Episode 124: Rich Wheeler
When Rich Wheeler shows up, shit gets weird.
I'm kidding. I stole a version of that verbiage from a Facebook post from a few months back. A musician that had just gigged with Rich wrote it with high-praise-worthy intentions, and I loved the heck out of it.
So, Mr. Wheeler was kind enough to lend me a portion of one of his Saturday afternoons not too long ago, and I was clumsy enough to screw up the video portion of our conversation, so...audio-only it is. And thank the heavens that I didn't botch that portion of the thing, 'cause this chat was next-level.
Rich just might be the sharpest dude I've chewed the fat with so far, and believe me -- there've been some sharp ones.
I really enjoyed learning a little bit about him, his experiences, his horn-playing savvy, not to mention a few of his favorite albums, which were these:
McCoy Tyner's The Real McCoy (1967)
Nude Ants (1980), Keith Jarrett
Maceo Parker's Life on Planet Groove (1992)
Blackstar (2016), David Bowie
Rich jams, gigs, and records with a number of folks around town. You can find him on such releases as Live at Jardine's by the Brandon Draper Quintet. He's in tight with the Draper Family Band, he's currently working on a project with Jackie Myers. He gave Blue Note Records props, which is aces in my book. He's a huge Joe Henderson fan, and he just might be the dopest tenor-sax player in the region.
Many thanks to Rich, and much love to all of you who support Badass Records.
copyright disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the audio samples contained in this episode. They're cuts from a track called, "Turn It On," by The Greyboy Allstars, which comes from their 2022 release, Get a Job (c/o Knowledge Room Recordings).