Richie Pratt
Encyclopedia
Richie Pratt is a professional musician. He embarked upon a career as a professional musician on the New York scene in the early 1970s, it was as much due to unanticipated intervention as anything else. Pratt was born to a musical family (a brother is saxophonist, Chris Burnett
) and grew up in the Kansas City metro city of Olathe, Kansas
. He studied music via the piano
, as well as, attended various music camps as a youth.
Eventually growing into a rather large and powerful man, he attended the University of Kansas
under a full four-year scholarship to play varsity football. While enrolled in school
and living in Lawrence, Kansas
he would not only block for Pro Football Hall of Fame
running back Gayle Sayers as an All-Time KU Football Letterman, but Pratt also continued his musical development. He performed in orchestra
, jazz
and wind ensembles, along with performing in a student USO show that first took to him to Hawaii
as a performer. He was eventually drafted to play professional football
by the NFL’s New York Giants
.
Richie Pratt’s prolific tenure as a first-call percussionist on the highly competitive New York City
music scene began after he suffered a career ending injury during his second season with the Giants. His professional tenure as a musician in New York actually began while he was employed as a Host at the famed Village Gate. Richie began sitting in with Jaki Byard
and word began to spread about the big guy from the Midwest who played drums. The great legendary late bassist
, Major Holley
, eventually invited Pratt to jam on Sundays at Jacques
; which resulted in Junior Mance
hearing him play drums and offering him his first paid gig as a drummer in New York. Initially described in the New York press as a "bubbling cauldron of musical vitality", Pratt subsequently added musical diversity to his cauldron by performing with the American Symphony Orchestra
, the Joffrey Ballet
, Alvin Ailey
; in the Broadway
hits: Ain't Supposed To Die A Natural Death
; Dude
; Raisin
; and notably, Pratt was the drum soloist in Broadway's smashing tribute to Duke Ellington
- Sophisticated Ladies
.
In the traditional Jazz arena, Richie Pratt spent over three years as a member of the New York Jazz Quartet
, which included Sir Roland Hanna, Frank Wess
, and George Mraz
. Pratt also accompanied Billy Taylor
, Milt Jackson
, Milton Hinton, Frank Foster
, Monte Alexander, Michel Legrand
, Lionel Hampton
, Benny Goodman
, and Benny Carter
among others. The lightness and sensitivity of his drumming has enhanced such legendary vocalists as: Nancy Wilson
, Aretha Franklin
, Marlena Shaw
, Barry White
, Melba Moore
, the Temptations, Della Reese
, Johnny Hartman
, Carol Sloane
, and Johnny Desmond
as well.
Pratt remains based in Honolulu, Hawaii
where he continues to be an active performer on the local music scene, as well as co-founding and contributing to establishing such local groups as Honolulu Jazz Quartet. Pratt also often works with touring artists, such as the Russian-born trumpeter, Valery Ponomerov, who make the Hawaiian islands part of their itineraries. He signed with the Kansas City-based new concept music label, Artists Recording Collective
in 2007. The commercial and formal record label
affiliated debut release as a leader of his own original music on compact disc (ARC-2093) took over 20 years to be realized.
Chris Burnett
Chris Burnett is an American saxophone player, composer, veteran of US military jazz bands and band leader. Born in Olathe, Kansas, Burnett's family moved relatively frequently during his early childhood due to his father being a member of the active US military service...
) and grew up in the Kansas City metro city of Olathe, Kansas
Olathe, Kansas
Olathe is a city in and the county seat of Johnson County, Kansas, United States. Located in northeastern Kansas, it is also the fifth most populous city in the state, with a population of 125,872 at the 2010 census. As a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri, Olathe is the fourth-largest city in the...
. He studied music via the piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, as well as, attended various music camps as a youth.
Eventually growing into a rather large and powerful man, he attended the University of Kansas
University of Kansas
The University of Kansas is a public research university and the largest university in the state of Kansas. KU campuses are located in Lawrence, Wichita, Overland Park, and Kansas City, Kansas with the main campus being located in Lawrence on Mount Oread, the highest point in Lawrence. The...
under a full four-year scholarship to play varsity football. While enrolled in school
School
A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
and living in Lawrence, Kansas
Lawrence, Kansas
Lawrence is the sixth largest city in the U.S. State of Kansas and the county seat of Douglas County. Located in northeastern Kansas, Lawrence is the anchor city of the Lawrence, Kansas, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Douglas County...
he would not only block for Pro Football Hall of Fame
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...
running back Gayle Sayers as an All-Time KU Football Letterman, but Pratt also continued his musical development. He performed in orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and wind ensembles, along with performing in a student USO show that first took to him to Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
as a performer. He was eventually drafted to play professional football
Professional football
In the United States and Canada, the term professional football includes the professional forms of American and Canadian gridiron football. In common usage, it refers to former and existing major football leagues in either country...
by the NFL’s New York Giants
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
.
