Rick Compton and Friends smooth jazz trio to perform in Rome: What to know
If you were to list the finest drummers in Central New York, you would barely get started before you got to the name Rick Compton.
Best known now for his stint with guitar legend (and best-selling author) Carmen Caramanica, Rick has established himself as a top proponent of the tasteful, less-is-more approach to jazz drumming.
Having been steered away from the trumpet and to the drums by a grade school music director who needed to fill out a sparse percussion section, Compton began to love the instrument and soon found himself playing gigs in his teens. It all led to an active playing career backing local icons like Carmen Caramanica, "Doc" Woods, Sal Amico, "Chick" Esposito, Rick Montalbano, Sal Alberico Jr. and more, as well as playing with jazz giants like Marian McPartland, Clark Terry, Gary Burton, and Chuck Mangione.
But did you know he is an accomplished flugelhorn player as well?
After earning his master’s degree in percussion performance, Compton returned to Utica, where his former position as Percussion Specialist for the Utica schools had been changed to include teaching brasses in a couple of elementary schools.
“I began playing the instrument that was my favorite minor instrument in college…the trumpet. Almost full circle but not quite,” Compton recalls. “One of my close colleagues at Proctor was Loyal Mitchell, who asked me if I would join him playing trumpet in the Ilion Band which rehearses and plays summer concerts. I was starting to really enjoy playing trumpet and joined the Tuesday Night Big Band.”
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From there it was a natural transition to add the flugelhorn — a more mellow cousin to the trumpet — to his repertoire.
“Some of the trumpet charts in the band called for the players to double on Flugelhorn. So I then acquired one, and immediately fell in love with the instrument,” explains Rick. “The more I played it the more I liked it.”
So how did it work out for him? Find out for yourself when Rick’s smooth jazz trio, “Rick Compton and Friends,” takes the stage at Franca’s Wine Room for a 7 p.m. show on Oct. 29.
Joining flugelhornist Compton will be two musicians with their own stellar reputations, Jim O'Mahoney on piano and Joe Karwacki on bass. Jim has been a constant presence in the Central New York music scene, having appeared with many of the area's well-known jazz musicians, while Joe has played in everything from duos to big bands and orchestras and has worked alongside, among others, Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, Al Martino, and Barry Manilow.
Together the trio will present the best in classic jazz, bop and swing, ballads, bossa novas and sambas, and even some funk and smooth rock selections, often done with an unexpected twist.
And he’s always teaching; his formula for success is something all musicians should take to heart:
“Be prepared, be on time, play your best and enhance the overall effect, whatever group you're in.”
This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Rick Compton and Friends jazz trio to perform in Rome: What to know
