I consider myself very fortunate to have had the musical career I have had. I had the opportunity to work with many great musicians and learned a great deal along the way. My earliest performance outing was with my college friend, guitarist Andy Lafreniere, with whom I started a duo we called “Solstice.” Inspired by the work of Paul Winter, whom I had the pleasure of playing with in concert back in 1972, and Ralph Towner and the band Oregon, we sought to combine creative covers, originals, and improvisations into a concert act. We soon felt the need to add to this combination and it wasn't long before we had tracked down a very creative multi-instrumentalist named Guy Dedell. He was perfect for us, as he could play flute, mallet percussion, and percussion. I hooked Guy up with Tigger Benford and Collin Walcott through my connection with Paul Winter's cellist David Darling and it wasn't long before Guy was wailing on the traditional Indian drum called tabla.

And so, for 10 years, Solstice performed concerts, gave school performances and workshops and finally recorded an album of original music. We stopped doing covers and focused exclusively on original compositions and free group improvisations. Tracks 10 and 18 are from our Solstice album. They represent a couple of my contributions to our repertoire, but Andy contributed many great tunes and Guy, though bringing us few pieces by comparison, contributed some great music as well. We were a wonderful team.

After Solstice disbanded, I formed a group with the rhythm section my friend Doug Hartline had been using for several years. I wanted to go more electric, inspired now by the music of Jean-Luc Ponty. With me on exclusively electric violin, Nick Bariluk on keyboard synths, George Skidd on electric bass and Alan Pugielli on drums & percussion, we performed on a club circuit that included Danbury, New Haven, and Hartford, Connecticut, as well as excursions into Westchester, New York. We opened for "Steps Ahead" at the 1989 New Haven Jazz Festival. I called the band “The Richard Brooks Group” and devoted it solely to my originals, a few of Nick's originals, and a few standards. I got the band into the studio for a “demo” and those tracks became the basis for my first CD as a leader, “Alone Amongst Friends,” which combined those group recordings with some of my solo concert recordings made by Tom Rucktenwald. There are six tracks from that album on this collection.

My teaching career took on more demands and playing out until 2 AM wasn't working. I stopped performing for several years while I focused on teaching at The Wooster School in Danbury and The Gunnery in Washington, Connecticut and also conducting community and youth orchestras in Danbury, Cheshire, and Norwalk, CT.

I met Tom Rucktenwald through a collaboration with a singer/songwriter named Kathy Kruze. I played on several recordings of hers which Tom engineered and he and I hit it off. It wasn't long before we mutually agreed to collaborate on recording some of my material.

Soon my second CD, “Violin Electric” became a reality thanks to Tom's tireless efforts. I had the luxury of presenting him with rough live recordings of tunes I'd wanted to record or just talking through arrangements. He would present me with his fully realized version of all the backing tracks and all I had to do was lay down my violin tracks. We adjusted here and there, but mostly he got it right the first time. A music critic wrote “...if you can get past the cheesy drum machine, you might just like this album.” Well, maybe we should have brought in a real drummer, but to my ears, Tom's realizations were exemplary all the way. This album is represented by six tracks. My previously unreleased overdubbed solo version of the Miles Davis' classic “All Blues” was recorded during the sessions for “Violin Electric,” but the label my album was released on (J-Bird Records) wanted only original material and so it didn't make it on the CD.

In the years since, I've gone into the studio on random occasions with several different people. Recording my rendition of Bach's “Air on a G- String” was extremely gratifying, with Nick Bariluk devoting all of his creative juices on the backing tracks. And Jonas Friedman recorded my overdubbed solo rendition of “Fond Memory” with all the devotion I brought to tracks I recorded for him for his album “Smile.”

There's two “anomalies” on this collection. Borrowed from tracks on other people's CD's, they represent some of what I consider my best studio playing.

I got a call from producer Buck Brundage to lay down a violin track over a recording on synth and percussion that a fellow named Scott Morgan had put together for a “New Age” album entitled “Passages.” The groove was great and I really took to it laying down what I believe today to be one of my best improvisations. I include it here because I'm proud of the collaboration and the end result.

Then there was a recording session for my friend Doug Hartline. After laying down several tracks and a solo on another tune, I struggled with Doug's tune “La Lola.” We did take after take and neither Doug, nor engineer George Skidd nor I were thrilled with the results. Finally, they invited me into the control room. After all, I was playing a direct line electric violin so I really didn't need to be in a recording booth. They urged me on. We did a few takes, and then George said, “I think we've got a take...just cut loose on this one!” So, without caution, I proceeded to play the take that ultimately made it to the album. It's short, but it's probably my wildest, most rock n' roll solo improvisation. I'm so grateful to both Doug and George for having the patience and perseverance to coax it out of me.

Amongst my various musical activities, I conducted the Danbury Community Orchestra, a volunteer ensemble of amateur adults and young people, for 20 years. During my tenure there I commissioned my college professor James Furman to compose a piece for us. He wrote a three movement work entitled “Movements In Gospel” and I found the theme of the first movement, “Walk To The Altar” so enticing that I utilized it in solo concerts, playing the theme and then improvising on it. It represents my only solo “live” performance on this album and was recorded in concert at The Wooster School Chapel by Tom Rucktenwald.

So here's my retrospective "essential" collection. There were other tunes I had a hard time leaving off, but I believe this represents the best of my work during my nearly 40 years of performing. I presented this collection to my friend and mentor, David Darling and he wrote this:

"Richard Brooks is a talented violin player and composer. His latest (album) shows his violin talents in many ways, including Jazz, Folk, Romantic, Funk, Classical and many other genres. His rendition of Bach’s Air on a G String is beautiful and stunning. I highly recommend this (album) to all music fans."

-David Darling, Grammy Award Winning Cellist and Composer

I thank David for his kind words, and I thank you for listening!

Richard