Richie Pratt’s prolific tenure as a first-call percussionist on the highly competitive New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
music scene began after he suffered a career ending injury during his second season with the Giants. His professional tenure as a musician in New York actually began while he was employed as a Host at the famed Village Gate. Richie began sitting in with Jaki Byard
Jaki Byard
Jaki Byard was an American jazz pianist and composer who also played trumpet and saxophone, among several other instruments. He was noteworthy for his eclectic style, incorporating everything from ragtime and stride to free jazz...
and word began to spread about the big guy from the Midwest who played drums. The great legendary late bassist
Bassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
, Major Holley
Major Holley
Major Holley was an American jazz upright bassist.Holley attended the prestigious Cass Technical High School. Holley played violin and tuba when young and started playing bass while serving in the Navy...
, eventually invited Pratt to jam on Sundays at Jacques
Jacques
Jacques is the French equivalent of James.Jacques is derived from the Late Latin Iacobus, from the Greek , from the Hebrew ...
; which resulted in Junior Mance
Junior Mance
Julian Clifford Mance, Jr. is an American jazz pianist and composer.-Biography:...
hearing him play drums and offering him his first paid gig as a drummer in New York. Initially described in the New York press as a "bubbling cauldron of musical vitality", Pratt subsequently added musical diversity to his cauldron by performing with the American Symphony Orchestra
American Symphony Orchestra
The American Symphony Orchestra is a New York-based American orchestra founded in 1962 by Leopold Stokowski, then aged 80. Following Maestro Stokowski's departure, Kazuyoshi Akiyama was appointed Music Director of the American Symphony Orchestra from 1973-1978. Music Directors during the early...
, the Joffrey Ballet
Joffrey Ballet
The Joffrey Ballet is a dance company in Chicago, Illinois, founded in 1956. From 1995 to 2004, the company was known as The Joffrey Ballet of Chicago. The company regularly performs classical ballets including Romeo & Juliet and The Nutcracker, while balancing those classics with pioneering modern...
, Alvin Ailey
Alvin Ailey
Alvin Ailey, Jr. was an American choreographer and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York. Ailey is credited with popularizing modern dance and revolutionizing African-American participation in 20th century concert dance...
; in the Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
hits: Ain't Supposed To Die A Natural Death
Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death
Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death is a musical with a book, music, and lyrics by Melvin Van Peebles. The musical contains some material also on three of Van Peebles' albums, Br'er Soul, Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death and As Serious as a Heart-Attack, some of which were yet to come...
; Dude
Dude
A dude is an individual, typically male. The female equivalent, which is used less often, is "dudette" or "dudess". However, "dude" has evolved to become more unisex to encompass all genders, and this was true even in the 1950s....
; Raisin
Raisin
Raisins are dried grapes. They are produced in many regions of the world. Raisins may be eaten raw or used in cooking, baking and brewing...
; and notably, Pratt was the drum soloist in Broadway's smashing tribute to Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
- Sophisticated Ladies
Sophisticated Ladies
Sophisticated Ladies is a musical revue based on the music of Duke Ellington.After fifteen previews, the Broadway production, conceived by Donald McKayle, directed by Michael Smuin, and choreographed by McKayle, Smuin, Henry LeTang, Bruce Heath, and Mercedes Ellington, opened on March 1, 1981 at...
.
In the traditional Jazz arena, Richie Pratt spent over three years as a member of the New York Jazz Quartet
New York Jazz Quartet
The New York Jazz Quartet was founded by pianist Roland Hanna. First consisting of flautist Hubert Laws, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Billy Cobham, in 1974 the lineup changed to Frank Wess, bassist George Mraz, and drummer Ben Riley. Richie Pratt and Grady Tate also contributed. The group...
, which included Sir Roland Hanna, Frank Wess
Frank Wess
Frank Wess is an American jazz musician, who has played saxophone and flute.-Biography:...
, and George Mraz
George Mraz
George Mraz is a jazz bassist and alto saxophonist. He was a member of Oscar Peterson's group, and has worked with Stan Getz, Tommy Flanagan, Chet Baker and many other important jazz musicians...
. Pratt also accompanied Billy Taylor
Billy Taylor
Billy Taylor was an American jazz pianist, composer, broadcaster and educator. He was the Robert L. Jones Distinguished Professor of Music at East Carolina University in Greenville, and since 1994, he was the artistic director for jazz at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in...
