Richie Cole
Background information
Born(1948-02-29)February 29, 1948
Trenton, New Jersey, U.S.
DiedMay 2, 2020(2020-05-02) (aged 72)
Carnegie, Pennsylvania, U.S.
GenresJazz
Occupation(s)Musician
Instrument(s)Saxophone
Years active1969–2020
LabelsMuse, Palo Alto, Heads Up
Websitewww.richiecole.com

Richie Cole (February 29, 1948 – May 2, 2020) was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and arranger.

Early life

Cole was born in Trenton, New Jersey.[1] He began to play alto saxophone when he was ten years old, encouraged by his father, who owned a jazz club in New Jersey. He was a graduate of Ewing High School, in Ewing Township, New Jersey.[2][3] Cole won a scholarship from DownBeat magazine to attend the Berklee School of Music in Boston.

Career

In 1969, he joined drummer Buddy Rich's Big Band. After working with Lionel Hampton's Big Band and Doc Severinsen's Big Band, he formed his own quintet and toured worldwide, developing his own "alto madness" bebop style in the 1970s and early 1980s. He formed the Alto Madness Orchestra in the 1990s.[4]

Cole performed and recorded with Eddie Jefferson,[4] Nancy Wilson, Tom Waits, The Manhattan Transfer, Hank Crawford, Freddie Hubbard, Eric Kloss, Bobby Enriquez, Phil Woods,[4] Sonny Stitt, Art Pepper, and Boots Randolph.[4] He recorded over fifty albums, including his albums Hollywood Madness (Muse, 1979) and Richie Cole Plays West Side Story (Music Masters, 1997), a tribute to Leonard Bernstein.

He was appointed to the Board of the National Jazz Service Organization and the Board for the National Endowment for the Arts where he served as chairman for one year. He was a charter member of the International Association of Jazz Educators.

In 2005, he was awarded the State of California Congressional Certificate of Lifetime Achievement in Jazz on behalf of the Temecula Jazz Society.

Cole died of natural causes on May 2, 2020.[5]

Personal life

Cole was briefly engaged to actress Brenda Vaccaro in 1979. He has two daughters, Amanda Marrazzo, a writer/reporter/producer and Annie Cole, a music agent.

Discography

As leader

As sideman

DVDs

References

  1. ^ Provizer, Norman. "RICHIE COLE BRINGS SAX APPEAL TO VARTAN", Rocky Mountain News, April 4, 1996. Accessed March 25, 2012. "On his current CD, Kush: The Music of Dizzy Gillespie, alto saxophonist Richie Cole spends most of his time in the company of a large brass section.... Instead, the Trenton, N.J. native will be in a quartet setting for a live recording on the Vartan Jazz label."
  2. ^ Bailey, Marilynn E. "Cole Bebops Into Greatness", Evening Independent, December 2, 1978. Accessed March 25, 2012. "Cole says he was pleased when he learned he and Johnson had gone to the same high school — Ewing High — in Trenton."
  3. ^ "Richie Cole | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Who's Who of Jazz (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. pp. 94/5. ISBN 0-85112-580-8.
  5. ^ Chinen, Nate, "Richie Cole, Esteemed Alto Saxophonist and a Keeper of the Bebop Flame, Has Died at 72", Wbgo.org, May 3, 2020.
  6. ^ "Discography – Richie Cole". Richiecole.com. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  7. ^ "Richie Cole | Album Discography". AllMusic. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  8. ^ "Richie Cole". Discogs. Retrieved 2 May 2017.

External links

Authority control databases
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