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Red Richards Oscar Klein Singen Hohentwill Jazzfest 1994 Imre Köszegie- Drums Jan Jankeje- Bass Jazz www.jazzpoint.de
RED RICHARDS erhielt 1994 den "Grand Prix du Disque de Jazz" für die CD jp 1042 MY ROMANCE der jährlich nur einmal vergeben wird von der "Hot Club de France Fédération"
Charles "Red" Richards died on Thursday 12th of March 1998 while performing..
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One of these personalities is RED RICHARDS. As the pianist on "Benny Waters Plays Songs of Love" CD jp 1039 he contributed his own personal piano playing. So it was only natural to make a solo CD with Richards. Over eleven titles and a playing time of more than 52 minutes Red Richards offers a broad assortment of standard jazz numbers and his own compositions. That he�s a singer, too, one could already find out in John Chilton�s Who�s Who of Jazz, which also lists his birthdate, October 19, 1912. Born under the sign of Libra, his career as an artist was predestined, at least for the astrologers among us..
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On the first record on which he played, he was heard on he was as a member Campbell "Skeets" Tolbert. Aftter that he worked as a solo pianist, but quite frequently with exceptional musicians, too, such as Tab Smith, Bob Wilber and the "King of the Soprano Saxophone", Sidney Bechet. But it seems that trumpeters appreciated his accompaniment even more, and so we find names like Roy Eldridge, Bobby Hackett, Jimmy PcPartland, Muggsy Spanier, Wild Bill Davison. Europe got to know him in the early fifties with concerts and records "Vogue" with the Mezz Mezzrow/Buck Clayton Band. He played the piano for the newly formed Fletcher Henderson Big Band 1957/58, and has toured Europe several times with his own band, Saints and Sinners, as well as with the Harlem Blues and Jazzband. .
(Dieter Antritter) .
Charles "RED'"RICHARDS died suddenly Thursday 12th of March 1998 while performing in a Scarsdale restaurant..
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RED RICHARDS was born in Brooklyn on October 19, 1912 and moved to Harlem, where he studied classical piano. He attended a house-rent-party at the age of sixteen where Willie "the Lion" Smith, James P. Johnson, Donald "The Lamb'"Lambert, and "Fats" Waller all performed. RED went on to integrate influences of Teddy Wilson, Herman Chitteson, Bud Powell and Art Tatum into a sophisticated, swinging stride style of his own, with a delicate touch on ballads. His vocal style was compared to that of Louis Armstrong..
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RED performed in the New York area at Monroe's Uptown House, the Savoy Ballroom, all three locations of Eddie Condon's and the Crawdaddy. He also worked in California, Ohio, Toronto and Boston. In the 1960's, he co-led "The Saints and Sinners" with trombonist Vic Dickenson, RED performed with Roy Eldridge, Bobby Hackett, Sidney Bechet, Buck Clayton, and toured with Frank Sinatra. In 1987 he was in the reunion of the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra in which he played and recorded with Coleman Hawkins, Benny Carter, and Rex Stewart. RED was a featured soloist with Panama Francis' Savoy Sultans for years..


Oscar Klein ist einer der wesentlichsten Jazz-Traditionalisten und Blues-Instrumentalisten außerhalb Amerikas. Der in diesem Jahr 75 Jahre alt gewordene Musiker verfügt wie kaum ein anderer europäischer Jazztrompeter über das traditionelle Ausdrucksspektrum seines Instruments mit allen Nuancen zwischen Brillanz und „Dirty Tones.

Oscar begann bereits als Teenager Gitarre zu spielen. Seine Profikarriere startete er, der den Krieg als Jude in Italien relativ unbeschadet überleben konnte und der nach 1945 als Grafiker und Zeichenlehrer tätig war, Anfang der 1950er Jahre bei Fatty George in Innsbruck. 1955 kam er mit Fattys „Two Sounds Band nach Wien und war an den großen Erfolgen dieser vielseitigen Band wesentlich mitbeteiligt. Nach seinem Ausstieg bei Fatty spielte Klein bei den Tremble Kids aus der Schweiz, u.a. mit seinem damaligen stilistischen Vorbild, dem Kornettisten Wild Bill Davison.

In den folgenden Jahrzehnten arbeitete Oscar Klein u.a. mit der Dutch Swing College Band, mit seiner Frau, der Sängerin Miriam Klein, mit eigenem Quartett (darunter die hochtalentierten Österreicher Werner Pirchner, Fritz Pauer und Hans Rettenbacher), mit der Chicago Jazz Band von Fatty George (1970er und 80er Jahre) und schließlich mit jeder Menge berühmter amerikanischer Gastsolisten wie Bill Coleman, Albert Nicholas, Joe Turner, Mezz Mezzrow, Dexter Gordon, Roy Eldridge, Joe Venuti oder Sammy Price.

In den Bands und All Star Gruppen der 1990er Jahre, denen Oscar Klein als Sideman oder als Leader angehörte, befanden sich häufig Kapazitäten des traditionellen Eurojazz, so wie auch seine derzeitige Gruppe, mit der er u. a. vielbeachtete Schulkonzerte absolviert hat, aus Talenten der deutschsprachigen Szene besteht.