, Milt Jackson
Milt Jackson
Milton "Bags" Jackson was an American jazz vibraphonist, usually thought of as a bebop player, although he performed in several jazz idioms...
, Milton Hinton, Frank Foster
Frank Foster (musician)
Frank Foster was an American tenor and soprano saxophonist, flautist, arranger, and composer. Foster collaborated frequently with Count Basie and worked as a bandleader from the early 1950s.-Biography:...
, Monte Alexander, Michel Legrand
Michel Legrand
Michel Jean Legrand is a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and pianist...
, Lionel Hampton
Lionel Hampton
Lionel Leo Hampton was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, bandleader and actor. Like Red Norvo, he was one of the first jazz vibraphone players. Hampton ranks among the great names in jazz history, having worked with a who's who of jazz musicians, from Benny Goodman and Buddy...
, Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
, and Benny Carter
Benny Carter
Bennett Lester Carter was an American jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. He was a major figure in jazz from the 1930s to the 1990s, and was recognized as such by other jazz musicians who called him King...
among others. The lightness and sensitivity of his drumming has enhanced such legendary vocalists as: Nancy Wilson
Nancy Wilson (singer)
Nancy Wilson is an American singer with more than 70 albums, and three Grammy Awards. She has been labeled a singer of blues, jazz, cabaret and pop; a "consummate actress"; and "the complete entertainer." The title she prefers, however, is song stylist...
, Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
, Marlena Shaw
Marlena Shaw
Marlena Shaw is an American singer. Shaw began her singing career in the 1960s and is still singing today. Her music has often been sampled in hip hop music, and used in television commercials.-Biography:She was first introduced to music by her uncle Jimmy Burgess, a jazz trumpet player...
, Barry White
Barry White
Barry White, born Barry Eugene Carter , was an American composer and singer-songwriter.A five-time Grammy Award-winner known for his distinctive bass voice and romantic image, White's greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and with the Love Unlimited Orchestra, crafting many enduring...
, Melba Moore
Melba Moore
Beatrice Melba Smith , known by her stage name, Melba Moore is an American disco, R&B singer and actress. She is the daughter of saxophonist Teddy Hill and R&B singer Bonnie Davis.-Early life:...
, the Temptations, Della Reese
Della Reese
Delloreese Patricia Early, known professionally as Della Reese , is an American actress, singer, game show panelist of the 1970s, one-time talk-show hostess and ordained minister. She started her career in the 1950s as a gospel, pop and jazz singer, scoring a hit with her 1959 single "Don't You...
, Johnny Hartman
Johnny Hartman
John Maurice Hartman was an American bass jazz singer who specialized in ballads and earned critical acclaim, though he was never widely known. He recorded a well-known collaboration with the saxophonist John Coltrane in 1963 called John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman, and was briefly a member of...
, Carol Sloane
Carol Sloane
Carol Sloane is an American jazz singer born in Providence, Rhode Island, who has been singing professionally since she was 14, although for a time in the 1970s she worked as a legal secretary in Raleigh, North Carolina. She currently lives in Stoneham, Massachusetts.One of her early efforts was...
, and Johnny Desmond
Johnny Desmond
Johnny Desmond , born Giovanni Alfredo De Simone, was a popular American singer.-Early years:...
as well.
Pratt remains based in Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. Honolulu is the southernmost major U.S. city. Although the name "Honolulu" refers to the urban area on the southeastern shore of the island of Oahu, the city and county government are consolidated as the City and...
where he continues to be an active performer on the local music scene, as well as co-founding and contributing to establishing such local groups as Honolulu Jazz Quartet. Pratt also often works with touring artists, such as the Russian-born trumpeter, Valery Ponomerov, who make the Hawaiian islands part of their itineraries. He signed with the Kansas City-based new concept music label, Artists Recording Collective
Artists Recording Collective
Artists Recording Collective is an independent music label brand and 21st Century music business model that was created by professional musicians for professional musicians. It provides a platform for member projects and activities to reach a global audience...
in 2007. The commercial and formal record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
affiliated debut release as a leader of his own original music on compact disc (ARC-2093) took over 20 years to be realized.
External links
- RichiePratt.net - official site archived
- Richie Pratt at Artists Recording Collective - (ARC-2093) RICHIE PRATT – OLATHE – AUDIO CD
- All About Jazz article - Drummer Richie Pratt
- Allmusic - Richard Pratt
- Internationalen Jazzfestival Bern History - Drums/Percussion
- KU Football: All-Time Letterman