Biography
From a young age Richard has had a connection with music and the trumpet, though did not begin taking it seriously until he started playing jazz at Leeds College of Music while studying for his A-levels. While at Leeds College of Music he was awarded the John Coates Prize for outstanding Musicianship. In September of 2002 he began studying on the Jazz course at the Royal Academy of Music, London. In his time at the Royal Academy Richard has studied with Gerard Presencer, Martin Speake, John Barclay, Bob Mintzer and most recently Julien Siegel.
His playing credentials include NYJO, The Grand Union Orchestra, and the Inter-Conservatoire Big Band, gigs at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, The Pizza Express (Soho, London), The 606 Club, The Jazz Café and many of the country’s other leading jazz venues such as the Wardrobe, Leeds, and Matt and Phreds Club, Manchester. Richard is also a regular visitor to Ireland where he plays with many of the countries foremost musicians. He has recently appeared at the Cork Jazz Festival.
Richard has played beside many of the country’s leading musicians such as Tim Garland, Stan Tracey, Julian Arguelles, Gerard Presencer, Warren Vache, Derek Watkins, Tony Fisher, Tina May, Mark Lockheart, Dennis Rollins, the South American Latin Music sensation Hermeto Pascoal and most recently Peter Erskine.
As well as his work in the field of jazz, Richard has performed several premiers of crossover classical/jazz works for trumpet. The most recent being Rush Hour by the composer Robert Davies at the Aberystwyth Music Festival and a piece written by the pianist/composer Jamil Sheriff, featuring Richard on Flugelhorn, for the fifth anniversary of the National Centre for Early Music in York.
Richard’s commercial work includes recordings for Sony Music and appearances with various pop bands around London. He is also active in the north of England, playing regularly in Leeds. He has co-led jazz education courses in London and the north of England and has given tutorials to young musicians in improvisation. He has also run jazz ensembles at high schools in London, Leeds and the Yorkshire area, and has taught jazz to classically trained peripatetic music teachers for the Leeds Music Support Service. He has recently been teaching on the brass course at the Aberystwyth Music Festival. Richard has also been awarded an LRAM teaching qualification.
Richard graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in June 2006 and is now active as a musician/composer/instrumentalist and educator in London and the North of England.
In late 2006 and again in early 2007 Richard embarked on trips to New York City to study with guitarist Jonathan Kriesberg and Tenor Saxophonist Joel Frahm.
Richard is currently playing with drummer and pianist Gary Husband and working as a freelance Jazz musician and session player throughout the country. He can also be credited with starting the highly successful weekly jazz event “Jazz @ The Con Cellar Bar” which has recently attracted the attention of such artists as Mark Turner, Phil Robson, Paul Clarvis, Phil Donkin, Hans Koller and Nik Smart.