Rodney Richardson is a professional guitarist, born, raised, living and working in
Washington DC.

He attended the prestigious Duke Ellington School of the Performing Arts and Howard
University where he studied with Gerry Kunkel, Charlie Young and Charles Covington.

His studies culminated with a Master of Music degree in Jazz Studies.
Rodney has performed with jazz greats Lee Konitz, Donald Byrd, Jimmy Heath, Yusef
Lateef, Keter Betts and Grady Tate, among others. While a graduate student at Howard
University he traveled with the HU Jazz Ensemble to Japan twice to perform all over the
country, including the first annual Nagano Jazz Festival.

Though well versed in many genres and constantly exploring and expanding his
repertoire, Rodney’s music is rooted in jazz. Drawing from some of the major musical
influences in his life, including John Coltrane, Wes Montgomery, Bud Powell, Kurt
Rosenwinkel, Barney Kessel, and Kenny Garrett, Rodney collaborates with the many
talented DC- based musicians, constantly striving to preserve and evolve the uniquely DC
jazz sound. Rodney is of the notion that the DC music scene expresses a spirit of sound
that is not found elsewhere. With that in mind, he is one of the most sought-after jazz
guitarists on the DC scene and can be heard around U Street on any given night.
Rodney spends his days teaching guitar to all levels of students and his nights playing all
over town. His current projects include performing with The Rodney Richardson Trio,
Will Rast’s Funk Ark and The Bohemian Caverns Jazz Orchestra. In 2010 Rodney
released his debut album – This Is The Rodney Richardson Trio – an organ trio record
that features original compositions as well as a few interesting adaptations.