The Cadet Concept - 10 of His Greatest

Richard Evans
(Left) 1966 at a Ramsey Lewis session
(Above) 1979 from the back cover of the 'Richard Evans' LP

To most people, the name Richard Evans won’t mean too much. But to fans of Chicago soul-jazz, especially the sounds coming out on the Chess subsidiary Cadet in the late 60’s and early 70’s, no name looms larger. Evans was a journeyman jazz bassist (he even did a number of sessions with Sun Ra) and composer who made his name as a house producer/arranger for Cadet. Over the years he added his brilliant arrangements to records by Marlena Shaw, Kenny Burrell, Ramsey Lewis, Sonny Cox, Richard ‘Groove’ Holmes, Jack McDuff, Woody Herman, Dorothy Ashby and Odell Brown & The Organizers among others.  The sessions he worked on were marked by a combination of astonishing sonic clarity and a soulful punch. Evans was also an innovator, bringing an eclectic range of instrumentation and unusually orchestrated string sections to these sessions. In fact, it was with strings that he would make his most lasting mark.

Between 1966 and 1971 he recorded seven LPs as the ‘Soulful Strings’. Evans took a project that might have been easy listening instro-kitsch in someone else's hands and made it pure magic. The Soulful Strings were a showcase for his arranging and producing skills, as well as for a number of members of the Cadet house band including Lennie Druss (flute, woodwinds) Charles Stepney (a major Cadet producer/arranger in his own right, on organ and vibes), Phil Upchurch (guitar), Cleveland Eaton (bass) and alternately Bobby Christian and Billy Wooten (vibes).

Though their repertoire was composed largely of covers, Evans managed to create a ‘sound’, truly putting his stamp on the material. The group’s masterpiece was 1969’s ‘String Fever’ (incorrectly listed as ‘Spring Fever’ in a number of guides), on which they recorded many original Evans compositions. All through the 70’s and 80’s Evans continued to record as a bassist, as well as producing and arranging hits for among others Natalie Cole, Peabo Bryson and Ahmad Jamal. Today he is a professor at the Berklee College of Music in Boston.

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