Richie’s love for guitar started with a legendary Paco deLucia record at the bright, young age of five. He immediately asked his parents for a guitar ready to conquer the technique and dexterity of Lucia. This early determination lead to eight years of intensive study with Ton van Engelen. Richie completed his Master’s degree of jazz guitar at The Royal Conservatory of The Hague under the tutelage of such masters as Martijn van Iterson, Eef Albers and Wim Bronnenberg. He has even had the rare opportunity to sit down with the world famous Peter Bernstein for lessons. In between study and performance, Richie has found time to work on his own compositions and recently won the prestigious Marc Becher Jazz award. Because of his early influences you can hear Latin, Brazilian, African Rhythms, Blues, Soul and Jazz in al his music and played on his favorite 1951 Gibson es-125 Guitar.

 

Richie has worked/performed with famous Dutch and international jazz artists such as: Eric Vloeimans, Shirma Rouse,Tineke Postma, Fay Claassen, Ntjam Rosie, Kim Hoorweg, Marjorie Barnes, Tasha’s World, Joseph Bowie, D eve Archer, John Ruocco, Eric Ineke, Willie Jones |||, Rob van Bavel, Joost van Schaijk, Sazz Leonore, Maarten Hogenhuis, Hal Tsuchida and many more.