Richard Pavlidis is a saxophonist, composer, teacher and multi-instrumentalist from Melbourne, Australia.

Educated at the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne, Richard has toured Australia, New Zealand and Europe and has performed at major festivals including Splendour in the Grass, The Manly Jazz Festival in Sydney, and the Melbourne International Jazz Festival.

Richard’s debut solo album ‘Without Within’ was released in 2019 and supported by an Australian tour. Music from this album can be found in the Australian Jazz Real Book and the Australian Jazz Museum.

The album caught the attention of celebrated saxophonist Kenny G, who said via social media ‘I love the way you combine bebop licks with more modern-sounding phrases, and your technique is amazing. You are such a great player!’

During the Covid quarantine in 2021, Richard put together ‘Lockdown Sessions’ – a global collaborative album of jazz standards featuring performances from Germany, Israel, the USA, and all around Australia.

‘The Australian’ describes Richard as ‘a saxophone colossus in the making’.

Richard’s newest album ‘Iconography’ will be officially released on June 2, 2023.

Be sure to listen to the audio podcast version, so you can hear the track Persona in the Intro, and Still Life at the end of the episode. Both tracks are from his new album.

We talked about:

The 1 difficulty improvisation teachers face

Why you shouldn’t try to be like Brecker

How the greatest players think about their own playing

Benefits of busking

The challenge of performing originals with different musicians

A Visualization exercise to help with your altissimo

 

Links:

https://richardpavlidis.com/

https://richardpavlidis.bandcamp.com/

https://richardpavlidis.com/press-links

 

Watch the Video Here:

 

Our sponsor for this episode is Victory Musical Instruments.

Check out this award-winning brand of instruments at www.victorymusical.com

Also check out Episode 169 from the NAMM Show 2023, as well as Episode 149 from the NAMM Show 2022, where Donna interviewed Founder, Melvin Quinones.