Tim Richards

pianist - composer - bandleader - educator

Short Biography

Tim's first encounter with a piano was at the age of 8 in a dentist's waiting room. After classical piano lessons he taught himself jazz and blues from the age of 14, after seeing Thelonious Monk on TV.

Since forming the long-lived modern jazz quartet SPIRIT LEVEL in Bristol in 1979, he has performed his compositions at jazz clubs and festivals in almost every European country. Tim expanded SPIRIT LEVEL to a nine-piece in 1999, renaming it GREAT SPIRIT and recording a first CD with an all-star line-up that included Denys Baptist, Gilad Atzmon and Tony Kofi. The nine-piece have toured the UK several times, featuring some of Britain's top jazz musicians such Pete King, Ed Jones, Dick Pearce, and many others. Their latest CD 'Epistrophy' received rave reviews, eg:

"Jazz supergroup whose passion proves inspirational... not a dull moment from beginning to end."
OBSERVER MUSIC MONTHLY

Tim has released over ten albums under his own name, including two with Austrian saxman SIGI FINKEL and two TRIO albums. His playing has been described thus:

"A unique mixture formed from his admiration of both the expansive,
robust playing of McCoy Tyner and the luminous delicacy of Abdullah Ibrahim."
THE TIMES

"Luminously funky... Iaced with the blues."
THE ROUGH GUIDE TO JAZZ

He also enjoys playing blues and has toured and recorded with many well-known blues artists including the award-winning Otis Grand, Dana Gillespie and Earl Green, and US guitarists Joe Louis Walker and Larry Gamer.

Apart from his playing activities, Tim is one of Britain's best-known jazz educators, a jazz examiner and contributor to the Associated Board's jazz piano syllabus, and the author of the acclaimed tutors IMPROVISING BLUES PIANO (1997) and EXPLORING JAZZ PIANO (2005), both published by Schott & Co (with CDs). The latter won the prestigious MIA award for 'Best Pop Publication' in 2006. Tim currently teaches jazz piano at Morley and Goldsmiths Colleges in London.

"Tim Richards plays bluesy jazz piano with a fiercely contemporary edge
and his compositions are lushly melodic."
EVENING STANDARD

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Longer biography
Performance CV
Teaching CV
Discography
Articles and publications by Tim Richards
Biographies of GREAT SPIRIT members
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