Dannie Richmond

This article is about the jazz drummer. For the hockey player, see Danny Richmond.

Dannie Richmond
Richmond performing at Half Moon Bay California June 23, 1981 Photo: Brian McMillen
Background information
Born	December 15, 1931(1931-12-15) New York City, New York United States
Died	March 15, 1988(1988-03-15) (aged 56) Los Angeles, California United States
Genres	Jazz, R&B, pop
Occupations	Musician, music director, bandleader
Instruments	Drums, tenor saxophone
Years active	1955–1988
Labels	Impulse! Records, Timeless Records, Landmark Records
Associated acts	Mingus Dynasty, Mark-Almond, Elton John, Joe Cocker

Dannie Richmond (December 15, 1931^[1] – March 15, 1988) was an American drummer who was best known among jazz fans for his work with Charles Mingus, and among pop fans for his work with Joe Cocker, Elton John and Mark-Almond.

Richmond was born in New York, New York City, New York, and started playing tenor saxophone at the age of thirteen; he went on to play R&B with the Paul Williams band^[2] in 1955.

His career took off when he took up the drums, though, through the formation of what was to be a 21-year association with Charles Mingus.^[3]

"Dannie became Mingus's equivalent to Harry Carney in the Ellington band, an indispensable ingredient of 'the Mingus sound' and a close friend as well".^[4].

That association continued after Mingus' death when Richmond became the first musical director of the group Mingus Dynasty in 1980.

Discography

As leader

• 1965: "In" Jazz for the Culture Set (Impulse! Records)
• 1979: Ode to Mingus (Soul Note)
• 1980: Dannie Richmond Plays Charles Mingus (Timeless Records) with Ricky Ford, Jack Walrath, Bob Neloms, Cameron Brown
• 1980: Hand to Hand with George Adams (Soul Note)
• 1980: The Last Mingus Band A.D. (Landmark Records) aka Dannie Richmond Quintet (Gatemouth Records) with Ricky Ford, Jack Walrath, Bob Neloms, Cameron Brown
• 1981: Three or Four Shade (Tutu)
• 1983: Gentleman’s Agreement with George Adams (Soul Note)
• 1983: Dionysius

As sideman

With Charles Mingus

• The Clown (1957)
• East Coasting (1957)
• Tijuana Moods (1957)
• Jazz Portraits: Mingus in Wonderland (1959)
• Blues & Roots (1959)
• Mingus Ah Um (1959)
• Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus (1960)
• Mingus at Antibes (1960)
• Reincarnation of a Lovebird (1960)
• Oh Yeah (1961)
• Town Hall Concert (1962)
• The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady (1963)
• Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus (1963)
• The Cornell Concert (1964)
• Right Now: Live at the Jazz Workshop (Fantasy, 1964)
• Mingus at Monterey (1964)
• Mingus In Paris (1964)
• Mingus in Europe (1964)
• Let My Children Hear Music (1971)
• Mingus Moves (1973)
• Changes One (1973)
• Changes Two (1973)
• Mingus at Carnegie Hall (1974)
• Cumbia & Jazz Fusion (1976)
• Me, Myself an Eye (1978)
• Something Like a Bird (1978)

With George Adams & Don Pullen

• Jazz a Confronto 21 (Horo, 1975)
• All That Funk (Palcoscenico, 1979)
• More Funk (Palcoscenico, 1979)
• Don't Lose Control (Soul Note, 1979)
• Earth Beams (Timeless, 1981)
• Life Line (Timeless, 1981)
• City Gates (Timeless, 1983)
• Live at the Village Vanguard (Soul Note, 1983)
• Live at the Village Vanguard Vol. 2 (Soul Note, 1983)
• Decisions (Timeless, 1984)
• Live at Montmartre (Timeless, 1985)
• Breakthrough (Blue Note, 1986)
• Song Everlasting (Blue Note, 1987)

With Chet Baker

• Chet Baker Sings (1956)

With Booker Ervin

• The Book Cooks (1960)

With John Jenkins

• John Jenkins with Kenny Burrell (1957)

With Herbie Nichols

• Love, Gloom, Cash, Love (1957)

With Mal Waldron

• What It Is (Enja, 1981)

References

1. ^ Although Richmond himself gave his birth year as 1935, the New York Times obituary of Richmond states that he was born in 1931 http://www.nytimes.com/1988/03/18/obituaries/dannie-richmond-56-drummer-with-mingus.html. The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, 2nd Edition, vol.3, p.411, states that Richmond's social security records confirm this.
2. ^ Yanow, Scott. "Dannie Richmond: Biography". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p7420. Retrieved 2010-07-25. 
3. ^ Litweiler, John (1984). The Freedom Principle: Jazz After 1958. Da Capo. pp. 26. ISBN 0-306-80377-1. 
4. ^ Priestly, B. Mingus - A Critical Biography. London: Paladin, 1982, p.86.

External links

• Allmusic biography
• Dannie Richmond at the Internet Movie Database

Persondata
Name	Richmond, Dannie
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	December 15, 1935
Place of birth
Date of death	March 15, 1988
Place of death