leo Richardson

Leo Richardson on ubuntu music

Without a doubt, Leo Richardson is widely recognised to be one of London's leading Jazz Tenor Saxophonists, best known for his honest, straight-ahead, contemporary hard-bop style. His most significant influences include John Coltrane, Joe Henderson, Dexter Gordon, Horace Silver and Art Blakey.

In 2009, Leo was awarded a scholarship to study Jazz at the prestigious Trinity College of Music. Whilst at Trinity, Leo studied with world-class saxophonists including Jean Toussaint, Julian Siegel, Martin Speake, Mark Lockheart and Mick Foster. In 2012, Leo was awarded the Trinity College of Music Jazz Achievement Award and in 2013 graduated with a 1st class degree with honours in Jazz Performance. He was also a Worshipful Company of Musicians Young Jazz Musician of the Year finalist in 2016.

Since graduating, Leo has been making a name for himself on the London Jazz scene. He has become an in-demand side man and has collaborated with many well-known musicians at acclaimed venues such as Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, The Royal Albert Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, O2 Arena, Cadogan Hall, The Vortex Jazz Club, Love Supreme Jazz Festival and Glastonbury Music Festival. In 2015, Leo was nominated in the London Music Awards for Rising Star in the Jazz category. He regularly hosts the Late Late Show at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club with his own quartet.

Some of Leo’s notable performance, touring and recording credits include: Kylie Minogue, Jamie Cullum, Gregory Porter, TLC, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Wet Wet Wet, Heritage Orchestra, Candi Staton, David Foster, John Newman, Ella Eyre, Jessie Ware, The BBC Proms, Ronnie Scott's Allstars, Ronnie Scott's Jazz Orchestra, Ben Sidran, Submotion Orchestra, Ronan Keating, Blue, Peter Andre, Mulatu Astatke, Mica Paris, Brian McKnight, Tom Chaplin (Keane), Anne-Marie, Clare Teal, Sheridan Smith, Roger Taylor (Queen), Toya Wilcox, The Vamps, Il Divo, The Heliocentrics, Elaine Delmar, Vula Malinga, Alan Skidmore, Joe Sanders, Willie Jones III, Dan Nimmer, Gary Husband, Dick Pearce, Norma Winstone and Jim Mullen.

Leo’s quartet consists of killer artists who are all standouts in their own right. Rick Simpson, winner of the Yamaha Scholarship Prize for Outstanding Jazz Musicians, resides on piano. Conor Chaplin, one of the most sought-after young musicians of his generation, drives a hugely vibrant, powerful double bass. And, in keeping with the talent in this line-up, the exceedingly diverse Ed Richardson rounds things off on drums.

Leo has released his first two albums on Ubuntu Music which earned some of the most exceptional reviews ever received by a young artist, including a first-ever 5 Star Review by the UK Guardian/Observer Sunday Newspaper and a rave review by USA’s DownBeat Magazine. One of his albums was selected by The Times newspaper as one of the Top 10 Jazz Albums of 2017 and one of the Top 100 Albums of all music genres.

“I can’t remember hearing a more impressive debut.”

Dave Gelly, The Sunday Guardian/Observer Newspaper

“The Leo Richardson Quartet blew my mind. There was some serious hard-bop being delivered to a passionate audience.”

Fernando Rose, Kind of Jazz

“If you built a Spotify playlist of mid-’60s jazz classics, including everything from Lee Morgan’s “The Sidewinder” to Wayne Shorter’s “Footprints,” and then sneaked a few tracks from Leo Richardson’s 2017 debut, The Chase, into the mix, some jazz connoisseurs wouldn’t even notice.”

Andrew Jones, Downbeat Magazine