Richard Wyands


Richard Francis Wyands was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, best known for his work as a side-man.

Early life

Wyands was born in Oakland, California, on July 2, 1928 and grew up in Berkeley. He began playing the piano around the age of seven and started playing professionally in 1944, while a teenager, in San Francisco. Wyands earned a degree in music from San Francisco State College in 1950. At school and college he played piano and drums. Wyands was influenced by Count Basie, Nat King Cole, Erroll Garner, Art Tatum, and Teddy Wilson.

Later life and career

In the early 1950s, Wyands was part of Vernon Alley's group that was the house band at the Black Hawk club in San Francisco, and thus part of the rhythm section that accompanied visiting soloists. The year after leaving the Black Hawk in 1954, Wyands was an intermission performer at another San Francisco club, before becoming music director for vocalist Ella Fitzgerald during a three-month period in 1956.
For ten months around 1957, he was accompanist to pop singers in a club in Ottawa, Canada. Following this, he toured with vocalist Carmen McRae for three months, and arrived in New York with her in 1958. In New York, he played with Roy Haynes, Charles Mingus, Jerome Richardson, and Gigi Gryce. In the 1960s Wyands was a member of Illinois Jacquet's band. Wyands worked with guitarist Kenny Burrell from 1965 to 1974.
Wyands died on September 25, 2019, in New York.

Discography

As sideman

With Gene Ammons
With Kenny Burrell
With Benny Carter
With Jimmy Cobb
  • Only for the Pure of Heart
  • Cobb's Groove
With Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis
With Teddy Edwards
With Frank Foster
With Gigi Gryce
With Roy Haynes
With Freddie Hubbard
With Willis Jackson
With Etta Jones
With Bobby Kapp and Gene Perla
With Roland Kirk
With Charles Mingus
With Oliver Nelson
With Houston Person
With Jerome Richardson
With James Spaulding
With Buddy Tate and Al Grey
With Cal Tjader
  • Cal Tjader: Vibist
  • Ritmo Caliente
With Warren Vaché
With Richard Williams
With Lem Winchester