Jazz Articles about Richie Cole

Jorge Garcia: Dedicated to You

by Jack Bowers
February 26, 2022

Gigi Gryce's turbo-charged “Minority," which opens Cuban-born guitarist Jorge Garcia's Dedicated to You, serves as a reminder of how much talent the world lost when alto saxophonist Richie Cole died in May 2020. And if that weren't enough to persuade any doubters, the vibrant “This One's for Richie" (based, appropriately, on the standard “There Will Never Be Another You") readily affirms that opinion. While, alas, those are the only tracks on which Cole performs, they alone make the album well ...

Jazz Musicians Up Against A Virus

by Rob Rosenblum
June 17, 2020

In the last year or so Good Times became the first jazz club in years to operate in Savannah, Forte Jazz Lounge sprouted up in Charleston and Middle C arrived in Charlotte. The Charleston Jazz Orchestra became a hub renamed to Charleston Jazz, providing both big band and small group concerts with unprecedented success. And, of course, the Spoleto festival showcased some of the most experimental and adventurous jazz concerts every Spring. Then came the Corona virus and all our ...

Remembering Richie Cole

by Leo Sidran
May 18, 2020

Landing in Pittsburgh and Loving It Madly

by Nicholas F. Mondello
October 8, 2019

Now that his early mentor, Phil Woods as left the room, Richie Cole is arguably the most genuine acolyte of classic alto Bop tradition on the jazz scene today. With four albums released over the last four years, Cole is certainly letting it all fly. Always a player of terrific technical skills, Cole's work delivers consistent swing and a flair for the serendipitous. Stepping back a step and up to date, two fine albums are explored. Richie Cole ...

Richie Cole: Cannonball

by Nicholas F. Mondello
July 5, 2019

With Cannonball, Richie Cole and his crew deliver fourteen selections, each of which is associated with the album's namesake, Julian Cannonball Adderley. Cole has admired Adderley since their meeting when Cole was a student at Berklee School of Music. The album is a terrific salute and it once more confirms Cole as a leading flamekeeper of the straight-ahead tradition of bop alto sax. Across the session, Cole is animated and energized and delivers his tributes with a ...

Richie Cole: Cannonball

by Rob Rosenblum
February 19, 2019

Richie Cole and Julian “Cannonball" Adderley. It's as natural as soap and water. In an interview on this site, Cole proclaimed that the famed jazz musician was his favorite altoist. Like Adderley, Cole can cover a wide range of music--from the hardest of hard bop to commercial ditties. And also like Adderley, for Cole the audience comes first. The two Charlie Parker influenced altoists never recorded together, although Cole did get to know Adderley casually. Meeting him and ...

Richie Cole: Latin Lover

by Rob Rosenblum
November 18, 2017

Last year alto saxophonist/arranger Richie Cole released an album called the Many Minds of Richie Cole. Latin Lover could easily have carried the same title. There are indeed many minds in Cole's head-- often seemingly incompatible with each other. Several of them are in this CD. Cole was grabbed out of Berklee School of Music by Buddy Rich, who needed a replacement for Art Pepper in his big band in 1969 and after being featured with Rich and ...