Tim Richards Trio

 Listen to trio CDs

Tim's London-based jazz piano trio have been entertaining audiences from Inverness to Istanbul since the early 1980s, playing an attractive combination of contemporary originals and modern jazz, with blues, bebop, gospel and Latin influences.

Touring the UK in February/March 2011, the trio performed tracks from their latest CD Shapeshifting, released in 2010 on the 33 Records label,with Dominic Howles (double bass) and Jeff Lardner (drums).

The CD received some excellent reviews:

"Richards' originals strike fresh sparks frorn the hard bop style..."
John Fordham THE GUARDIAN February 2011

"The piano sings under his touch - a proper jazz trio too, not just piano plus support."
Dave Gelly THE OBSERVER March 2011

"This is no cocktail lounge dinner jazz ensemble - Tim, Dominic and Jeff operate but a short chorus from the cutting edge."
BEBOPSPOKENHEREBLOGSPOT.com

"Richards the recording artist is back with a vengeance. Needless to say it swings like crazy too."
THEJAZZMANN.Com

As well as appearing at the Istanbul Pera Jazz Days Festival (2005), the trio have played at many of the UK's top jazz venues, including London's Pizza Express (Dean Street), 606 Club, Vortex Jazz Club, Bull's Head Barnes, Bass Clef, The Crypt Camberwell, Soho jazz festival, City of London festival, Edinburgh Festival, Swanage jazz festival, Fleece Jazz Club, Brighton Jazz Club, Southampton Turner-Sims, Herts Jazz, The Cube Derby, Dorking Jazz Club, Shepperton Jazz Club, Matt & Phred's Manchester, Jazz House Nottingham, Y Theatre Leicester, Cafe Jazz Cardiff, The Albert Bristol, The Lawn Lincoln, Colchester Arts Centre, a 12-date Scottish tour and many others.

Radio appearances include numerous sessions for BBC Radios 2 and 3 'Jazz Parade' and 'Jazz Notes', including live broadcasts from The Golders Green Hippodrome (1991, opposite Ronnie Scott's Sextet) and Pebble Mill Studios Birmingham (1994, opposite the BBC Radio Big Band).

"An impressively broad palette... strong melodic lines, muscular rhythms, ear-catching harmonies... a keen musical intellect and a swashbuckling sense of adventure..."
THE INVERNESS COURIER

Guest artists backed by the trio include Jim Mullen, Theo Travis, Alan Barnes, Liz Fletcher, and USA musicians including Scott Hamilton, Ken Peplowski and guitarist Ron Jackson.

The TRIO on YouTube
playing Charlie Parker's 'Au Privave'

Shapeshifting is the Trio's third CD on 33 Records. Details of the two previous CDs are given below.

(left to right)
Jeff Lardner, Tim Richards. Dominic Howles

Musician biographies

At the Crypt Jazz Club, London SE5
August 2009

Track listing & more info

Twelve by Three
33Jazz072 - 2003
Dominic Howles (double bass)
Matt Home (drums)

"Swings enough to make you want to kick the cat from the outset. A wide selection of material... beautifully played and recorded..."
John Critchinson (pianist, ex-Ronnie Scott 5tet)
MUSICIAN MAGAZINE

"Tim Richards... moves with impressive confidence from boiling Latin rhythms to bebop, ballads and even a tinge of gospel, while still retaining his own recognisable style. He also understands the art of choosing a good programme, alternating standards like Billy Strayhorn's "Isfahan" and Horace Silver's "Safari" with a few of his own pieces. The cohesion that comes from playing together regularly makes this an impressive band."
Dave Gelly
THE OBSERVER

Track listing & more info

The Other Side
33Jazz037 - 1998
Pete Kubryk Townsend (double bass)
Kenrick Rowe or Andrea Trillo (drums)

"Digs deep into the groove bag"
TIME OUT

"Tim Richards' piano playing has the distinction of being both adventurous and immediately attractive. "
THE OBSERVER

"Tim's blues phrasing and sense of harmonic structures are hugely impressive..."
THE PENGUIN GUIDE TO JAZZ ON CD

"From the lilting original Coincidence Calypso,through an appropriately funky Freedom Jazz Dance, to a luxuriantly meditative Polkadots & Moonbeams, (the CD) showcases both the light-heeled versatility and easy, airy interplay that the trio have developed in their club appearances over the years."
JAZZWISE MAGAZINE

Track listing and audio samples