancient Infinity Orchestra, Isaiah Collier, Christoph Gallio Dominic Lash & Mark Sanders, and Blue Moods featuring Art Hirahara, Diego Rivera, Boris Kozlov and Vinnie Sperrazza.Playlist Show Intro 00:00 Rich Halley “Following The Stream" from Fire Within (Pine Eagle Records) 00:56 Ism “Niloo's Dream" from Maua (577 Records) 17:22 ...
Continue ReadingRich Halley: Fire Within
by Mike Jurkovic
The name of free form saxophonist and raconteur Rich Halley may not roll off the tongue or be a secret G7 password, but he sure kicks up a lot of dust. Put him in the same room as piano slaying Matthew Shipp, bassist Michael Bisio, and drummer Newman Taylor Baker and rest assured all hell will break loose. And when all hell breaks loose it sounds hydrogen-charged and animated like Fire Within--a runaround Hail Mary with a post-rock punch and ...
Continue ReadingRich Halley: Boomslang
by Mark Corroto
Jazz has, to some extent, always been about making connections and pointing out interrelations. Ever since Buddy Bolden blew his cornet in New Orleans around the start of the twentieth century, listeners have been playing connect the dots, linking Bolden's innovations to King Oliver and Oliver's to Louis Armstrong, likewise Buck Clayton to Dizzy Gillespie and Kirk Knuffke, and so on. Jazz has both an oral and aural tradition that contextualizes innovation within the traditions but maybe more importantly allows ...
Continue ReadingHalley-Clucas-Reed-Halley: Boomslang
by Dan McClenaghan
Rich Halley has a thing about snakes. Those on the receiving end of a postal delivery from the Portland, Oregon-based saxophonist are likely to find a serpent coiled in the upper right hand corner of the envelope--a stamp featuring scarlet king snake, perhaps. Or maybe some sort of pit viper. And speaking of pit vipers, Halley released Requiem For A Pit Viper (Pine Eagle Records) in 2011. A thing about snakes... Not surprising, since Halley “was ...
Continue ReadingRich Halley's Quartet Goes Long and Strong on "Requiem for a Pit Viper"
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Gapplegate Music Review by Grego Edwards
Tenorist-band- leader-tunesmith Rich Halley turns in one his very best efforts on the new CD Requiem for A Pit Viper (Pine Eagle 003). It's Rich plus trombonist Michael Vlatkovich, bassist Chris Reed and drummer Carson Halley in a long set of originals with lots of room for solos. As is generally the case with Rich's band concept there is a distinct post-Ornettian vibe. The pianoless group generally keeps the time going and freeboppingly rides atop in their own way—calling on ...
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Rich Halley Quartet - Requiem for a Pit Viper (2011)
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Something Else!
Last year we introduced a really good avanteer to this site in Rich Halley, a lively and imaginative saxophonist and composer who would probably be more of a household name if he were in Chicago or New York instead of Portland, Oregon. Or played in a world-renowned venue like the Village Vanguard instead of Potter Valley, California. But Halley lives where he wants to live and plays what he wants to play, which is out jazz. And thankfully so, because ...
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Children of the Blue Supermarket: Dan Raphael's Poetry Melds with Rich Halley's Jazz
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Gapplegate Music Review by Grego Edwards
Poetry-Jazz collaborations can vary wildly from the “Why?" to the “Wow!" The poetry of course should be worth hearing. But equally, the recitation should have a dynamism of pitch-speech performance excitement. Then of course the jazz needs to relate to all that and in the end be jazz that's worth hearing alongside the poetic meanings evoked. Children of the Blue Supermarket (Pine Eagle 002) qualifies on each of those levels. The CD was recorded during two live appearances in 2008 ...
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Rich Halley Quartet - Live at the Penofin Jazz Festival (2010)
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Something Else!
By Pico Since the fifties, many a jazz musician have made records of their live gigs at festivals. Some of the largest and most enduring ones have been a favorite location for cutting a record: Newport, Montreaux, Monterrey, North Sea and so on. And then there's the Penofin Jazz Festival in Potter Valley, California. Nestled in a dell surrounded by rugged, mountainous terrain about 120 miles north of San Francisco, the live performances are held in a large barn. This ...
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"As we enter the second decade of the 21st Century, Rich Halley has flourished into one of the world's very finest jazz tenor saxophonists... His cavernous tenor sound and impassioned soloing long ago stepped outside of these, and numerous other primal influences and can only be compared, as a point of reference, to that of players such as Don Byas, David S. Ware, David Murray, Coleman Hawkins, and George Adams." -Dave Wayne, jazzreview.com "Freewheeling and satisfying." -Eric Fine, DownBeat "No saxophonist out there is playing with more fire, muscle, sheer guts or wild abandon than Halley
Photos
Music
Spherical Aberration
From: Dusk And DawnBy Rich Halley
Spuds
From: Back From BeyondBy Rich Halley
Requiem for a Pit Viper
From: Requiem For A Pit ViperBy Rich Halley
Rich Halley
Instrument: Saxophone, tenor
Publicist: Braithwaite & Katz Communications
