Sam Richards (born 1949 in London), is an English writer, composer, improviser, jazz pianist and former folk music collector and performer.
He had already studied composition at Dartington Summer School of Music with French avant gardist Michel Decoust.
He devoted much time to folklore research mainly in England's Westcountry, concentrating on gypsies, farming communities and children's songs and tales,[4][5] writing several papers on these subjects.
[6] Sound recordings made by him are held by the British Library Sound Archive,[7] and the Sam Richards Folklore Archive of 600 hours of recordings of song, music and interviews made between 1972 and 1987 is held by the British Library and the University of Plymouth.
[11] After some years specialising in musical anthropology and fieldwork, Richards wrote "Fool's Holiday", a quasi-minimalist score with much opportunity for jazz improvisation.
Premièred in June 2009, was his "About Time: Voices" at the San Francisco Public Library, performed by the Cornelius Cardew Choir.
He is an improviser and jazz pianist, and played with the improving group Half Moon Assemblage with Lona Kozik, Elie Fruchter and, occasionally, Tim Sayer.
He also does regular monthly gigs with the Jazzlab, an experimental band that plays free jazz, electronic/instrumental freeform pieces, and sometimes Richards' own poetry - which has a political edge.
From 2017 to 2019 He was composer and radio programme maker for Sounding Coastal Change, an Open University project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, and focussing on the North Norfolk Coast.