Jazz Duets By Greg Richter & Jill Atherton

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"Pure Imagination"

Jazz Duets By:

Greg Richter

Jill Atherton

Jill's Photo by:

Joslyn Dugas

Greg's photo by:

Grand Hotel Photos

Greg Richter, piano and keyboards. Greg lived for 13 years on St. Croix performing regularly with Jimmy Hamilton, (famed clarinetist of the Duke Ellington Orchestra). He has performed with such diverse talents as: Cab Calloway, Little Anthony, The Shirelles, Gary Burton, James Cotton, Boots Randolph, Frank Foster, and Dizzy Gillespie. He has served as pianist and music director for The Wiz, Camelot, and Gypsy. After working for 4 years at the Grand Hotel Resort, Mackinaw Island, Michigan(1993-1996), Greg returned to Kansas City in the fall of 1996. Greg has also produced and performed on recordings including “Old Friends-New Point" with Bobby Watson; he played vibes, arranged for strings, Dixieland combo, and full big band, and conducted for Noel Scott/Don Warner's CD "Mosaic"; and performed on and arranged all of the tracks for “Track 13” with Megan Birdsall also featuring Bobby Watson. Greg now performs at many of the top jazz venues throughout the Midwest. Greg is the Rhythm Section and Jazz Combo instructor for Kansas City Youth Jazz inc.

Jill Atherton, woodwinds, earned her Bachelor of Music performance degree from Washburn University and her Master of Music Performance degree from Wichita State University. She has performed with the Kansas City Symphony, in concert with Anne Hampton Calloway & with Ben Vereen, with the popular "Boulevard Big Band", and with the unique ensemble "Half Mad Poet". She has also performed regularly as a member of the River City Jazz Orchestra and Descarga KC. Jill has also held the position of clarinet and saxophone instructor at Ottawa University. She is featured on Megan Birdsall's CD "Track 13" and plays all of the supporting sax and clarinet parts (equal to an entire sax section) on Noel Scott & Don Warner's CD "Mosaic". Jill is the Saxophone instructor for Kansas City Youth Jazz Inc.

"Pure Imagination"

This recording started with a favor between friends. In August of 2006 my Sensei and great friend of many years, Gerard Patalidis, passed away. Between my work schedule, limited finances, and teaching obligations I found it impossible to go to St. Croix for his funeral. The song "Theme For The Frenchman" was composed the day I learned of his passing, and recorded only a few days before his funeral. Thanks to the miracle of electronic mail, I was able to make a statement at his memorial services through my music. The song is all about the melody, which continues throughout the piece without a break. All of the improvisation and the development of the composition occurs around it. Only a person with a pure tone, great intonation and breath control, steady time, mental focus, and natural musicality could make that come across while I "let myself go" at the piano. I had, as I mentioned, limited resources and time with which to accomplish my goal of recording it, and only one person in my circle of friends had all the skills necessary to help me. That person is the talented Ms. Jill Atherton. I have played many nights with Jill in live performance, and relied on her to perform difficult parts in recording sessions even when she had to sight read everything right there in the studio (several of her exemplary performances can be found on Megan Birdsall's CD: "Track 13"). She has always lived up to and exceeded my challenges. When I called her to help me with a late night recording session for "Frenchman", she not only made the time available for me and performed flawlessly, she also refused any compensation whatsoever. A few weeks later, we performed a series of duet gigs for Friday evenings at The Nelson Museum Of Art's; "Rozelle Court" dining area. Jill played so beautifully in that acoustically difficult environment (where I had to use my new Korg Extreme Workstation as a piano), that I called another great friend of mine, the talented saxophonist/recording engineer, Noel Scott. I told him that I wanted to book his services for one evening to record Jill and I playing some of the things that we were doing at the Nelson Art Gallery gig. Noel, had met Jill when she came to his home studio and recorded multiple overdubs in a single session, creating the effect of a full big band sax ensemble, on his popular CD: "Mosaic". He liked her right away, both as a performer and personally, and told me that he was not in the habit of recording saxophonists other than himself, but that he would be happy to do it for Jill and I. He gave me a date and although we arrived at his cozy little studio much later than we had planned, Noel made us feel not just comfortable, but welcome. We set up my Korg, played through a few things of mine, (which, by the way, have really only been performed by Jill), while Noel deftly set levels and chose mikes. We then picked out a few of our favorite standards and pop tunes, and went straight to work. Jill and I recorded these pieces in eight first takes. When we finished, we both thought about trying to fix little errors or making a second attempt at a track, but agreed to listen to them first. Our decisions were identical: after listening to these tracks for a few days, we both felt that the spirit of our musical friendship and artistic communication came through on these tracks in a way that would be damaged by changing even one note.

I am listening to the recording as I write this and I realize that Jill's warmth of spirit and musicality are the key to it's emotional appeal. The people who have received advance copies tell me that they have been listening to it over and over. It is relaxing and emotionally healing music to some, fun and interesting to others, and all have said that it captures the true feeling of our live performances. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Jill for all her help to me, her dedication to her students and her art, and most of all for her absolutely honest friendship.

We would both like to extend our warmest thanks to Noel, without whose talented help and personal generosity, we could not have completed this project.

Thanks for your kind attention,

Yours Truly,

Greg Richter

About The Music:

Your Red Wagon: We chose this number because, as Kansas City Musicians, we both love to play the blues. Jay McShann was still alive when we recorded this, but now it becomes a tribute to him.
And I Love Her: I was fooling around with some of the presets on my Korg and this Piano/String blended sound caught our ears. Jill thought it might sound good on this piece and she was right. Her "sub-tone" playing at the beginning really knocks me out.
Ode To Billie Joe: Bobbie Gentry's composition, with it's mysterious story, is just plain fun to play. I remember well when it first came out and how all the Jazz musicians around Wichita, (including Jay McShann and Claude Williams), were using it for a "jam" session tune only a few weeks after it hit the charts.
Theme For The Frenchman: A lot has been said about this song already. Gerard always liked waltzes, and I think that this one would have appealed to him. As a composer I can honestly say that Jill's performance is exactly what I envisioned when I wrote this piece.
It's A Strange Thing: This composition was designed to be fun to improvise over, though it contains some challenging timing issues. We both like to push the boundaries and try out some new tricks on this one, hence the title.
If You Could See Me Now: Tadd Dameron wrote this song to be sung by the great Sarah Vaughn. Her performance of it is still my favorite. Jill and I began to play it as a result of requests from Kansas City's Jazz Doctor, Les Becker.
Pure Imagination: Anthony Newly's theme song for the movie, "Willy Wonka", is as sweet as the bizarre candy world Gene Wilder led us into. My arrangement stretches the form and harmonies into new shapes and flavors, so Jill & I always have a good time on our musical journeys into Roald Dahl's imaginary realm.
Lookin' Around: Another of my originals, this tune uses a sort of "70's" electric piano sound and a similarly styled funky groove. This is one of our favorites to perform live.
A Dream To Share: Jill's "Johnny Hodges-like" note bending gets right to the heart of this piece. She really understands how to make an "Ellington-esque" ballad like this come alive. This song was written with my wife, Malinda, in mind. She is a wonderful wife and an incredible help to me in every aspect of my life. Thanks for everything, Honey.