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RICHARD CORTEZ
Jazz Coterie live music concert series presents rising star vocalist Richard Cortez with Tyler Henderson on piano at our pop-up jazz club in Appleton, Wisconsin.
A leader in the new crop of vocal talents emerging from the New York City jazz scene, Richard Cortez’s golden voice handles the Great American Songbook with a deep emotional intelligence, an unbridled passion for song, and — rare and moving — an activist’s relationship to both his material and his audience.
“His reinterpretation and extensive knowledge of The Great American Songbook is a sheer joy to watch on stage.”
JUST RELEASED | First Track from Richard's Forthcoming Album!
Richard Cortez, known for his ambition and extensive knowledge of The Great American Songbook, has shared the bandstand with some of New York City’s most celebrated and respected musicians — Sullivan Fortner, Adam Birnbaum, Paul Gill, Peter Bernstein, Grant Stewart, Alexander Claffy, Joe Farnsworth, Jerry Weldon, Joe Strasser, Nicole Glover, Russell Hall and Emmet Cohen — to name a few.
“If anyone knows and is redefining nightlife, it is jazz artist Richard Cortez.”
“The talent and musicianship of Richard and his posse are astounding! I am in awe.”
Splitting his time between a number of weekly residencies at iconic venues across the city — among them Club Cumming, owned by actor Alan Cumming — Cortez has focused and refined his artistry while growing his wide fan-base. Recent performances in distinguished productions such as Live at Emmet’s Place with the Emmet Cohen Trio, or Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Jazz at Pride with Tony/Grammy Award winner Bryan Carter, have marked the vocalist’s career for success. In addition to Club Cumming, Richard performs regularly at Birdland Theater, The Django, Arthur’s Tavern, Mezzrow, and Smalls.
Cortez’s openly gay renderings of timeless treasures by Cole Porter, Billie Holiday, Jerome Kern, and so many others deliver sweetness, self-assuredness and disarming vulnerability with a well-timed wit. Richard breathes exciting new life into this beloved material, forever reminding us that as we progress as a society, so do our stories told within these sacred songs.
“His shows are hauntingly intimate and raw.”