About Riley

Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Riley Richard is an inspired jazz saxophonist making his contribution to the jazz genre. Having studied at Cleveland School of the Arts, Cuyahoga Community College and Cleveland State University, Riley was trained in the traditional sense of jazz, analyzing the styles of John Coltrane, Charlie Parker and Sonny Stitt.

Although he had a heavy interest in sports at an early age, Riley was encouraged by his parents to take piano lessons, which led him to the flute and eventually the alto saxophone. His first professional gig came at age 14, playing with Cleveland's legendary organist Eddie Baccus Sr. Since then Riley has shared the stage with the likes of Najee, Brian Simpson, Kim Waters and Boney James — and the list continues.

In 2016 Riley began his solo career with the single "Family Ties," produced and co-written by Darren Rahn. It reached #2 on the smooth jazz Mediabase chart and #18 on Billboard Smooth Jazz, spending 15 weeks in the top 30. His debut EP followed in the summer of 2017, and he went on to score back-to-back #1 singles with "Captivate Me" (2019) and "Don't Wanna Let Go" (2020). Riley then shocked the smooth jazz world with a stellar rendition of "Superstar," produced by Barry Eastmond, earning a Billboard top 10 and record-breaking streaming numbers across all platforms. His recent release "Dance for Romance" has been in heavy rotation on smooth jazz radio.