* En anglais uniquement
A fine pianist whose chord voicings are a little reminiscent of
Red Garland,
Richard Wyands has spent most of his career as a sideman. He started working in local clubs when he was 16, graduated from San Francisco State College, and gained experience playing in the San Francisco Bay area.
Wyands, who was a sideman on a few early dates for Fantasy, spent time accompanying
Ella Fitzgerald (1956) and
Carmen McRae. He moved to New York in 1958, where he played with
Roy Haynes,
Charles Mingus (1959),
Gigi Gryce's quintet,
Oliver Nelson,
Etta Jones,
Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, and
Gene Ammons, among others.
Wyands was associated with
Kenny Burrell, with whom he toured extensively during 1964-1977, and has played with many other top musicians, including
Freddie Hubbard,
Zoot Sims,
Frank Foster, the Illinois Jacquet Big Band,
Benny Carter,
Ernie Andrews, and
Milt Hinton, among others.
Richard Wyands has also headed his own trios, but has only had a handful of sessions as a leader thus far, including a 1978 date for Storyville and sessions for DIW (1992) and Criss Cross (1995). ~ Scott Yanow