Andrew Richards - The August Session

Two For The Show Media

New York City vocalist Andrew Richards is allowing no moss to grow on him. He released his self-titled debut recording in 2023, a collection of originals and standards that included a tip of his hat to his home state of Vermont with a slow and moody “Moonlight In Vermont.” As a newer artist, what Richards brings to the table is a voice possessing a complex sweetness. Where John Proulx and Jeff Baker have beautifully pure sweet voices, Richards’ voice includes a bit of sand, not much, just enough to detect.

The August Session follows the same simple paradigm as his debut, with a small group and simple arrangments. The present recording features pianist Moshe Elmakias and saxophonist Stacy Dillard for an intimate date of the old and new. His performance of Charlie Parker’s “My Little Suede Shoes” is warm and swinging, a grand vehicle for Dillard’s tenor saxophone. On the more non-traditional front, Richards programs the Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” and the Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby” both arranged to take full advantage of the small forces applied to them. This same sweet voice can extract the darkness from “Ocean In Between” and sadness from “The Old Country.”

Andrew Richards is a welcome voice in jazz, one that is unique and distinctive. Let’s look forward to what he does next.