Emil Richards


Emil Richards born Emilio Joseph Radocchia was an American vibraphonist and percussionist.

Biography

Musician

Richards started playing the xylophone at age six. In high school he performed with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra. He studied with Al Lepak at the Hartt School of Music in Hartford, graduating in 1952. After being drafted, he belonged to an Army band in Japan and played with Toshiko Akiyoshi. He cited Lionel Hampton as his first and biggest influence on vibraphone.
In 1954 Richards moved to New York City, where he played with Charles Mingus, Ed Shaughnessy, and Ed Thigpen while doing studio recordings for Perry Como, the Ray Charles Singers, and Mitchell Ayres. For about three years he was a member of a group led by George Shearing, then moved to Los Angeles and worked with Don Ellis and Paul Horn. He led his own band, the Microtonal Blues Band, and spent time with composer and inventor Harry Partch. As a sideman, he accompanied George Harrison on tour and recorded with Frank Sinatra, Frank Zappa, Doris Day, Judy Garland, Nelson Riddle, Steely Dan, and Sarah Vaughan.
Richards worked often as a studio musician for movies and television. His credits include playing bongos on the theme song for the television program Mission Impossible. Other television work included finger snaps for the Addams Family theme, and xylophone work for the opening theme of The Simpsons. He led a band with Joe Porcaro, and he released a solo album, The Wonderful World of Percussion.
On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed Emil Richards among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.
Richards died on December 13, 2019.

Collector

In 1962, Richards went on a worldwide tour with Frank Sinatra to raise money for poor children. The tour increased Richards's fascination with ethnic percussion instruments. During his career he has collected over 350 instruments, many of them more common in the East than the West. Richards wanted his instruments to continue to be heard in recordings and other performances and to remain together as much as possible. The Emil Richards Collection includes common percussion, such as xylophone and marimba and exotic, such as the angklung, bulbul tarang, chimta, flapamba, jal tarang, janggu, lujon, mbira, and pakhavaj.
In 1992, he gave sixty-five instruments to the Percussive Arts Society museum in Lawton, Oklahoma. He was a member of the Society's Hall of Fame. Part of the collection was sold to Los Angeles Percussion Rentals. Many instruments were restored and are used in recordings and other performances in Los Angeles. LAPR works with Odd Art Fabrications to custom design and fabricate instruments and hardware such as chromatically tuned wood blocks and chromatically tuned bell plate.

Discography

As leader

With the Surfmen
With Louis Bellson
With Frankie Capp
With George Duke
With Michael Giacchino
With George Harrison
With Paul Horn
With James Newton Howard
With Quincy Jones
With Roger Kellaway
With Stan Kenton
With Julie London
With Henry Mancini
  • The Hawaiians
  • Symphonic Soul
  • The Jazz Sound from Peter Gunn
With Harry Partch
  • The World of Harry Partch
  • Delusion of the Fury
  • Harry Partch: A Portrait
With Shorty Rogers
With Lalo Schifrin
  • Gypsies
  • Rock Requiem
  • Rush Hour 2
  • Rush Hour 3
With Shadowfax
  • Shadowfax
  • Shadowdance
  • Too Far to Whisper
  • Folksongs for a Nuclear Village
  • Esperanto
With George Shearing
  • In the Night
  • Shearing On Stage!
  • On the Sunny Side of the Strip
  • The Shearing Touch!
  • Satin Affair
With Frank Sinatra
  • Ring-a-Ding Ding!
  • It Might as Well Be Swing
  • Duets
With Singers Unlimited
  • Bossa Nova
  • Just in Time
  • Feelings
With L. Subramaniam
  • Fantasy Without Limits
  • Blossom
  • Indian Express
  • Spanish Wave
  • Salaam Bombay!
With Frank Zappa
  • Lumpy Gravy
  • Orchestral Favorites
  • Läther
With Hans Zimmer
  • Broken Arrow
  • The Thin Red Line
  • The Last Samurai
With others'