Red Richards

Charles Coleridge "Red" Richards (born October 19, 1912 in New York City , † March 12, 1998 in Scarsdale , NY ) was an American jazz pianist . According to Digby Fairweather , he was "one of the best pianists in the classical style".

Live and act

Richards received classical piano training from the age of ten; at sixteen he focused on jazz after listening to Fats Waller , James P. Johnson and Willie The Lion Smith at parties. From 1937 he appeared with his own sextet in Fallsburg , to be recorded for the first time in 1938. Between 1942 and 1944 he did his military service; he then played with Tab Smith in the Savoy Ballroom until 1949 . He then worked with Bob Wilber (1950–51), with Sidney Bechet (1951) and with Jimmy McPartland . He also went to the studio with Pee Wee Russell ( The Individualism of Pee Wee Russell , 1952). In 1953 he toured with the band of Mezz Mezzrow and Buck Clayton and Russell Moore through France and Italy, where he accompanied Frank Sinatra during this time . In the following years he played repeatedly with Muggsy Spanier , but also with Fletcher Henderson (1957/58). He then performed as a solo pianist in Columbus (Ohio) and then worked with Wild Bill Davison (1958/59, 1962).

In 1960 he founded the all-star band Saints & Sinners (with Herman Autrey and Rudy Powell ) with Vic Dickenson , which he successfully passed on from 1964 with Herbie Hall until 1970. In 1971 he became a member of the band of drummer Chuck Slate, with whom he also recorded ( Bix 'N All that Jazz ). In the next few years he played with his own trio, with Eddie Condon (1975-77), with the Savoy Sultans of Panama Francis , with whom he toured worldwide from 1979 until well into the 1980s. He also appeared occasionally with The World's Greatest Jazz Band . He is also involved in recordings by Buster Bailey , Rex Stewart , Bill Coleman (1980), Milt Hinton and Marian McPartland .

Discography

• It's a Wonderful World (Black & Blue Records, 1980)
• Lullaby in Rhythm ( Sackville , 1985)
• Dreamy (Sackville, 1991)
• My Romance ( Jazz Point , 1993)
• Swing Time (Jazz Point, 1993)
• Groove Move (Jazz Point, 1994)
• Echoes of Spring (Sackville, 1998)

Lexigraphic entries

• Carlo Bohländer , Karl Heinz Holler, Christian Pfarr: Reclam's Jazz Guide . 4th, revised and supplemented edition. Reclam, Stuttgart 1990, ISBN 3-15-010355-X .
• Ian Carr , Digby Fairweather , Brian Priestley : Rough Guide Jazz. The ultimate guide to jazz music. 1700 artists and bands from the beginning until today. Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 1999, ISBN 3-476-01584-X .
• Doran / Kernfeld, "Red Richards"  Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians Online Edition
• Leonard Feather , Ira Gitler : The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz. Oxford University Press, New York 1999, ISBN 0-19-532000-X .