After spending 35 years in law enforcement, Richie Freedman returned to his true passion, the trumpet. His trumpet studies began as a precocious eight year old in New York. By age 12 he was taking professional gigs, continuing into his college days when he started recording with the likes of Della Reese, Ike and Tina Turner, The Impressions, and others. Then, a familiar story, life happened and got in the way of his music. A career opportunity, with many benefits in law enforcement was “the other woman” that attracted him down a very different path.
Others I’ve known with similar stories include attorneys, optometrists, accountants, firemen, and others, who eventually returned home to music, or as Richie stated, “their own true passion,” later in life.
Leading a sextet of strong musicians he calls “Cool Blue,” they played a style that is intended to be an amalgamation of traditional jazz and modern jazz. The band leaned into their arrangements with a “punch” behind each note, a dynamic energy in presentation. The members of this musically assertive band were: Richie Freedman, leader, trumpet, flugel horn; Paul Stocker, trombone; Jeff Dellisanti, saxophone; Ben Di Tosti, piano; Steve Pemberton, drums; Michael Schnoebelen, bass; and Laura Freedman, vocals.
As they began “Orange Colored Sky,” a 1950 song by Milton Delugg that made the Billboard Best Seller
