Rich Halley (born November 25, 1947 in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

) is an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

tenor

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

. He has released 24 recordings as a leader. As

Down Beat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

described him: “Oregon-based saxophonist Rich Halley has been turning out smart brawny music for a couple of decades”.

All About Jazz ''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...

called his music “a sublime balance of the cerebral and visceral”.

Early life

Rich Halley is the son of Richard Halley Sr., an

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

professor at

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decades ...

, and Libby Anne Halley, a reading and

special education Special education (known as special-needs education, aided education, exceptional education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, or SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates th ...

teacher. Growing up, he spent much of his time hiking, camping, hunting and fishing, and at an early age developed a lifelong passion for nature and the outdoors. At 15, he discovered jazz, and immediately became intensely interested in the music. Halley began playing

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

at age 11 and tenor saxophone at age 15.

Early career

Halley started playing in

big bands A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...

and small jazz groups while he was in high school. Between 1965 and 1966 he lived in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

where he played in a band with an international repertoire. When he arrived at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

in 1966 he found himself surrounded by

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

music and culture and the explorations of the

Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) is a nonprofit organization, founded in 1965 in Chicago by pianist Muhal Richard Abrams, pianist Jodie Christian, drummer Steve McCall, and composer Phil Cohran. The AACM is devote ...

. In 1967-68 he played in Home Juice, a blues band in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

that included singer/harmonic player Jeff Carp, trumpeter

Jordan Sandke Jordan Sandke is an American jazz trumpeter, cornetist, and fluegelhornist. Biography Sandke was born around 1946. His main area of musical interest is the swing era.Wilson, John S. (March 2, 1988 ''The New York Times''. He and his brother, Randy ...

, guitarist Paul Asbell, bassist Al McClain and drummer Paul Morris. In 1968, he moved back to the

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...

where he played in Latin bands,

rhythm & blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

bands and jazz groups in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

and

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

. His early influences included

Sonny Rollins Walter Theodore "Sonny" Rollins (born September 7, 1930) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist who is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. In a seven-decade career, he has recorded over sixty albums as a ...

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of br ...

Dexter Gordon Dexter Gordon (February 27, 1923 – April 25, 1990) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and actor. He was among the most influential early bebop musicians, which included other greats such as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gi ...

Ornette Coleman Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman (March 9, 1930 – June 11, 2015) was an American jazz saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter, and composer known as a principal founder of the free jazz genre, a term derived from his 1960 album '' Free Jazz: A Colle ...

and

Albert Ayler Albert Ayler (; July 13, 1936 – November 25, 1970) was an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist, singer and composer. After early experience playing R&B and bebop, Ayler began recording music during the free jazz era of the 1960s. Howev ...

as well as

Jim Pepper Jim Gilbert Pepper II (June 18, 1941 – February 10, 1992) was a jazz saxophonist, composer and singer of Kaw and Muscogee Creek Native American heritage. He moved to New York City in 1964, where he came to prominence in the late 1960s as a mem ...

, who was also from Portland. Between 1968 and 1975, he interspersed periods of musical activity with time spent climbing mountains and exploring the deserts and jungles of the Western US,

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

. From 1977-81 Halley performed in the experimental group Multnomah Rhythm Ensemble that explored improvised music in combination with multi-media. His first recording, ''Multnomah Rhythms'' (Avocet), was released in 1983.

1980s and 1990s

During the 80s and 90s, Halley was the leader of the Lizard Brothers, a three or four horn sextet that released five recordings on Avocet and

Nine Winds Nine Winds is an American jazz record label that was founded in 1977 by Vinny Golia. Golia is a self-taught musician who plays over fifty woodwind instruments, in addition to brass. In the early 1970s, he believed it was impossible for musicians ...

and performed in the US and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. The Lizard Brothers featured complex, multi-sectioned charts combined with open improvisation. At various times the group included, reed player

Vinny Golia Vinny Golia (born March 1, 1946) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist specializing in woodwind instruments. He performs in the genres of contemporary music, jazz, free jazz, and free improvisation. Career As a composer, Golia fuse ...

, trombonist Michael Vlatkovich, trumpeter Rob Blakeslee, saxophonist Troy Grugett, saxophonist Gary Harris, trombonist Tom Hill, pianist Geoff Lee, bassist Phil Sparks and drummer William Thomas. In 1991-92 Halley played in the cooperative band Jack’s Headlights that included trumpeter Rob Blakeslee, saxophonist Hans Teuber, bassist

Michael Bisio Michael Bisio (March 4, 1955 Troy, New York, Troy, New York) is an American jazz double bassist, composer, and bandleader. Since 2009 he has been the bassist for the Matthew Shipp Trio. Bisio appears on over 100 CDs, leading on 12 CDs and co-l ...

and drummer Aaron Alexander. Halley co-founded Portland’s Creative Music Guild in 1991 after being disappointed with the lack of performing opportunities for non-traditional jazz musicians. Since 1994 he has been the musical director of the Penofin Jazz Festival in

Northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...

