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Rick Margitza
He started on the violin when he was four. His grandfather was a cellist and his father a violinist with the Detroit Symphony. He then studied classical piano for a bit, and also played oboe before switching to tenor in high school. He attended Wayne State University, Berklee, the University of Miami, and finally Loyola University in New Orleans, where he lived and played for four years.
Back then, Rick was touring with Maynard Ferguson and also Flora Purim and Airto Moreira. He then moved to New York in 1988.
That same year he joined Miles Davis' group and recorded three albums with them: “Amandla”, “Live around the world” and "Live in Montreux". He then cut three sets as a leader for the prestigious label Blue Note during 1989-1991. Since 1994, his career found itself enriched with five more solo albums and collaborations with such artists as Maria Schneider, Chick Corea and McCoy Tyner.
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The Jazz All Stars: The Jazz All Stars Volume 1
![Read "The Jazz All Stars Volume 1" reviewed by Jim Worsley](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/coverart/large/96b6dfcb9ee6a3b8fc14a8e1e724b787.jpg)
by Jim Worsley
The gigless times of 2020--the year of the Covid-19 pandemic--could have brought musicians and the industry to their collective knees, gasping for air. Instead, it resulted in more new music than ever before. It filled our lungs with fresh air. It filled our hearts and souls, not to mention our ears. New businesses opening, defying the odds and pursuing their dreams, is a relevant factor. Le Coq Records, emerging in 2020, boldly presents an all-star ensemblefeaturing many of ...
read moreSouth Florida Jazz Orchestra: Cheap Thrills: The Music Of Rick Margitza
![Read "Cheap Thrills: The Music Of Rick Margitza" reviewed by Jack Bowers](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/coverart/large/8a4cf297dc3904475f09ea1ad028729c.jpg)
by Jack Bowers
In 2019, the acclaimed Michigan-bred, Paris-based tenor saxophonist Rick Margitza thought he was being asked to contribute a couple of charts to the University of South Florida Jazz Orchestra's fifth recording in its fifteen-year history as a working ensemble. But when SFJO founder and leader Chuck Bergeron looked at the charts he had an even better idea, and asked Margitza to write and / or arrange everything on the album, which thus became Cheap Thrills: The Music of Rick Margitza. ...
read moreSouth Florida Jazz Orchestra: Cheap Thrills: The Music Of Rick Margitza
![Read "Cheap Thrills: The Music Of Rick Margitza" reviewed by Pierre Giroux](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/coverart/large/8a4cf297dc3904475f09ea1ad028729c.jpg)
by Pierre Giroux
The concept of a large, tightly-knit big band in a recording studio, on a concert or jazz club stage may just be a plug-in memory in today's environment. Fortunately there is the fifteenth anniversary recording of The South Florida Jazz Orchestra directed by bassist/bandleader Chuck Bergeron, entitled Cheap Thrills: The Music Of Rick Margitza, to remind us what a disciplined inventive big band sounds like. With the exception of George and Ira Gershwin's Embraceable You," all the other ...
read moreRick Margitza on choosing the right note
![Read "Rick Margitza on choosing the right note" reviewed by Leo Sidran](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/photos/profile/musician/1dda66bb26a595bce38d6c9645157.jpg)
by Leo Sidran
In this episode, saxophonist Rick Margitza talks about what it was like to be thrust into the jazz limelight overnight, working with Miles Davis, moving to France, dividing the octave and choosing the right note. ...
read moreRick Margitza at Folkclub
![Read "Rick Margitza at Folkclub" reviewed by Antonio Baiano](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/photos/2010/562cd9dca940cd6c83ecd07146eafc0b.jpg)
by Antonio Baiano
Photos of the concert by Rick Margitza, Furio DiCastri, Nico Morelli and Enzo Zirilli held at Folkclub, Torino, on February 21, 2019. ...
read moreRick Margitza: Memento
![Read "Memento" reviewed by AAJ Staff](http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00005NT2H.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg)
by AAJ Staff
If consistency is a virtue, then Rick Margitza’s second album for the Palmetto label is a truly righteous affair. Memento follows the footsteps of the tenor saxophonist’s seven previous albums offering a melodic program firm on composition and rhythm.
Margitza’s operated in a variety of settings since the late-‘80s when critics heralded him as one of the “young lions”. He started his career as a sideman for Miles Davis; has utilized various ensemble formats on his previous albums; and here ...
read moreRick Margitza: Heart of Hearts
![Read "Heart of Hearts" reviewed by Glenn Astarita](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/photos/profile/musician/1dda66bb26a595bce38d6c9645157.jpg)
by Glenn Astarita
Amid all the hoopla emanating from the current ensemble of young jazz lions, saxophonist Rick Margitza was himself cited as a young stylist on the move during his late 1980’s emergence on the jazz scene. And now with Margitza’s seventh recording, the saxophonist upholds or maintains his prominent stature in jazz on Heart of Hearts.
Margitza possesses a slender, glowing tone whether performing on tenor or soprano sax. With pieces such as “14 Bar Blues” and “You Must Believe in ...
read moreMoutin Reunion Quartet with saxophonist, Rick Margitza Chris' Jazz Cafe on May 7, 2011
![Moutin Reunion Quartet with saxophonist, Rick Margitza Chris' Jazz Cafe on May 7, 2011](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/photos/profile/musician/7f8fa80e2d8d04b954beee24b9ae4c57.jpg)
Source:
All About Jazz
On May 7 2011, Chris' Jazz Cafe presents the Moutin Reunion Quartet, touring in support of their recent CD Soul Dancers. The Moutin Reunion, headed by Francois Moutin on bass and Louis Moutin on drums was forged by their common desire to create music expressing the energy of life; full of emotion and spontaneity. Music close to what they intimately feel, inhabited by the jazz spirit, swing and grooves, inviting listeners and musicians to celebrate beauty and imagination. Joining them ...
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Matthias Lupri Group with Rick Margitza and Mark Turner - Summer 2002 Tour
![Matthias Lupri Group with Rick Margitza and Mark Turner - Summer 2002 Tour](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/photos/logo/bd38a72ed12128b10ddc05c6087dacb8.jpg)
Source:
All About Jazz
Rick Margitza and Ben Allison - Philadelphia Gigs March 21 & 22
![Rick Margitza and Ben Allison - Philadelphia Gigs March 21 & 22](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/photos/logo/bd38a72ed12128b10ddc05c6087dacb8.jpg)
Source:
All About Jazz
Canadian Tour - Matthias Lupri Group w/Rick Margitza & Mark Turner
![Canadian Tour - Matthias Lupri Group w/Rick Margitza & Mark Turner](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/photos/logo/bd38a72ed12128b10ddc05c6087dacb8.jpg)
Source:
All About Jazz
Matthias Lupri Group with Rick Margitza - CT, NYC and Woodstock
![Matthias Lupri Group with Rick Margitza - CT, NYC and Woodstock](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/photos/logo/bd38a72ed12128b10ddc05c6087dacb8.jpg)
Source:
All About Jazz
RICK MARGITZA CELEBRATES "HEART OF HEARTS" AT BIRDLAND JUNE 1st
![RICK MARGITZA CELEBRATES "HEART OF HEARTS" AT BIRDLAND JUNE 1st](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/photos/logo/bd38a72ed12128b10ddc05c6087dacb8.jpg)
Source:
All About Jazz