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Emil Richards




Richards started playing the Xylophone at age six. He graduated from the Julius Hartt School Of Music (now part of the University Of Hartford ) and Hillard College. Even before then, he performed with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra and with various Jazz artists in New England . After he left the military service, where he had been Assistant Band Leader of the First Cavalry Army Band in 1952 and 1953 , his performing career rapidly gained momentum. In the 1950s and 1960s he played various percussion instruments with jazz ensembles first in New York and then in Los Angeles , where he settled permanently in 1959 . He became known as one of the most desirable percussionists in Jazz , Rock and other popular music and was called on to play in countless Movie and Television soundtracks.

Richards soon became a "first call" percussionist for the Hollywood film industry, and has played for hundreds of films. He was in The Zodiac and has played for many groups, including The Doors , George Harrison and Frank Sinatra . He has served several terms on the Board of Directors for the Percussive Arts Society , and donated the largest single-donor collection of instruments to the society museum.


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