Richie Cole (musician)

Richie Cole (born February 29, 1948) is an American jazz alto saxophonist, composer and arranger.

Cole was born in Trenton, New Jersey.

Cole started playing alto saxophone when he was 10 years old, encouraged by his father who owned a jazz club in New Jersey. He is a graduate of Ewing High School, in Ewing Township, New Jersey.

Influenced by Sonny Rollins and Charlie Parker, Cole’s talent and dedication won him a full scholarship from Downbeat Magazine to the Berklee School of Music in Boston.

In 1969 he joined drummer Buddy Rich's Big Band. After working with Lionel Hampton's Big Band and Doc Severinsen's Big Band, he formed his own quintet and toured worldwide, doing a great deal to popularize bebop and his own "alto madness" style in the 1970s and early '80s. He formed the Alto Madness Orchestra in the 1990s.

Cole has performed and recorded with Eddie Jefferson, Nancy Wilson, Tom Waits, The Manhattan Transfer, Bobby Enriquez, Freddie Hubbard, Sonny Stitt, Art Pepper, and Boots Randolph.

He has recorded over 50 albums, including his top hit album Hollywood Madness (Muse, 1979) and his tribute album to Leonard Bernstein, Richie Cole Plays West Side Story (Music Masters, 1997).

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