He is a guitarist, singer-songwriter and teacher who started out his professional career with the Gerald Wilson Orchestra when he was 21 years old, where he would learn what it was like to play alongside artists such as Snooky Young and Marshall Royal.
He would soon move into the world of studio musicianship as well as live jazz sessions and notched up appearances with many acclaimed jazz performers including Jim Keltner, Jeff Porcaro, Stanley Clarke and Art Pepper.
In the early 1980s he was a member of the rock quartet Big Ric and at the same time he performed with the jazz-fusion group Uncle Festive that was led by the Big Ric drummer Bud Harner. With Uncle Festive they would also back Barry Manilow for a decade until they disbanded in 1990.
Continually in demand in the recording studio as well as on live sessions he has gone on to appear with numerous successful and/or chart-entering artists such as George Benson, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, David Benoit, Randy Crawford, Melissa Manchester, Janet Jackson, Al Jarreau and many more.
He is a founder member of the organ/guitar duo, Kombo, with the pianist Ron Pedley who was also in Uncle Festive, and from 1999 they have released the albums The Big Blast and Cooking Out. He is also a founder member of the contemporary jazz group Jazz hole who have seen success with several albums including …And the Feeling goes Round, Blackburst and Circle of the Sun.
In the world of movies and television he has contributed to soundtracks such as Miami Vice, Six Feet Under, Court TV and many of NBC’s “Movie of the Week”, music for companies such as ESPN, The Family Channel, HBO, McDonalds and Coca Cola.
Working in musical education he has been an instructor and clinician since the 1980s where he has given clinics for companies such as Yamaha Corps and CBS Musical Instruments, and he was a jazz ensemble instructor at Concordia College, Bronxville, New York, for a four-year period from 1999 to 2003.
Big Ric recordings
Take Away (Bud Harner/John Pondel/Kevin DiSimone)
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