Richard Wyands

A fine pianist whose chord voicings are a little reminiscent of <a href="spotify:artist:35iymrFS4VnsKn35ebHKX9">Red Garland</a>, 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 <a href="spotify:artist:5V0MlUE1Bft0mbLlND7FJz">Ella Fitzgerald</a> (1956) and <a href="spotify:artist:2E3nXyfocf7qfHAIFNbBuj">Carmen McRae</a>. He moved to New York in 1958, where he played with <a href="spotify:artist:1tGINpEJVUsQXssRC28ugo">Roy Haynes</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1W8TbFzNS15VwsempfY12H">Charles Mingus</a> (1959), <a href="spotify:artist:60pVDktf5EH4d3IxkHozpa">Gigi Gryce</a>'s quintet, <a href="spotify:artist:2nQKUeZeleLGNsJj6WLUXN">Oliver Nelson</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3CEdEF8RsuL3hAFJaujvr0">Etta Jones</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0gNn3uUyIEErdQthThI51i">Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:338mC0yGyX0C9of8QMJ5hK">Gene Ammons</a>, among others. Wyands was associated with <a href="spotify:artist:1sdyFmN4bVOcuFDpTVsxBB">Kenny Burrell</a>, with whom he toured extensively during 1964-1977, and has played with many other top musicians, including <a href="spotify:artist:0fTHKjepK5HWOrb2rkS5Em">Freddie Hubbard</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1pwr5rTWLVfqhvHfB7Reap">Zoot Sims</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1UBOhgHqPdFDiDW3qF1y1d">Frank Foster</a>, the Illinois Jacquet Big Band, <a href="spotify:artist:5dlCVmfRbWVGOJYHzGyk32">Benny Carter</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5R3uLWUbgzb8o7TO6l5n3G">Ernie Andrews</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:5tMntK802KgUTLHsIfPwk4">Milt Hinton</a>, 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, Rovi