Tabnik, Richard

Tabnik, Richard, jazz alto saxophone; b. Manhattan, N.Y., April 6, 1952. He grew up in Great Neck, N.Y., and had his first jazz gigs in Providence, R.I., under the tutelage of guitarist Tom Brown. He studied with Hall Overton in 1970, and with Lee Konitz from 1970 to 1972, and attended Berklee for the fall semester of 1972. He also performed in various contexts in Houston, Tex. and Atlanta, Ga. Between 1975 and 1979, he lived in Buffalo, N.Y., working toward a degree through the Empire State Coll. program of SUNY. He appeared on radio and television, and in concert with his own groups. He played lead alto in Frank Foster’s Big Band at the State Univ. of N.Y. at Buffalo, and was a featured soloist at the historic Colored Musicians Club. He spent two and a half years with the federally funded Buffalo Jazz Ensemble under the direction of Allen Tinney, formerly of Monroe’s Uptown House. He also studied privately with Robert Dick, Ray Ricker, and John Sedóla. He moved to N.Y.C, in 1979, studied with Joe Allard from September 1979 to June 1983, began studying with Connie Crothers in January 1980, and was presented in concert at Crother’s studio. He then played in duets with Peter Scattaretico on drums and Crothers on piano, and as a soloist at the Greenwich House in 1991. Tabnik gigged around N.Y.C, with a quartet during 1993-94. In the later 1990s, he led his own trio and also worked as a member of pianist Connie Crothers’s quartet. He has also worked as a jazz journalist.

Discography

Solo Journey (solo saxophone, 1990); In the Moment (1992); Life at the Core (1995). Connie Crothers: Duo Dimension (1988).

—Lewis Porter