Richard Elliot is a Los Angeles-based saxophonist and composer who helped architect urban contemporary jazz by blending soul, funk, and hip-hop grooves with smooth jazz. With his fat, reedy tone and deep roots in R&B and Motown, Elliot has spent decades crafting accessible, soulful records that shaped the contemporary jazz radio format and earned him a string of charting albums across multiple labels.
Born in Scotland but raised in Los Angeles from age three, Elliot started on clarinet before switching to saxophone in junior high. He cut his teeth as a studio session player for artists like Natalie Cole and the Pointer Sisters, then spent five years with Tower of Power before launching his solo career in 1987. Over the following decades, Elliot released chart-topping albums for Blue Note, GRP, and other labels, co-founded ARTizen Music Group with trumpeter Rick Braun, and collaborated with fellow saxophonists on the wildly successful Summer Horns series. His 2005 album Metro Blue peaked at number two and spawned a number-one single, while 2016's Summer Madness topped the contemporary jazz chart. Most recently, he signed with Shanachie Records and released Authentic Life in 2021, featuring contributions from his longtime collaborators and peers across the contemporary jazz scene.
