Emil Richards

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Emil Richards (born Emilio Joseph Radocchia; September 2, 1932) is an American vibraphonist and percussionist.

Video Emil Richards

Biography

Musician

Richards started playing the xylophone at age six. In high school he performed with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra. He studied with Al Lepak at the Hartt School of Music in Hartford, graduating in 1952. After being drafted, he belonged to an Army band in Japan and played with Toshiko Akiyoshi. He cites Lionel Hampton as his first and biggest influence on vibraphone.

In 1954 Richards moved to New York City where he played with Charles Mingus, Ed Shaughnessy, and Ed Thigpen while doing studio recordings for Perry Como, the Ray Charles Singers, and Mitchell Ayres. For about three years he was a member of a group led by George Shearing, then moved to Los Angeles and worked with Don Ellis and Paul Horn. He led his own band, the Microtonal Blues Band, and spent time with composer and inventor Harry Partch. As a sideman, he accompanied George Harrison on tour and recorded with Frank Sinatra, Frank Zappa,, Doris Day, Judy Garland, Nelson Riddle, and Sarah Vaughan.

Richards worked often as a studio musician for movies and television. His credits include playing bongos on the theme song for the television program Mission Impossible. He has led a band with Joe Porcaro, and he released a solo album, The Wonderful World of Percussion.

Collector

In 1962, Richards went on a worldwide tour with Frank Sinatra to raise money for poor children. The tour increased Richards's fascination with ethnic percussion instruments. During his career he has collected over 350 instruments, many of them more common in the East than the West. Richards wanted his instruments to continue to be heard in recordings and other performances and to remain together as much as possible. The Emil Richards Collection includes common percussion, such as xylophone and marimba and exotic, such as the angklung, bulbul tarang, chimta, flapamba, jal tarang, janggu, lujon, mbira, and pakhavaj.

In 1992, he gave sixty-five instruments to the Percussive Arts Society museum in Lawton, Oklahoma. He is a member of the Society's Hall of Fame. Part of the collection was sold to Los Angeles Percussion Rentals. Many instruments were restored and are used in recordings and other performances in Los Angeles. LAPR works with Odd Art Fabrications to custom design and fabricate instruments and hardware such as chromatically tuned wood blocks and chromatically tuned bell plate.

Maps Emil Richards

Discography

As leader

Yazz Per Favore (1961)
Journey to Bliss (Impulse!, 1968)
Spirit of 1976 (Impulse!, 1969)
Ritmico Mundo (Interworld, 1994)
Luntana (Interworld, 1996)
Calamari: Live at Rocco's (2000)
Emil Richards with the Jazz Knights (2003)
Maui Jazz Quartet (2006)

As sideman

With Louie Bellson

1977 Ecue Ritmos Cubanos
1978 Louis Bellson Jam
1978 Prime Time

With George Harrison

1974 Dark Horse
1976 Thirty Three & 1/3
1975 Extra Texture
1979 George Harrison

With Paul Horn

1960 Something Blue
1961 The Sound of Paul Horn
1962 Profile of a Jazz Musician
1965 Jazz Suite on the Mass Texts

With Stan Kenton

1965 Stan Kenton Conducts the Los Angeles Neophonic Orchestra
1966 Stan Kenton Plays for Today

With Irene Kral

1965 Wonderful Life
1977 Kral Space (Catalyst)

With Peggy Lee

1961 Blues Cross Country
1962 Sugar 'n' Spice

With Julie London

1959 Julie...At Home
1965 All Through the Night: Julie London Sings the Choicest of Cole Porter

With Shorty Rogers

An Invisible Orchard (RCA Victor, 1961)
The Fourth Dimension in Sound (Warner Bros., 1961)
Bossa Nova (Reprise, 1962)
Jazz Waltz (Reprise, 1962)

With Shadowfax

1982 Shadowfax
1983 Shadowdance
1986 Too Far to Whisper
1987 Folksongs for a Nuclear Village
1992 Esperanto

With George Shearing

1958 In the Night
1962 Nat King Cole Sings/George Shearing Plays

With L. Subramaniam

1979 Fantasy without Limits
1981 Blossom
1983 Spanish Wave

With Nancy Wilson

1960 Something Wonderful
1964 Broadway - My Way

With Frank Zappa

1968 Lumpy Gravy
1979 Orchestral Favorites
1996 Läther

With others

1960 Swingin' Decade, Casa Loma Orchestra
1961 Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Harold Arlen Songbook, Ella Fitzgerald
1962 Jazz Pops, Neal Hefti
1962 The New Continent, Dizzy Gillespie
1964 It Might as Well Be Swing, Frank Sinatra
1964 Summer Surf, Dick Dale
1967 Hugh Masekela's Latest, Hugh Masekela
1967 More of the Monkees, The Monkees
1970 Seasons, Pete Jolly
1971 Other Voices, The Doors
1971 The Age of Steam, Gerry Mulligan
1973 Great Scott, Tom Scott
1973 Let's Get It On, Marvin Gaye
1974 Waitress in a Donut Shop, Maria Muldaur
1975 Born to Be with You, Dion
1975 I Love the Blues, She Heard My Cry, George Duke
1975 I Am Music, Carmen McRae
1975 Playing Possum, Carly Simon
1975 Split Coconut, Dave Mason
1975 Touch, John Klemmer
1976 Cry Tough, Nils Lofgren
1976 The Man Incognito, Alphonse Mouzon
1979 Rise, Herb Alpert
1979 Mingus, Joni Mitchell
1979 Palette, Alan Broadbent
1980 Autoamerican, Blondie
1983 Swordfishtrombones, Tom Waits
1984 Jump!, Van Dyke Parks
1991 Back to Mono (1958-1969), Phil Spector
1991 Rooms in My Fatha's House, Vinx
1992 A Gift of Song, Mason Williams
1996 Blue Condition, Bobby Caldwell
1997 The Harry Partch Collection, Vol. 3, Harry Partch
1999 1961-1966, Ann-Margret
2000 The Spirit of St. Louis, The Manhattan Transfer
2004 Mallet Jazz, Tom Collier
2011 The Smile Sessions, The Beach Boys

File:Taiko or daiko drums (from Emil Richards Collection).jpg ...

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Bibliography

Richards, Emil (2009). Mallet Chord Studies - Chord Voicings and Arpeggio Patterns for Vibraphone and Marimba. Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 978-1423469919.
Richards, Emil (2009). Sight Reading for Mallets. Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 978-1423469902.
Richards, Emil (2009). Melody & Rhythm Permutations. Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 978-1423469926.
Richards, Emil (2009). Exercises for Mallet Instruments. Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 978-1423469896.
Richards, Emil (2013). Wonderful World of Percussion: My Life Behind Bars. BearManor Media. ISBN 978-1593932657.

Emil Richards Collection - Los Angeles Percussion Rentals

src: www.lapercussionrentals.com

References