, which has presented many leading creative jazz artists.

2000s

In 2001, Halley formed a trio with bassist Clyde Reed and drummer Dave Storrs. This band was more oriented toward free improvisation and less toward writing. From 2001 to 2005 the group released three trio recordings on Louie Records plus a quartet recording with cornetist

Bobby Bradford Bobby Lee Bradford (born July 19, 1934) is an American jazz trumpeter, cornetist, bandleader, and composer. In addition to his solo work, Bradford is noted for his work with John Carter, Vinny Golia and Ornette Coleman. In October 2009, Bradfo ...

in 2003. Rich Halley is also the leader of the Outside Music Ensemble, a four horn/two percussion sextet that performs in purely acoustic outdoor settings. For 13 consecutive years the OME performed annual hike-in concerts on top of the butte in Powell Butte Nature Park as part of the Portland Parks Summer Concert Series. The group includes trombonist Michael Vlatkovich, trumpeter Jim Knodle, saxophonist Troy Grugett, percussionist Dave Storrs and drummer Carson Halley.

Recent

In 2010 Halley released ''Live at the Penofin Jazz Festival'' featuring cornetist

on his own label, Pine Eagle Records. Around this time he formed the Rich Halley 4 with trombonist Michael Vlatkovich, bassist Clyde Reed and drummer Carson Halley, his son. This group has released six recordings. Halley emphasizes the importance of what he calls compositional group improvisation. This is the spontaneous development of musical structures by the group as it improvises, creating a varied musical story which provides a foundation for the drama and emotion in the music. Rich Halley has worked with poets and dancers over the years, and in 2011, he released ''Children of the Blue Supermarket'' with poet Dan Raphael and drummer Carson Halley. This CD was picked as one of the best recordings of the year by Tom Hull in the 2011

Rhapsody (online music service) Napster is a music streaming service based in Seattle, Washington. Napster started as an audio search engine named Aladdin that was purchased by Listen.com in May 2001 and became the basis for its new streaming service, called Rhapsody, that lau ...

jazz poll. In 2011, the Rich Halley 4 released ''Requiem for a Pit Viper'', which was picked by Francis Davis in the

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the creat ...

as one of the best recordings of the year. Davis recognized Halley as one of the top up and coming saxophonists in jazz. In 2012, the Rich Halley 4 released ''Back From Beyond'', which was listed in

as one of the best CD’s of the year. Halley has performed with

Obo Addy Obo Addy (January 15, 1936 – September 13, 2012) was a Ghanaian drummer and dancer who was one of the first native African musicians to bring the fusion of traditional folk music and Western pop music known as ''worldbeat'' to Europe and ...

Matthew Shipp Matthew Shipp (born December 7, 1960) is an American pianist, composer, and bandleader. Early life and education Shipp was raised in Wilmington, Delaware, and began playing piano at six years old. His mother was a friend of trumpeter Clifford B ...

Newman Taylor Baker Newman Taylor Baker (born February 4, 1943) is a jazz drummer and a washboard player. Early life Newman Taylor Baker's paternal grandfather, Thomas Nelson Baker Sr., was the only former slave to receive a PhD from Yale University (1906). His f ...

, Rob Blakeslee,

Nels Cline Nels Courtney Cline (born January 4, 1956) is an American guitarist and composer. He has been the guitarist for the band Wilco since 2004. In the 1980s he played jazz, often in collaboration with his twin brother Alex Cline, Alex, a percussionis ...

David Friesen David Friesen (born May 6, 1942 in Tacoma, Washington) is an American jazz bassist. He plays double bass and electric upright bass. Career Friesen began playing bass while serving in the United States Army in Germany. He played with John Hand ...

Julius Hemphill Julius Arthur Hemphill (January 24, 1938 – April 2, 1995) was a jazz composer and saxophone player. He performed mainly on alto saxophone, less often on soprano and tenor saxophones and flute. Biography Hemphill was born in Fort Worth, Texas, ...

, Andrew Hill,

Oliver Lake Oliver Lake (born September 14, 1942) is an American jazz saxophonist, flutist, composer, poet, and visual artist. He is known mainly for alto saxophone, but he also performs on soprano and flute. During the 1960s, Lake worked with the Black Art ...

