Richie Cole

Richie Cole, a lively alto saxophonist rooted in jazz, earned recognition for carrying forward the bebop lineage. Shaped by mentor Phil Woods while extending the landmark achievements of Charlie Parker, he built his profile along the East Coast throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Even as fusion dominated with amplified sounds, he drew favorable notice by partnering with vocal great Eddie Jefferson and issuing unplugged, tradition-focused sets such as New York Afternoon: Alto Madness in 1976, Hollywood Madness in 1979, and Pure Imagination in 1986. His playful wit and belief that any melody could be reshaped into bebop led him to interpret wide-ranging pieces, among them the 1992 collection Popbop that reworked “La Bamba” and the “Star Trek Theme.” He also joined saxophone peers Hank Crawford, Sonny Stitt, and Art Pepper on various dates, established the high-energy Alto Madness Orchestra, and devoted the second half of his career to inventive expressions of his bebop devotion, including the gospel-oriented Come Sunday: My Kind of Religion in 2000, Latin Lover in 2017, and Cannonball, his 2018 tribute to Cannonball Adderley.

Born Richard Thomas Cole in Trenton, New Jersey, in 1948, he was immersed in jazz from childhood. His father ran the local clubs Hubby’s Inn and the Harlem Club, granting young Cole encounters with Art Blakey, Dizzy Gillespie, and other luminaries. At roughly age ten he found an alto saxophone abandoned in one of the venues and soon took up the horn. He advanced rapidly, meeting Phil Woods at a jazz camp when he was sixteen. Woods served as his guide, and together with Sonny Rollins and Charlie Parker remained a lasting influence. After high school Cole received a full DownBeat Magazine scholarship to Berklee College of Music, yet departed in 1969 to replace Art Pepper in Buddy Rich’s big band.

Brief engagements with Lionel Hampton and Doc Severinsen brought him to New York City, where he assembled his own ensemble and worked freelance. He developed a following as a committed bop stylist and attracted the interest of vocalese master Eddie Jefferson. The two formed a close association and began co-leading a group. Jefferson appeared on Cole’s first album as leader, New York Afternoon: Alto Madness, issued by Muse in 1976. Additional recordings with Jefferson followed: Alto Madness in 1978, Keeper of the Flame in 1979, and Hollywood Madness later that year, the last also featuring Tom Waits. Cole was present when Jefferson was fatally shot outside Detroit’s Baker’s Keyboard Lounge in May 1979.

Throughout the 1980s Cole’s stature as a leading exponent of straight-ahead jazz and bebop continued to grow. He recorded Side by Side with Phil Woods in 1980 and made further albums with Art Pepper, Sonny Stitt, and Boots Randolph. Sessions with Manhattan Transfer, Freddie Hubbard, and others also occurred. His Concord debut, the standards set Pure Imagination, appeared in 1986 with guitarist Vic Juris, bassist Ed Howard, and drummer Victor Jones. He then moved to Milestone for the 1987 Ben Sidran-produced Popbop, which applied bebop treatments to “La Bamba,” “Spanish Harlem,” and the “Theme from Star Trek.” Another Sidran-produced release, Signature, followed in 1988 and included a guest appearance by percussionist Babatunde Olatunji.

By the late 1980s Cole resided on the West Coast and maintained a demanding schedule of performances and travel while contending with alcoholism. Seeking renewal, he relocated to Milwaukee to be near one of his daughters. He reemerged in 1993 with the quartet album Profile, featuring pianist Dick Hindman, guitarist Henry Johnson, bassist Frank Passantino, and drummer Scott Morris. Two tribute projects arrived in 1996: Kush: The Music of Dizzy Gillespie and West Side Story, centered on Leonard Bernstein. During this time he also assembled the seven-piece Alto Madness Orchestra.

Cole returned in 2000 with the gospel-inflected Come Sunday: My Kind of Religion, recorded with keyboardist Joe Bonner, bassist Artie Moore, and drummer Charles Ayash. The Alto Madness Orchestra date Back on Top appeared in 2005. The following year Rise’s Rose Garden showcased the larger ensemble with trumpeter Jack Walrath, trombonist Rick Stepton, guitarist Vic Juris, and pianist Don Friedman. He next joined pianist Bobby Enriquez, guitarist Bruce Forman, bassist Marshall Hawkins, and drummer Scott Morris for The Man with the Horn. In 2012 he recorded the one-off Explosion! for Delmark with Jim Holman and Frank Catalano, then served as featured soloist on the Uptown Vocal Jazz Quartet’s Vocal Madness, released by HouseKat Records in 2014.

By 2015 Cole had moved to Pittsburgh to join family members. There he launched his own Richie Cole Presents imprint and debuted with the Alto Madness Orchestra on the album Pittsburgh. The ballad collection Plays Ballads & Love Songs and the holiday set Have Yourself an Alto Madness Christmas both followed in 2016. Subsequent releases on the label included Latin Lover in 2017 and the Cannonball Adderley tribute Cannonball in 2018. In 2019 he collaborated with pianist Tony Monaco on Keys of Cool. Cole passed away at his home in Carnegie, Pennsylvania, on May 2, 2020, at the age of seventy-two.