Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Jazz Alto Saxophonist Richie Cole  .. He grew up in Trenton, New Jersey and would always dream of being a jazz cat .. These days he lives in Pittsburg, PA and is digging the release of 2016’s Richie Cole Plays Ballads & Love Songs .. His early influences were Sonny Rollins and Charlie Parker and he got his start in the jazz journey by getting a scholarship from Downbeat Magazine to the Berklee School of Music – and that got him out of Vietnam .. He was baptized well in the early years by being in the Buddy Rich Big Band, Lionel Hampton Big Band and the Doc Severinsen Big Band .. On over 50 albums and CDs – he played with the best ever .. cats like Bobby Enriquez, Freddie Hubbard, Sonny Stitt, Art Pepper, Tom Waits, Boots Randolph, and Nancy Wilson ..

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