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Richard Simon
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Betty Bryant: Lotta Livin'
by Jack Bowers
First, double-check to make sure there aren't any misprints. No, it's an honest-to-goodness fact that Betty Bryant--who sings, plays piano, wrote four of the nine numbers and arranged half a dozen on her fourteenth album--really was almost ninety-four years old when Lotta Livin' was recorded in 2023. Bryant's rough and edgy voice is remarkably strong and steady, while her piano playing simply defies any generational labels. As a vocalist, no note seems out of her reach, and ...
read moreRichard Simon: Pacific Standard Time
by Jack Bowers
If one harbors any doubt that there is life after seventy (or even eighty!) — and an abundance of swinging Jazz to be produced by those who’ve reached those plateaus — he or she need only listen attentively to bassist Richard Simon’s Pacific Standard Time to erase any such misgivings. While Simon himself is a (relatively) young whippersnapper, his guests — guitarist Al Viola and reedman Sam Most — are eighty–three and seventy–one, respectively, and weren’t much younger when PST ...
read moreRichard Simon: Covering the Basses
by AAJ Staff
Here’s a concept album with a fun concept: a melodic bassist playing the compositions of other bassists. Richard Simon has surrounded himself with top West Coast talent (Buddy Collette, Al Viola, Art Hillery) and made a session that shows the group as well as his technique.
It’s a broad spotlight, and everybody gets to shine. Simon’s “Melatonin” uses the chords on “In a Mellow Tone”, and is a relaxed swinger of the old school. Collette struts his confident sax through ...
read moreRichard Simon: Covering the Basses
by Jack Bowers
On the second release for his own UFO-Bass label, bassist Richard Simon pays tribute to a number of other well-known timekeepers with a laid-back session whose aura is one of a late-night club date in which everyone is simply having a grand time grooving on the music they love and appreciate. After opening with a pair of disarming originals by Simon ("Melatonin," which brings Duke's In a Mellow Tone" up to date, and Theme from Poultry-geist"), the group essays tunes ...
read morePrimary Instrument
Bass, acoustic
Willing to teach
Beginner to advanced
Credentials/Background
BA and MA degrees in English Community College Instructor credential Music instructor in JazzAmerica since 1994; now its Program Director (see www.JazzAmerica.org) Two types of instruction available: (1) JazzAmerica classes - Saturdays from May through August - tuition-free - For students 11 to 20 years of age only - Combo and Big Band classes available - Must know how to read music, identify chord symbols, and have some interest in and familiarity with jazz - Classes meet weekly - your commitment is required (2) private/individual instruction on upright bass - all ages welcome - must have your own bass, or the use of one for practice - lessons are one hour @ $50 per hour - weekday afternoons and occasional evenings available in my home