Artist description Rich Maraday;Soulfull Jazz Sax Player with Chops

Music Style Contemporary Jazz, smooth jazz ,Funk, Soul,

Musical Influences John Coltrane,Miles Davis, Dexter ,HeadHunters,Jeff Lorber, Mike Brecker, Grover Washington,David Sanborn,Sonny Stitt ,James Brown, Charlie Parker

Similar Artists Grover Washington ,Brecker Brothers ,Maceo Parker

Artist History Rich has performed with such notable artists as Virgin records recording artist "Bill Perry Blues Band", Big Mo recording artist Muralli Coryell, and Altlantic records recording artists Rob Affuso, Sebastioan Bach, and Snake of the popular band "Skid Row". He has opened for such acts as Warren Zevon, Meatloaf, Delbert Mclinton, Room Full Of Blues, Johnny Copland, and "Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes". He has also performed as a member and featured soloist in the house band at the famouse Apollo Theater in Harlem.

Group Members Rich Maraday, Louis Landon, Eric Winter, Paul Baretta, Tony DePoalo

Instruments Soprano, Alto, and Tenor Saxophone

Albums Tangle Room ©1996, The Passage ©1998,When I Close My Eyes -Copywrite 2001 ,The Best Of Rich Maraday -Copywrite 2001

Press Reviews Rich Maraday carries his own spotlight. I don't mean a pole and lights, but something traced to David and his passionate Psalms - and the "Wailing Wall of Jerusalem", which began more than 2000 years ago. So now, when the Middletown man gets on the bandstand and starts to play, or "wail", eyes closed, you know you're in for a ride. A kind of magic lights up the joint. The 33-year-old is one of the greatest sax players to ever bloom in this region. And he's in top form at the exciting Jazz Jams Wednesday nights at Bodles Opera House in Chester. If you've never been to one, jazz sessions are where musicians drop in and jam. It's almost like a secret club with talent as the password. But the doors aren't barred from people coming to enjoy the music. What Maraday and the other superb musicians who drop into Bodles do, is play their hearts out with a freedom they can't bring to paying gigs. I don't mean they aren't professional when playing in a bar. It's just that playing in a bar is really just background for the goings on. Between sets, Maraday talked about his life, music and jam sessions. A 1984 Pine Bush High School grad, he comes from a musical family. His father, Frank Maraday, is a former Middletown High School music teacher. "My father stuck me with the baritone first, but I moved up to the trumpet a year later, then finally to the sax," Maraday said. "And that's where I found my home." In school, he ran the gamut of music from school band, marching band and jazz band. At Orange County Community College, he studied and learned a lot from Doc Feman and Chris Parker. Through the years he's had jobs, but now he supports himself by being a professional musician full time with gigs at Middletown places like Cosimo's and the Erie Pub, where he's also the booking agent. He also plays weddings and parties with a big band. But it's Wednesday nights at Bodles where he can really let out his musical chops. "When I play, there is no b.s. My music comes completely from the inside," he said. "It's very much an emotional release." He lights up a cigarette. "if I couldn't play, I don't know what I'd do with all this bottled-up stuff." When he first started going to jam sessions, he didn't know the rules, but the "old guys taught me. You go to play; not to hog the music. You all have to be on the same page. It's very much a family up there." "It's bad if you get up there without having done your homework and try to show off." he continued. "Man, I did that early on and I was blown off the stage. I remember slinking off stage with my tail between my legs." "What Lou (Louis Landon) and I are trying to do is make this a comfortable experience for any musician that wants to drop by and play." "It's like being a guest in the house." They Jam with what is called "evergreens," music by Cole Porter, Duke Ellington, Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Fats Waller: tunes like "Stella by Starlight," "I'll Remember April," "In A Sentimental Mood," "Misty," "When Sunny Gets Blue" and "All The Things You Are." The music begins, then after a solo, Rich points his finger and the drummer takes over, or the bass player, or the piano man. It's seamless and beautiful - and anything but vanilla. Which is another old jazz expression. "Playing vanilla" means being ordinary, marking time until you die. And that ain't happening here. -Chris Farlekas -The Times Herald-Record -12/1/99

Location Middletown, NY - USA

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