Hal Richards Quintet

Hal Richards Quintet at Bird & Beckett brings together veteran reed specialist Hal Richards, a Bay Area fixture on saxophones, flutes, clarinets, oboe, and bassoon since 1976 who’s shared stages with Carol Channing, Terry Gibbs, and Lenny Niehaus and continues to record with Jeff Sanford’s Cartoon Jazz Orchestra, the Golden Gate Park Band, and the San Francisco Mime Troupe. He’s joined by trumpeter Henry Hung, an SFJAZZ mainstay serving as trumpeter and musical director for its SFJAM series, and pianist Rumi Abe, who arrived in San Francisco from Nagoya, Japan in 2024 after building a career of more than 200 annual performances in Tokyo and has quickly become a fixture of the local jazz scene. Rounding out the band are bassist Ron Belcher, a first-call Bay Area player who’s performed and recorded with Branford Marsalis, Regina Carter, and John Handy, and drummer Dan Foltz, an eighteen-year Bay Area professional who spent five years behind Lavay Smith and the Red Hot Skillet Lickers and has toured with Shelby Lynne and Linda Perry.