Gerry
Richardson has had a full and eventful career both as an accomplished
musician and composer. He has a wealth of experience in all
styles of music involving him with some of the biggest names
in jazz & rock. In the 70s he and Sting formed the seminal
North East Jazz Rock band ‘Last Exit’. Gigs have
included work with The Police and Eberhard Schoener, Billy
Ocean, Guy Barker, John Miles, Alan Price, Ian Shaw and Carol
Grimes. Gerry played organ on Sting’s 1996 million selling
album ‘Mercury Falling’.
Gerry Richardson’s Big Idea is a dynamic nine-piece Hammond organ based band exploring the jazz organ genre to the max! Soul, Gospel, Funk, Swing and Samba are all part of the mix. Add to that some kicking original tunes, many written as tributes to the legendary jazz and soul musicians who have inspired Gerry throughout his career and you get an unbeatable format for a great nights’ music.
Sting on Gerry
 “Gerry
was in the year ahead of me in teacher's training college,
but gigging was all we wanted to do. It was Gerry who was
the pioneer, the pathfinder into that fabled realm of jazz
clubs, working men's clubs, pubs and cabaret. To be a professional
musician, a journeyman able to sight-read sufficiently to
hold down a job, to play whatever style was required; this
was the ultimate goal, and Gerry, with his prodigious skills,
could do all of it. I was in awe of him.
He and I worked together in bands for many years, I played
bass and sang, he would often say (only half joking) that
if only he could sing he would fire me, and it's clear from
this album that I have much to be grateful for, not least
that during our time together he limited his 'vocalising'
to the Vox Humana stop on his beloved Hammond. On that instrument
he was always passionate, innovative, surprisingly angular
and, even on those early days, his playing was stamped with
a clear authority.”
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