Rich Halley

REVIEWS

"No saxophonist out there is playing with more fire, muscle, sheer guts or wild abandon than Halley. But as out there as he can get, there's always a boppish discipline, a thread of containment"

-Dan McClenaghan, allaboutjazz

"Halley is an advanced, modern player with a ferocious, warbling tone, complete command of his horn and an eclectic approach that takes in both traditional improvising and free-wheeling, expressive sounds... [Coyotes in the City is] a fine new album that nicely captures the fierce spirit of the group."

-Paul DeBarros, Seattle Times

"Play Halley's exceptionally well-recorded new "Objects" (Louie) loud, and hear not only the easy flow of why-didn't-I-think-of-that structures, but the subtle note-to-note variations in volume, shaping and tone (imagine if Dexter Gordon grew up 30 years later) that only masters can achieve. Halley's logic contrasts with the playful reactivity of longtime trio mates Clyde Reed (bass) and Dave Storrs (drums), who...create DNA-specific free jazz."

-Greg Burk, LA Weekly

""Objects" is classic sax/bass/drums blowing and it's tremendous stuff all round. Halley's tenor playing is stern and carefully-weighted, his lines so definite they sound like they're carved on the air; his soprano has something of the genial detachment of Steve lacy. This is a group which often reverses roles: here, the horn is often the most stable element of the music, while bassist Clyde Reed and drummer Dave Storrs are the quickchange artists. There's one standard, a gorgeous tumultuous "Over the Rainbow"...The other five pieces take their bearings from simple but effective heads by Halley, though the peformances are sufficiently freewheeling that there's no telling where they'll go."

-Nate Dorward, Paris Transatlantic Magazine

"Whether he's playing tenor or soprano sax, Halley is fierce, his style a heady mix of mainstream and "out" concepts. Of the six tracks here, five are loosely structured but finely developed free pieces, and they find the trio stretching vigorously. Storrs throws odd vocalizations into the mix on the funky "Back in the 400 Club" and the epic finale, "Thickets/Pavement" which Halley begins on wood flute. But just when you think you've got Halley pegged as a maverick free player, along comes "Over the Rainbow", rendered in the classic tenor ballad tradition, summoning Dexter Gordon and Sonny Rollins, Coltrane, Liebman and beyond."

-David R Adler, All Music Guide

"Tenor saxophonist Halley's raspy tone and swaggery timing make him a fine Bradford foil, and the trumpeter is expert at bending his sound to fit his partner's. He knows when to lay back, or quietly harmonize, or twine his line around the tenor in counterpoint, or leap up to lead the charge...Drummer Dave Storrs brings an effective combination of busyness and lift, evoking Edward Blackwell's parade beats just enough to make Bradford feel at home. Vancouver bassist Clyde Reed has a plump tugged-string tone and a slippery sense of time that lets him place accents along a sliding scale within a bar. He and Storrs push ahead and build tension at once. With support like that, Bradford and Halley can sail and wail. The music swings: it's tuneful, it's cohesive."

-Kevin Whitehead, The Absolute Sound

"Recorded in less than four hours, the Oregon session is one of those that distinguish jazz from other kinds of music. With the ADAT machines turned on the morning after an evening concert by the four, they just played -- with a break for sandwiches and stories. The result is the sort of spontaneous and exciting CD that Nashville sweeteners and Los Angeles multi-trackers try to duplicate during several months of studio time and usually fail to equal ."

-Ken Waxman, jazzweekly.com

"You know what you are getting into when the music starts to boil and spark on the first track. The saxophonist remarks in the notes for this disc that some of the music was written for a series of outdoor concerts in a nature setting east of Portland and that also reflects in the music; there is an air about Reed's rich dark tone on the upright bass that blends with Storr's restless percussion to create a buoyant support for the tenor saxophonist, particularly on the sinuous "Half Light" where Halley waxes breathy like Dexter, then catches fire. The opposite side of his nature comes through loud and clear on the final selection "Rimrocks" where he lights into multiphonics that threaten to scorch the disc."

-Steve Vickery, Signal to Noise

"While bursting with the vitality and imagination of free jazz, the music manages to retain more than a semblance of focus and direction. In addition to the highly improvistional goings on, we get to hear the grit, sweat and virtuosity of a band which has not forsaken all those jazz personages and styles that have gone before them... Recommended."

-Dave Nathan, allabout jazz.com

"Halley's inventive circular breathing on the soprano sax and his rhythmic drive show that he deserves far more recognition."

-Aaron Cohen, Down Beat

"Rich Halley... plays with a burly, quaking sound on both tenor and soprano, slightly menacing but also redolent of of ecstatic lyricism. His forte is an expressionistic free jazz with roots in late Coltrane, post-bop Rollins, Ornette Coleman and other 60's icons. But Halley's superb technical command, imagination and taste ensure that everything he plays implies form and a range of emotions that elude many who trod this ground. "Coyotes in the City" finds Halley jettisoning the larger bands he has previously recorded with in favor of a quick-reflex trio with bassist Clyde Reed and drummer Dave Storrs that glides deftly between dense but flowing grooves and liquid rubatos that wail with beauty."

