Pianist & Composer Grant Richards with Drummer Roberto Giaquinto - Live at Catalyst Records

Here's a special episode of The Lo-Down Culture Cast, recorded live at Catalyst Records in Essex Market.

Pianist & composer Grant Richards and drummer Roberto Giaquinto joined host Traven Rice to talk about the hustle of being a jazz musician in NYC today. They played some music composed by Grant Richards and performed some new music from an upcoming album that they have collaborated on titled Orbits Trio+3. 

The sound was great and the vibe was warm and welcoming, thanks to Catalyst owner Gary Guarinello.

NYC-based pianist Grant Richards is an award-winning jazz performer, composer, and educator who adapts to a wide range of settings, styles, and genres. A native of Portland, Oregon, Grant began playing piano at the age of eight. By the time he entered college, he had won four Student Music Awards from Downbeat Magazine and recorded his first album as a leader. He went on to Berklee College of Music on a full-tuition Jimmy Lyons Scholarship.

After releasing his second studio album Numinous, Grant moved to Japan for nearly three years where he taught at an international music school and performed often in the vibrant Tokyo music scene. Upon his return to the US, he moved to New York City and served as the Musical Director for the 2019 Jacob’s Pillow Tap Program.

In October 2024 Grant released  Menagerie, a vast collaborative songwriting project straddling the line between jazz, pop, and neo-soul which features a host of talented vocalists and musicians living in the NYC area. Recorded in 2023 at Keyboard Heaven in Brooklyn, this 15-track album is a genre-bending journey that has raked in over 200,000 streams across the globe since its release.

In addition to being a gigging musician, Grant is a music educator, recording artist, writer and composer. 

Italian drummer Roberto Giaquinto started out his musical journey with his older brother in Naples, Italy, playing with different local bands around the city while still in middle school. After moving to Rome, he graduated with a degree in jazz arranging  AND  In 2009, he was awarded a scholarship to Berklee College of Music and after moving to Boston in 2010, he was selected to be part of the Global Jazz Institute.