Saxophonist Rich Halley releases Fire Within on December 1, 2023 via Pine Eagle Records. It’s his third album with his quartet featuring innovative pianist Matthew Shipp, standout bassist Michael Bisio and creative drummer Newman Taylor Baker. The recording sees the group building on their intuitive chemistry in a series of powerful improvisations, recorded in Brooklyn in July 2023.
“Heartland American jazz of the very highest order.” Brian Morton, Point of Departure
“Saxophonist Rich Halley has been turning out smart, brawny music for a couple of decades.” James Hale, DownBeat
Rich Halley is a tenor saxophonist and composer based in Portland, Oregon. He is known for his fiery playing and imaginative compositions. Rich has released 25 critically acclaimed recordings as a leader and has recorded over one hundred original compositions. His latest album, “Fire Within”, features innovative pianist Matthew Shipp, standout bassist Michael Bisio and creative drummer Newman Taylor Baker.
Halley’s recent release with the same group, “The Shape of Things”, was on a number of lists of the best jazz albums of 2020. All About Jazz describes his music as:“Uncluttered, bold and powerful” and Tom Hull calls him “One of the major tenor saxophonists of our time.”
Rich currently leads the Rich Halley 4, a group which has released six albums of original music. Rich was also the leader of The Lizard Brothers, a four horn sextet, and The Outside Music Ensemble, a horns and percussion group that did unamplified outdoor performances. He has performed with Matthew Shipp, Tony Malaby, Vinny Golia, Bobby Bradford, Nels Cline, Julius Hemphill, Andrew Hill and Oliver Lake.
For 26 years he was the artistic director of the Penofin Jazz Festival, a small festival in Northern California that presented many of the leading figures in creative jazz. Rich was a founder of Oregon’s Creative Music Guild. He was educated as a field biologist, and his lifelong interest in nature has informed his music and led him on many trips into wilderness regions around the world.
Rich Halley
www.richhalley.com
richhalley@comcast.net