Biography
Saxophonist Rick Margitza crafts refined improvisations and compositions that fuse hard bop with contemporary jazz while incorporating Latin, Brazilian, and further traditions. Initial notice arrived via his tenure in Miles Davis’ late-’80s ensemble, after which he stepped forward as a bandleader and placed several albums inside Billboard’s jazz Top 20 on Blue Note, among them the 1991 set This Is New. Additional sideman work has encompassed Maynard Ferguson, Airto Moreira, Andy LaVerne, John Fedchock, Martial Solal, Jean-Michel Pilc, and others. Resident in France since 2003, Margitza applies a wide-ranging sensibility to his projects, drawing on Hungarian ancestry together with affinities for classical, fusion, and vocal jazz, as heard on 2021’s Sacred Hearts.
Born in 1961, Margitza was raised in Dearborn, Michigan within a musical household of Hungarian Romani lineage. He began violin studies at age four under the guidance of his cellist grandfather and his father, a Detroit Symphony Orchestra violinist, later switching to oboe and clarinet before adopting the tenor saxophone in his teens under the influence of Wayne Shorter, Michael Brecker, and John Coltrane. Following high school he pursued music at Wayne State University, Berklee College of Music, and the University of Miami, completing his training at Loyola University in New Orleans, and toured with Maynard Ferguson’s band prior to settling in New York City, where he joined Miles Davis’ group and appeared on the trumpeter’s 1988 album Amandla.
As a leader, Margitza debuted with 1988’s Color on Blue Note, a septet session featuring pianist Joey Calderazzo, guitarist Steve Masakowski, bassist Marc Johnson, drummer Adam Nussbaum, and percussionist Airto Moreira that reached number nine on the Billboard jazz chart. He continued with the 1990 follow-up Hope, again employing Calderazzo, Masakowski, and Moreira while adding Weather Report drummer Peter Erskine. The subsequent Blue Note release This Is New appeared the next year, presenting a streamlined acoustic quartet with Calderazzo, bassist Robert Hurst, and drummer Jeff “Tain” Watts; both later albums also entered the jazz Top 20. During the same period he recorded alongside Niels Lan Doky, Bob Belden, Maria Schneider, Andy LaVerne, and Eddie Gomez.
By the mid-’90s Margitza turned to smaller independent outlets and delivered several straight-ahead albums, beginning with 1995’s Hands of Time on Challenge Records alongside pianist Kevin Hays, bassist George Mraz, and drummer Al Foster. That year also saw Work It on SteepleChase, again with Mraz plus pianist James Williams and drummer Billy Hart. He partnered with pianist Jeff Gardner for 1997’s Second Home and closed the decade with Game of Chance on Challenge, reuniting with Gardner, bassist Lars Danielsson, and drummer Johnny Vidacovich.
In 2000 Margitza moved to Palmetto for Heart of Hearts, a post-bop date reuniting him with Calderazzo, bassist Scott Colley, and drummer Ian Froman. The following year brought Memento, supported by pianist Mulgrew Miller, Colley, and drummer Brian Blade. Around this time he relocated to Paris, where he performed with the Paris Jazz Big Band and continued collaborating with European players such as Martial Solal, François Moutin, Ari Hoenig, Jean-Michel Pilc, and Manuel Rocheman. Bohemia appeared in 2005, a globally oriented recording featuring bassist Ricardo del Fra, guitarist Olivier Louvel, drummer Jeff Boudreaux, and others, while session work followed with John Fedchock and Quentin Mosimann. He joined fellow tenor saxophonists Tony Lakatos and Gabor Bolla for 2017’s Gypsy Tenors, then returned in 2021 with Sacred Hearts, revisiting a similar ensemble configuration and evoking a breezy, ’60s-rooted atmosphere.
Born in 1961, Margitza was raised in Dearborn, Michigan within a musical household of Hungarian Romani lineage. He began violin studies at age four under the guidance of his cellist grandfather and his father, a Detroit Symphony Orchestra violinist, later switching to oboe and clarinet before adopting the tenor saxophone in his teens under the influence of Wayne Shorter, Michael Brecker, and John Coltrane. Following high school he pursued music at Wayne State University, Berklee College of Music, and the University of Miami, completing his training at Loyola University in New Orleans, and toured with Maynard Ferguson’s band prior to settling in New York City, where he joined Miles Davis’ group and appeared on the trumpeter’s 1988 album Amandla.
As a leader, Margitza debuted with 1988’s Color on Blue Note, a septet session featuring pianist Joey Calderazzo, guitarist Steve Masakowski, bassist Marc Johnson, drummer Adam Nussbaum, and percussionist Airto Moreira that reached number nine on the Billboard jazz chart. He continued with the 1990 follow-up Hope, again employing Calderazzo, Masakowski, and Moreira while adding Weather Report drummer Peter Erskine. The subsequent Blue Note release This Is New appeared the next year, presenting a streamlined acoustic quartet with Calderazzo, bassist Robert Hurst, and drummer Jeff “Tain” Watts; both later albums also entered the jazz Top 20. During the same period he recorded alongside Niels Lan Doky, Bob Belden, Maria Schneider, Andy LaVerne, and Eddie Gomez.
By the mid-’90s Margitza turned to smaller independent outlets and delivered several straight-ahead albums, beginning with 1995’s Hands of Time on Challenge Records alongside pianist Kevin Hays, bassist George Mraz, and drummer Al Foster. That year also saw Work It on SteepleChase, again with Mraz plus pianist James Williams and drummer Billy Hart. He partnered with pianist Jeff Gardner for 1997’s Second Home and closed the decade with Game of Chance on Challenge, reuniting with Gardner, bassist Lars Danielsson, and drummer Johnny Vidacovich.
In 2000 Margitza moved to Palmetto for Heart of Hearts, a post-bop date reuniting him with Calderazzo, bassist Scott Colley, and drummer Ian Froman. The following year brought Memento, supported by pianist Mulgrew Miller, Colley, and drummer Brian Blade. Around this time he relocated to Paris, where he performed with the Paris Jazz Big Band and continued collaborating with European players such as Martial Solal, François Moutin, Ari Hoenig, Jean-Michel Pilc, and Manuel Rocheman. Bohemia appeared in 2005, a globally oriented recording featuring bassist Ricardo del Fra, guitarist Olivier Louvel, drummer Jeff Boudreaux, and others, while session work followed with John Fedchock and Quentin Mosimann. He joined fellow tenor saxophonists Tony Lakatos and Gabor Bolla for 2017’s Gypsy Tenors, then returned in 2021 with Sacred Hearts, revisiting a similar ensemble configuration and evoking a breezy, ’60s-rooted atmosphere.
Albums