-Mark Stryker, Detroit Free Press

"The interplay between Halley and Bradford hearkens back in its atonality to Ornette's playing with Don Cherry, but the play never ceases to swing, in no small part because of the tirelessly inventive rhythms laid down by Reed and Storrs...There is a harmonic richness to this album distinct from the occasionally remarked fury of earlier releases, as well as an unmistakable understanding between the two horns...This record feels in every way a Jazz record, that, to paraphrase Halley one last time, respects tradition by striving to extend it."

-Michael Coyle, Cadence

"Rich Halley is probably the least known among these four saxophonists (Joe Lovano, Evan Parker, Gerd Dudek) but he is easily in the same league...On tenor Halley sports a big, big sound. He's effective etching a plaintive melody such as "Over the Rainbow"...or roaring and wailing in a tenor workout like "Grey Stones"."

-Robert Ianopollo, Cadence

"The Rich Halley Quartet featuring Bobby Bradford agrees beforehand how each tune will start, but then they get to blowing and take the music (and the audience) somewhere fresh each time...Powerful yet accessible, "The Blue Rims" is an admirably creative effort, another in a fine series of discs Halley has recorded for Louie Records"

-Stuart Kremsky, International Association of Jazz Record Collectors

"Halley has a knack for writing open melodic themes full of aggressive swing that provide effective structures for freewheeling exploration. Storrs and Reed are masters at propelling the pieces along with an elastic sense of time, moving back and forth from pulsing groove to open freedom with relaxed authority."

-Michael Rosenstein, Signal to Noise

"As fine a free jazz outing as you'll hear...sonic rambles gelling into taut, bopping melodies that break apart and reassemble in surprising ways: a set that tops last year's "Objects"."

-Dan McClenaghan, allabout jazz

"Coyotes in the City" is a freebop session of the sort that illumines the music of the past without being in thrall to it. Halley and his trio creates intimate, expressive modern jazz that demands sustained interest. The chemistry amongst these players is readily evident - especially on "Rimrocks", a piece that burns with a relaxed, intuitive intensity that cannot be learned (or taught). Highly Recommended."

-Dave Wayne, jazzweekly.com

"Kudos, then, to Oregon saxophonist Rich Halley for seeking Bradford out and hiring him for this date with the sturdy rhythm section of bassist Clyde Reed and drummer Dave Storrs. Like many of Halley's compositions, several of the half-dozen recorded by the quartet are influenced by nature and the cosmos, and the music is appropriately varied, wild and spiritual."

-James Hale, Coda

"West Coast Tenor Saxophonist Rich Halley leads his sextet through 5 compositions,which feature tight arrangements, feisty soloing and positive vibes. The drama and excitement is captured live at this Berkeley, California venue. ...What ensues is a collection of Halley original compositions which display forward motion, strong grooves and at times complex yet well-coordinated horn charts. Modern, thoroughly entertaining and fast paced, Halley and company deliver the goods in sparkling fashion. ****1/2"

-Glenn Astarita, All About Jazz

"When the first ferocious sounds of Rich Halley's "Coyotes in the City" came growling out of the stereo, I thought: Ornette on tenor and Ornette's playing with an attitude today. ...That opener - a take no prisoners tour de force entitled "Green, Brown and Blue" - burns for thirteen-plus minutes, long enough to singe the little hairs in your ear canals. ...The CD as a whole - after the first frontal assault of the opener - is atmospheric, eerie, beautiful in a restrained and dangerous-sounding way. Halley's tenor playing is muscular in the Sonny Rollins sense, and his compositions and backing are cohesive, tight and sublime."

-Dan McClenaghan, The American Reporter

"Halley's music springs from a more turbulent impulse and his compositions - filled with dark and somber hues and barely contained furies- are used to anchor some heady freer blowing... Halley is a potent tenor player with a big sound and expressive facility"

-Stuart Broomer, Cadence

David Leibman Review in Saxophone Journal

Coyotes in the City review on jazzweekley.com by Ken Waxman
Live at Beanbenders reviewed by Michael Nastos on the All Music Guide
Review of Live at Beanbenders on The Improvisor
Review of Coyotes in the City on jazzreview.com by John Doll
Review of Louie Records and Coyotes in the City on All About Jazz by Laurence Donohue-Greene

Biography

Biographical article from Jazz Forum

Thumbnail Biography

Rich Halley is a saxophonist and composer who performs in settings that range from solo to large groups. He performs frequently with the Rich Halley Trio which includes Clyde Reed on bass and Dave Storrs on drums

Over the last two decades, Rich has been the leader of the Lizard Brothers, a sextet whose performances are both "on the edge" and rooted in jazz tradition. The Lizard Brothers have performed at festivals and clubs on the West Coast and in Canada.

Rich Halley has played in jazz groups, rhythm and blues bands and Latin bands in Chicago, San Francisco, the Pacific Northwest and abroad. He was the leader of Multnomah Rhythm Ensemble, a group that combined new jazz with multi-media. He has performed with Andrew Hill, Julius Hemphill, Oliver Lake, Bobby Bradford, Vinny Golia, Obo Addy, Tony Malaby, Michael Vlatkovich, Rob Blakeslee, Michael Bisio and Bert Wilson. Rich is a founder of Oregon's Creative Music Guild.

Rich Halley was educated as a field biologist. His lifelong interest in nature and his love of adventure has informed his music and led him on many trips into wilderness regions around the world. He lives with his family in Portland, Oregon.