Richie Cole (musician)
Richie Cole (February 29, 1948 – May 2, 2020) was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and arranger. Early life. Cole was born in Trenton, New Jersey. He began to play alto saxophone when he was ten years old, encouraged by his father, who owned a jazz club in New Jersey. He was a graduate of Ewing High School, in Ewing Township, New Jersey. Cole won a scholarship from "DownBeat" magazine to attend the Berklee School of Music in Boston. Career. 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, developing his own "alto madness" bebop style in the 1970s and early 1980s. He formed the Alto Madness Orchestra in the 1990s. Cole performed and recorded with Eddie Jefferson, Nancy Wilson, Tom Waits, The Manhattan Transfer, Hank Crawford, Freddie Hubbard, Eric Kloss, Bobby Enriquez, Phil Woods, Sonny Stitt, Art Pepper, and Boots Randolph. He recorded over fifty albums, including his albums "Hollywood Madness" (Muse, 1979) and "Richie Cole Plays West Side Story" (Music Masters, 1997), a tribute to Leonard Bernstein. He was appointed to the Board  of the National Jazz Service Organization and the Board for the National Endowment for the Arts where he served as chairman for one year. He was a charter member of the International Association of Jazz Educators. In 2005, he was awarded the State of California Congressional Certificate of Lifetime Achievement in Jazz on behalf of the Temecula Jazz Society. Cole died of natural causes on May 2, 2020. Personal life. Cole was briefly engaged to actress Brenda Vaccaro in 1979. He has two daughters, Amanda Marrazzo, a Writer/Reporter/Producer and Annie Cole, a Music Agent. Discography. As sideman. With  Greg Abate With Les DeMerle With Allan Harris With Jim Holman With Freddie Hubbard With Eddie Jefferson With Vic Juris With Peter Lauffer With The Manhattan Transfer With Karen Marguth With Mark Murphy With Oliver Nelson With Anita O'Day With Don Patterson With Buddy Rich With Red Rodney With Janine Santana With Sigmund Snopek III With Sonny Stitt With James Van Buren With Patrice Villastrigo