Music
Rick Margitza
born 1961 · jazz tenor saxophonist, composer
Detroit-born tenor saxophonist of Hungarian Romani descent who played with Miles Davis and recorded three albums for Blue Note before settling in Paris.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan
age 64- Detroit years
- 1961–1980s
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Rick Margitza grew up in a family of musicians in the Detroit area. His paternal grandfather, a Hungarian Romani violinist, taught him the violin at four, and his father played violin in the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. He went on to piano and oboe before settling on the tenor saxophone at Fordson High School in Dearborn, then studied at Wayne State University, Berklee, the University of Miami and Loyola University New Orleans. In the 1980s he toured with Maynard Ferguson and Flora Purim, and after moving to New York in 1988 he joined Miles Davis's band, appearing on Amandla (1989) and on Davis's live recordings of that period. Blue Note released his albums Color (1989), Hope and This Is New (both 1991), and he has recorded with Chick Corea, McCoy Tyner and Maria Schneider. Since 2003 he has lived in Paris, working with Martial Solal and leading European groups, and in 2017 he recorded Gypsy Tenor with Hungarian musicians Tony Lakatos and Gábor Bolla.
Highlights
- Grandson of a Hungarian Romani violinist; father played in the Detroit Symphony
- Studied at Fordson High School and Wayne State University
- Tenor saxophonist with Miles Davis (Amandla, 1989)
- Blue Note albums Color, Hope and This Is New (1989–1991)
- Gypsy Tenor (2017) with Tony Lakatos and Gábor Bolla
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 2
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Studied here · late 1970s
Fordson High School
Dearborn high school where Margitza settled on the tenor saxophone.
Studied here · early 1980s
Wayne State University
Detroit's public university, the first of several colleges Margitza attended.