Steph Richards times four

There was a time when I could keep pretty good track of all the musicians in the jazz world that I was interested in hearing. By tracking musicians from album to album, I would discover yet more names to follow. Alas, there are always more players to listen to, I'm getting older, and the existence of the internet mocks my internal database of improvisers. Still, there’s plenty of value to be gained by tracing a particular musician’s path, enjoying her work and, in the process, discovering yet more music to savor. The work of trumpeter Steph Richards occasions these thoughts.

 

My first exposure to her playing was Trio Music, a 2017 recording by Vinny Golia, Steph Richards & Bert Turetzky. I’ve been a Golia fan for ages, and I know he’s a busy guy. Double bass wizard Bert Turetzky is in his eighties. So based on her companions, I gathered that Steph Richards will be someone definitely worth hearing, and now having listened I’m not disappointed. Her dark sound seems to be infinitely adaptable, from wobbly to clear and bright. The quickness of her responses and her self-assured attitude in this freely improvised batch of performances are a delight. Turetzky, with his arco rumbles, and Golia, with his panoply of woodwinds and “ethnic aerophones,” are lively collaborators who first recorded as a duo back in 1986 for Golia’s Nine Winds imprint. Previous trio sessions for the pair have added such luminaries as trombonist George Lewis (1996 and 2003), trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith (1997), and bassist Barre Phillips (1998), which puts Richards in very good company. Over the course of a dozen fairly short improvisations, the trio explores a range of moods and approaches. The spaciousness of the music and the superbly recorded and mixed sound (thanks to Andrew Munsey, who we’ll get back to in this post) are a real plus here, helping the listener truly appreciate the individual sounds of each musician. While I have my favorites, including the buzzy and gnarly Cerberus (and what a great name for a trio improv!) and the unsettled slip-slide of Atazoy, any music fan that listens to Trio Music with an open heart will find much to enjoy. pfMENTUM PFMCD117; Steph Richards (tpt, flgh) Vinny Golia (winds, ethnic aerophones) Bert Turetzky (b); San Diego, CA, April 23, 2017; Solana/ Proprioception/ Cerberus/ As I was Saying…/ $19.95/ SunnySide Up/ Desert Wind/ Hector Shear makes his entrance…(could they really exist in Maine?)/ Atazoy/ The Paradox of Zazu Pitts/ Descendant Un Escalier/ The Duo That Became A Trio; 53:26. pfmentum.com

Now that I knew that her work merited close attention, I latched onto Resonant Bodies, a duo project from 2015 featuring Stephanie Richards on trumpet, flugelhorn, and percussion, with percussionist Andrew Drury limiting himself to just a floor tom and timpani. When the pair listened to what they’d improvised, again recorded by Andrew Munsey, “the timbres suggested thawing glaciers to us--groaning, cracking, splitting, of large masses of ancient ice under extreme pressure, moving and melting.” Hence the album’s title, Thaw, with the fairly brief tracks named after glaciers on five continents. The duo conjure up some truly odd combinations of sounds, with the source often unrecognizable. There’s an appealing rawness to their encounters, as they ignore many of the usual qualities of music like melody, harmony, and tempo, in favor of brutal expression. It’s definitely not for everyone, but it’s a trip worth taking for fans of boldly adventurous improvising. Different Track 50004; Stephanie Richards (tpt, snare d, flgh, timpani) Andrew Drury (floor tom, timpani); San Diego, CA, November 2015; THAW/ Kilimanjaro 2040/ Fracture (for Larsen C)/ Mendenhall/ Drangajökull/ Kangiata Nunaata Sermia/ Nisqually/ Thwaites/ Panchchuli/ Snow Dome/ Athabasca/ RETREAT; 28:32. resonantbodies.bandcamp.com

Released, like Thaw, in the spring of 2018, Stephanie Richards’s first recording under her own name is Fullmoon. The format is another duet, this time with electronic musician Dino J.A. Deane who live-samples her trumpet and manipulates the results back into the mix. This makes for a wild and almost limitless encounter, sometimes busy, sometimes sparse, but always deeply intriguing. As a way of making music, improvised music in general is especially suited for headphone listening, and Fullmoon is a great example. Close listening reveals both the nuances of Richards’ mercurial trumpet and the finely honed interactions of instrument and sampler. By and large, Richards maintains a fairly clean, brassy sound, allowing Deane to “mess it up” with whatever effects he brings to bear. Highlights include the other-worldly atmosphere evoked on piano, the chilly purity of the very brief half moon, and the calmly meditative gong (part I). All told, a fascinating recital, rich in surprises and well worth a listen. Relative Pitch RPR1066 (CD, lp): Stephanie Richards (tpt, flgh, perc) Dino J.A. Deane (sampler); prob. San Diego, CA, no dates specified; new moon/ snare/ piano/ half moon/ gong (pt. 1)/ gong (pt. 2)/ timpani/ full moon (pt. 1)/ full moon (pt. 2); 32:46. www.relativepitchrecords.com

Steph Richards’ most recent release is Take The Neon Lights, where she helms a quartet with James Carney on piano, Sam Minaie on bass, and Andrew Munsey on drums. Richards, who composed all the tunes, co-produced the set with Munsey, who also mixed and mastered the session. Richards, who can whisper and growl with equal commitment, employs a wide vocabulary of shrieks, burbles, and fluttery bursts of sound. Add to that her careful manipulation of mutes and a trick bag of extended techniques, all allied to a fertile and fearless musical imagination. Richards’ open-ended compositions, doubtlessly influenced by her work with notable composers and bandleaders like Anthony Braxton and Henry Threadgill, also build on her unconventional approach to the trumpet. Tunes like the mysterious and hard-driving Brooklyn Machine, the disquieting Rumor of War, and the densely propulsive Stalked By Tall Buildings unfold in series of unexpected twists and turns. Richards’ peregrinations are, naturally, the main focus here, but pianist Carney is worth some attention as well. From his scattered inside-the-piano work on Time and Grime to his brisk and meaty solo on Skull of Theatres, Carney seems preternaturally attuned to the many nuances of Richards’ playing. With Minaie and Munsey maintaining a careful rhythmic scaffold, and the adventuresome Carney matching wits with Richards, Take The Neon Lights is a compelling and nearly irresistible release. Recommended. Birdwatcher BW008; Stephanie Richards (tpt, flgh) James Carney (p) Sam Minaie (b) Andrew Munsey (d); Paramus, NJ, no dates specified; Take The Neon Lights and Wear A Crown/ Brooklyn Machine/ Time and Grime/ Rumor of War/ Transitory (Gleams)/ Skull of Theatres/ Stalked By Tall Buildings/ All the Years of Our Lives; 44:02. birdwatcherarts.org