Ricky Ford

About

Ricky Ford is the kind of tenor saxophonist whose resume reads like a tour of jazz history. He came through the New England Conservatory, then landed in the Duke Ellington Orchestra under Mercer Ellington in the mid 70s, followed by stints with Charles Mingus, Dannie Richmond, Lionel Hampton and the Mingus Dynasty. Later on he spent years alongside Abdullah Ibrahim and Mal Waldron, and recorded with names like Yusef Lateef, Sonny Stitt, McCoy Tyner, Freddie Hubbard and Steve Lacy. As a leader he made a long run of albums for Muse and Candid, from Loxodonta Africana in 1977 through Hard Groovin' and Manhattan Blues, plus later records on his own labels, including a big band project with Ze Big Band. He settled in Paris in the 1990s, taught at Istanbul Bilgi University for a few years, and in 2009 started the Toucy Jazz Festival in Yonne, where he has invited players like Rhoda Scott and Ravi Coltrane.