Sudhalter, Dick (actually, Richard M.), jazz

views updated

Sudhalter, Dick (actually, Richard M.), jazz

Sudhalter, Dick (actually, Richard M.), jazz, cornetist, author; b. Boston, Dec. 28, 1938. Sudhalter was a correspondent for the New York Post in the 1950s. In the 1960s, he played with various bands in the U.S. and West Germany, as well as his own bands, Jazz without Walls and Anglo-American Alliance. In the mid-1970s, he was living in London; starting in 1974, he led the New Paul Whiteman Orch. He directed the N.Y. Jazz Repertory Company’s Bix Beiderbecke Concert at Carnegie Hall, N.Y. in 1975. During that time, he also led his own sextet, Commodore, which backed up Bobby Hackett. In the mid-1980s, he played in the Classic Jazz Quartet with Dick Wellstood. Since 1989, Sudhalter has performed as a member of the Vineyard Jazz Ensemble with Loren Schoenberg and Joe Muryani. Sudhalter is best-known as a jazz critic and writer; he wrote about jazz for UPI (1964-72) and the New York Post (1978-84), and has also written liner notes for various jazz reissues. His most recent book, Lost Chords, argued the importance of white musicians in the development of early jazz.

Discography

Classic Jazz Quartet (1984); After Awhile (1994); Anglo-American Alliance: Sweet and Hot (1968). New Paul Whiteman ORCH.: Runnin’ Wild (1975).

Writings

Bix: Man and Legend Quartet (N.Y., 1974); Lost Chords: White Musicians and Their Contribution to Jazz, 1915-1945 (N.Y., 1999).

—Lewis Porter