Home » Jazz Musicians » Richard Oppenheim

Richard Oppenheim

Richard Oppenheim has logged road time with the bands of Illinois Jacquet and Buddy Rich, and headed up the sax section in Marvin Gaye’s large touring unit. After putting in a year and a half with the Paul Jeffrey Octet, he segued into the octet of valve trombonist Marshall Brown, and played baritone sax with Jaki Byard and the Apollo Stompers. Two smaller ensembles, Fat Doggie and Zambomba, led respectively by Gregory Alper and Mark Holen, allowed him to stretch in the intrepid company of Bern Nix, Shelley Hirsch, Ray Anderson, and Chuck Loeb, among others. Oppenheim also fronted bebop trios featuring Cameron Brown, Eliot Zigmund, and Bill Goodwin, and shared the bandstand with Charles Mingus, Clifford Jordan, Lionel Hampton, Dave Liebman, and Dennis Charles.

A tour of Haiti with the compas outfit System Band brought an opportunity to pour his style into a different mold. Sets often lasted for hours, with Oppenheim frequently called upon to deliver marathon solos over lengthy vamps. In common with many jazz musicians, some of his most formative experiences have come sitting in with such blues men as Lonnie Brooks, Otis Rush, and Mike Bloomfield, all of whom established their reputations in Oppenheim’s native Chicago environs. In the realm of rock, he has worked and recorded with Foghat, Mick Ronson and Ian Hunter, and The Rattlers. He has played alongside Neil Young, Johnny Winter, Bernard "Pretty" Purdie, and David Johanssen.


Tags

3
Album Review

Richard Oppenheim: Greenhorn in a Red State

Read "Greenhorn in a Red State" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian


Saxophonist Richard Oppenheim's Greenhorn in a Red State is a delightful album with a tight, simmering groove and filled with musically unique twist and turns. Inspired by his relocation to San Antonio from New York and the relative culture shock this entailed the seven originals are witty, nostalgic and restless. The front line of Oppenheim's alto and his wife flautist Katchie Cartwright's piccolo gives the melodies a singular agility and elasticity. Cartwright's breezy resonant tone glides over Oppenheim's ...

Read more articles
Gary Bartz
saxophone, alto
Sonny Rollins
saxophone
Pharoah Sanders
saxophone, tenor
Ornette Coleman
saxophone, alto
Steve Coleman
saxophone, alto
Joseph Jarman
saxophone
Steve Lacy
saxophone, soprano
Charles McPherson
saxophone, alto
James Moody
woodwinds
Charlie Parker
saxophone, alto

Music

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.