Richard Sears, a Brooklyn-based pianist, was raised in Santa Cruz Mountains’ redwood splendor. He is an emerging force on jazz scene and has established himself as an ambitious composer and fierce improviser. His most recent album, “Skyline”, (2015) was released by Fresh Sound Records in Barcelona. The highly acclaimed trio session confirmed his status as a player with great promise. Sears has been performing with some of jazz’s most prominent figures, including Chick Corea and Joshua Redman, Eric Revis, and Billy Hart (sobbing for Ethan Iverson) in Hart’s famed quartet with Mark Turner, Ben Street, and Mark Turner. He has received six-part commissions from the Aaron Copland Fond and the Los Angeles Jazz Society to compose a suite in honour of Albert “Tootie”, Heath. This piece was premiered at the 2013 Angel City Jazz Festival. Ropeadope Records will release a recording of Heath’s project, featuring saxophonists Patrick Wolff (and Steven Lugerner) in August 2016. He grew up in Los Gatos and was inspired by the Bay Area’s rich jazz scene. He also found mentors in pianists Geoffrey Keezer and Smith Dobson. In 2005, he moved to Los Angeles to attend the USC Thornton School of Music. He made important connections with Roy McCurdy and Putter Smith. In 2012 while still in Los Angeles, Richard recorded a direct-to-disc LP for the indie label Stones Throw with drummer Louis Cole, of the band Knower, and multi-instrumentalist Sam Gendel, the guiding spirit behind psychedelic project INGA. Richard maintains a close musical relationship with his peers. In New York, Richard performs regularly with fellow musicians such as drummer Craig Weinrib, Martin Nevin, bassist Martin Filiu, and guitarist Ben van Gelder. Richard is currently performing and teaching abroad. He gave a solo piano concert at Tangier in April 2016 for International Jazz Day. This concert was presented by UNESCO and US Embassy of Morocco. Richard was a featured performer at the 2015 JazzUV Festival Internacional, Xalapa (Mexico). Richard is currently an instructor at the New School for Contemporary Music, New York, as well as the Stanford Jazz Workshop, California. – Andrew Gilbert writes for the San Francisco Chronicle and the San Jose Mercury from http://richardsearsmusic.com
