feature photo: Walter Wlodarcyzk
Steph Richards is an exceptional trumpet player who belongs in a rare company of trumpeters like Wadada Leo Smith and Lina Allemano who have a vision that goes way beyond what’s been done and reaches out toward what can be made possible.
We’re unveiling above a video – created by Vipal Monga – for “Zephyr,” the opening track for Richards’ upcoming album of the same name. Richards is not averse to taking risks, which is underscored by doing away with the conventional quartet format of before and making this album entirely with only Joshua White and his piano and percussion as accompaniment. Richards was in her third trimester while recording these tracks and she channels the energy and spirit of an extra heartbeat into these free-form songs.
The performance featured here illustrates Richards’ dauntless disposition. After a brief, precise trumpet remark, White’s piano sets up the both the melody and the rhythm. Richards’ trumpet prowls around for most of the song until White’s light rhythm goes heavy on a prepared piano with only forty ticks left, ushering in the tension you didn’t know was lurking around the corner. Richard and White converge as a single unit, chopping their way to an abrupt end.
Steph Richards’ highly individual approach to the trumpet and the interesting twists heard on “Zephyr” sets the pattern for the rest of the album, which includes Richards even playing the trumpet in water(!).
Zephyr will drop on October 15, 2021, from Relative Pitch Records.
