Bay Area tenor and soprano saxophonist, composer, producer, vocalist, and educator Richard Howell leads Sudden Changes, an improvising ensemble shaped by jazz, soul, funk, blues, and spiritual music.
Home base: Bay Area, California
Styles: Jazz, Soul Jazz, Funk, Blues, Improvised Music
Instruments: Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Vocals, Percussion, Composition
Band: Core and featured personnel have included Frederick Harris, piano; Charles McNeal, alto saxophone; Elé Salif Howell, drums; Ravi Abcarian, bass; Jasim Peralas, trombone
Richard Howell is a Bay Area saxophonist, composer, producer, vocalist, and educator whose work brings together jazz improvisation with soul, funk, blues, percussion-driven groove, and spiritual themes. Raised in Los Angeles, Howell developed early connections to jazz, salsa, funk, and R&B before making his Bay Area jazz debut in the early 1980s alongside Don Cherry, Charlie Haden, and Billy Higgins. His long career has also included touring and performing with artists including Etta James and Chaka Khan. Through Sudden Changes, Howell leads an ensemble built around original music, collective interplay, and spontaneous composition. The project has featured fellow Bay Area musicians including Frederick Harris, Charles McNeal, Elé Salif Howell, Ravi Abcarian, and Jasim Peralas. Howell’s recent work includes Our Purpose with the Joy Protocol Ensemble, continuing his Bridge Music approach to connecting jazz, rhythm, and community.
Richard Howell and Sudden Changes
Richard Howell and Sudden Changes at The Deluxe features the veteran Bay Area tenor saxophonist, composer, and educator leading his protean jazz ensemble through surging energy, quicksilver improvisation, and spiritually charged original music. Rooted in the legacy of John Coltrane, Sudden Changes merges jazz with soul, funk, gospel, and global influences, using collective interplay to...