Richard Elliot
Show Date: Friday, June 24, 2022
Show Time: 8:30 PM
Doors Open: 7:00 PM
Ticket Price: $35-$65
Show Type: Jazz
Restrictions: All Ages
“There are absolute parallels between jazz and flying,” confesses Grammy-nominated tenor titan Richard Elliot who has been flying airplanes for the past three decades. The Renaissance man, who is currently engrossed in the colossal project of building his own airplane, adds “When you are performing and flying you are 100 percent consumed and focused on that experience from a technical perspective, emotional and aesthetic perspective, taking in everything around you.” Elliot, who has also successfully moonlighted as a software engineer, has a laser-like focus and creative vision that knows no bounds. The chart-topping saxophonist and pioneering Contemporary Jazz musician’s instantly recognizable trademark tenor has afforded him the opportunity to work with everyone from Smokey Robinson, Bonnie Raitt and The Temptations to Dave Koz, Tower of Power and Gerald Albright, to name a few. On January 29, 2021, Richard Elliot offers the perfect antidote to a year wrought with challenges and setbacks. Authentic Life is the Scottish-born, LA-raised saxophonist’s Shanachie debut – his first new album in five years. It’s an inspiring collection comprised mostly of originals that speak to Elliot’s optimistic outlook on life. “The recording has a positive and uplifting feel which is what we all need right now,” reflects the San Diego resident. “A lot of the inspiration is based on the idea of living life in a mindful way, with focus and in the truest way possible that allows you to be sincere in your actions and intentions with other human beings.”
At the age of eleven Richard Elliot discovered his calling in his junior high school jazz band led by baritone saxophonist John McGruder, a studio musician and Don Ellis’ band alumnus. Around this time he also heard two tenormen who would turn his world upside down, Grover Washington Jr. and Dexter Gordon. He recalls a pivotal moment at 16 going to see Dexter at Concerts By the Sea in Redondo Beach, CA.“I watched this big man come out on stage with an enormous presence before he had even blown a note. I was mesmerized. He blew the first note and it was this huge sound that blew me away.” In the 80s Elliot became a touring member of the soul-funk outfit Tower of Power. He released debut solo album, Trolltown, in 1986 and shortly thereafter he began a fruitful relationship with Bruce Lundvall and was signed to Blue Note Records. Elliot has released more than 20 albums as a leader, his most recent being 2016’s Summer Madness and has scored more than 20 Top 10 Smooth Jazz singles and #1 Contemporary Jazz albums including On The Town, Soul Embrace, After Dark, and Jumpin’ Off. His 2013 collaboration with saxophonists Dave Koz Gerald Albright and Mindi Abair, Summer Horns, was Grammy-nominated. A crowd-pleasing favorite on the festival circuit, Elliot has also garnered wide praise for his all-star touring attraction West Coast Jam that includes longtime collaborators.
The ever-evolving and continually inspired Richard Elliot concludes, “I definitely don’t feel the same sense of urgency that I did in my younger years. I always felt that I had something to prove whereas now, I only need to prove to myself that I am growing as human being and artist. It’s really about living an Authentic Life, doing what feels right and accepting life in all of its facets.”