Tony Malaby Tony Malaby (born January 12, 1964) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Malaby was born in Tucson, Arizona. He moved to New York City in 1995 and played with several notable jazz groups, including Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra, ...

and Michael Vlatkovich.

Personal life

Halley was educated as a field

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

and received a

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

from the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

where he did research on

rattlesnakes Rattlesnakes are venomous snakes that form the genera ''Crotalus'' and ''Sistrurus'' of the subfamily Crotalinae (the pit vipers). All rattlesnakes are vipers. Rattlesnakes are predators that live in a wide array of habitats, hunting small anima ...

. His lifelong interest in nature has informed his music and led him on many trips into wilderness regions around the world. He worked for many years in

information technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology system (I ...

. He is married to Betty Halley and lives in Portland, Oregon.

Discography

* ''Multnomah Rhythms'', Rich Halley, Avocet P-100-1, 1983 * ''Ross Island'', Dave Storrs and the Tone Sharks w/ Rich Halley, Avocet P-101, 1984 * ''Song of the Backlands'', Rich Halley and the Lizard Brothers, Avocet P-103, 1985 * ''Jumper Cables'', Dave Storrs and the Tone Sharks w/ Rich Halley, Avocet P-104, 1987 * ''Cracked Sidewalks'', Rich Halley and the Lizard Brothers, Avocet P-105, 1988 * ''Saxophone Animals'', Rich Halley and the Lizard Brothers, Nine Winds 0139, 1991 * ''Umatilla Variations'', Rich Halley and the Lizard Brothers, Nine Winds 0163, 1994 * ''Live at Beanbenders'', Rich Halley and the Lizard Brothers, Nine Winds 0215, 1998 * ''Waterloo Ice House'', Rob Blakeslee, Rich Halley, Clyde Reed, Dave Storrs, Louie 012, 1999 * ''Coyotes in the City'', Rich Halley, Clyde Reed, Dave Storrs, Louie 021, 2001 * ''Objects'', Rich Halley, Clyde Reed, Dave Storrs, Louie 025, 2002 * ''Trialogue'', Mark Burdon, Rich Halley, Josh Dahlager, Straw Dog 02/01, 2003 * ''The Blue Rims'', Rich Halley, Bobby Bradford, Clyde Reed, Dave Storrs, Louie 030, 2003 * ''Across 36 Continents'', Michael Vlatkovich Ensemble w/ Rich Halley, pfMENTUM 030, 2005 * ''Mountains and Plains'', Rich Halley, Clyde Reed, Dave Storrs, Louie 035, 2005 * ''Live at the Penofin Jazz Festival'', Rich Halley, Bobby Bradford, Clyde Reed, Carson Halley, Pine Eagle 001, 2010 * ''Children of the Blue Supermarket'', Dan Raphael, Rich Halley, Carson Halley, Pine Eagle 002, 2011 * ''Requiem for a Pit Viper'', Rich Halley, Michael Vlatkovich, Clyde Reed, Carson Halley, Pine Eagle 003, 2011 * ''Back from Beyond'', Rich Halley, Michael Vlatkovich, Clyde Reed, Carson Halley, Pine Eagle 004, 2012 * ''Crossing the Passes'', Rich Halley, Michael Vlatkovich, Clyde Reed, Carson Halley, Pine Eagle 005, 2013 * ''The Wisdom of Rocks'', Rich Halley, Michael Vlatkovich, Clyde Reed, Carson Halley, Pine Eagle 006, 2014 * ''Creating Structure'', Rich Halley, Michael Vlatkovich, Clyde Reed, Carson Halley, Pine Eagle 007, 2015 * ''Eleven'', Rich Halley, Michael Vlatkovich, Clyde Reed, Carson Halley, Pine Eagle 008, 2015 * ''The Outlier'', Rich Halley, Vinny Golia, Michael Vlatkovich, Clyde Reed, Carson Halley, Pine Eagle 009, 2016 * ''The Wild'', Rich Halley, Carson Halley, Pine Eagle 010, 2017 * ''The Literature'', Rich Halley, Clyde Reed, Carson Halley, Pine Eagle 011, 2018 * ''Terra Incognita'', Rich Halley, Matthew Shipp, Michael Bisio, Newman Taylor Baker, Pine Eagle 012, 2019 * ''The Shape of Things'', Rich Halley, Matthew Shipp, Michael Bisio, Newman Taylor Baker, Pine Eagle 013, 2020 * ''Boomslang'', Rich Halley, Carson Halley, Clyde Reed, Dan Clucas, Pine Eagle 014, 2021

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Halley, Rich 1947 births Living people American jazz tenor saxophonists American male saxophonists Musicians from Portland, Oregon University of Chicago alumni 21st-century American saxophonists 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians