The Leo Richardson Quartet

London-based saxophonist Leo Richardson presents his high-octane quartet performing entirely original music, firmly grounded in contemporary hard bop. The music is very much inspired by the hard bop and post-bop era of jazz, with strong melodies and exciting interplay. Known for his powerful sound, melodic clarity, and deep roots in the hard bop tradition, Richardson leads a band that delivers music of high energy, and strong collective identity. Tonight the band will be performing new material gearing up to their next album recording, alongside some music from their most recent record Move.

Without a doubt, Leo Richardson is widely recognised to be one of the UK's leading jazz tenor saxophonists, best known for his honest, straight-ahead, contemporary hard-bop style. His most significant influences include John Coltrane, Joe Henderson, Dexter Gordon, Horace Silver and Art Blakey

In 2017, The Leo Richardson Quartet released their debut album, The Chase, on Ubuntu Music. The Chase was the first album to receive 5* from The Sunday Guardian/Observer. The album was selected by The Times newspaper as one of the Top 10 Jazz Albums of 2017 and one of the Top 100 Albums of all music genres. The success of the album and the tour led to the Quartet’s debut performance at the 2018 Love Supreme Jazz Festival. They released their second album “Move” in 2019 to critical acclaim, receiving 5* in BBC Music Magazine and led to them performing at Rochester International Jazz Festival in 2019.

In 2009, Leo was awarded a scholarship to study Jazz at the prestigious Trinity College of Music. In 2012, Leo was awarded the Trinity College of Music Jazz Achievement Award and in 2013 graduated with a 1st class degree with honours in Jazz Performance. He was also a Worshipful Company of Musicians Young Jazz Musician of the Year finalist in 2016.

Since graduating, Leo has been making a name for himself on the London Jazz scene. He has become an in demand side man and has collaborated with many well known musicians at acclaimed venues such as Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, The Royal Albert Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, o2 Arena, Rochester International Jazz Festival, Cadogan Hall, The Vortex Jazz Club and Glastonbury Music Festival. In 2015, Leo was nominated in the London Music Awards for Rising Star in the Jazz category.

Leo’s impressive CV reflects a career shaped by both depth and versatility. Equally at home in jazz and popular music settings, Leo has worked with a wide range of respected artists across genres including: Kurt Elling, Gregory Porter, Bob James, Jamie Cullum, Ben Sidran, The Buddy Rich Big Band and many more.