Photos: Rich Halley to Release A DISTANT LAND via Pine Eagle Records
The album was recorded in Portland and includes five original compositions plus three group improvisations.
Saxophonist Rich Halley is set to release A DISTANT LAND, a new recording by his quartet, the Rich Halley 4, via Pine Eagle Records. The album features trombonist Michael Vlatkovich, bassist Andrew Jones and drummer Carson Halley.
Photo Credit: Susan Ragan
The new release is available September 11, 2026 on Pine Eagle Records.
A Distant Land is the new recording by Rich Halley, featuring his quartet with trombonist Michael Vlatkovich, bassist Andrew Jones and drummer Carson Halley. Recorded in Portland in July 2025, A Distant Land is the eighth release by the Rich Halley 4, and features five incisive new Halley compositions plus three spontaneous improvisations that together showcase the power, depth and intuitive interaction of the group.
Rich Halley has released 27 recordings as a leader. A Distant Land follows Halley's recordings Fire Within and The Shape of Things (with Matthew Shipp), Dusk and Dawn, The Outlier and Crossing the Passes.
About Rich Halley
Halley's release 'Fire Within', with Mathew Shipp, Michael Bisio and Newman Taylor Baker was on a number of lists of the best jazz albums of 2023.
Rich currently leads the Rich Halley 4, a group which has released eight albums of original music. Rich was also the leader of The Lizard Brothers, a four horn sextet, and The Outside Music Ensemble, a horns and percussion group that did unamplified outdoor performances. He has performed with Matthew Shipp, Tony Malaby, Vinny Golia, Bobby Bradford, Nels Cline, Julius Hemphill, Oliver Lake and Andrew Hill.
For 26 years Rich was the artistic director of the Penofin Jazz Festival, a small festival in Northern California that presented many of the leading figures in creative jazz. He was a founder of Oregon's Creative Music Guild. Rich was educated as a field biologist, and his lifelong interest in nature has informed his music and led him on many trips into wilderness regions around the world.
A DISTANT LAND was recorded in Portland and marks the eighth release by the Rich Halley 4, featuring five new compositions by Halley alongside three group improvisations. Halley has released 27 recordings as a leader.
Photo Credit: Susan Ragan
