Richard Beirach obit

Richard Beirach, Pianist, Composer, Early ECM Stalwart, Dies at 78

 

He was not on the list.

Richard Alan “Richie” Beirach, the quietly dramatic, Brooklyn-born, classically inspired jazz pianist and composer whose earliest works were crucial to the rise of ECM Records, died on January 26, 2026. He was 78. Cause of death at this writing is unknown, but a GoFundMe was created to aid Beirach to pay for his longtime health expenses.

Though many regard Beirach for his lengthy stay in David Liebman’s 1970s ensembles such as Quest, and the saxophonist’s albums such as First Visit (Philips, 1973) and Pendulum (Artists House, 1978), it is the pianist’s solo, leader and collaborative recordings that greatly touched this writer.

These include the pianist’s early ECM albums such as his pre-fusion efforts with Liebman and bassist Frank Tusa on Lookout Farm (1973), and bittersweetly theatrical albums such as Eon (1976) and Hubris (1977). That said, latter-day efforts such as Impressions of Tokyo: Ancient City of the Future (Outnote, 2011) additionally show off Beirach’s charms, chops and a knack for cool, brooding complexity.

He also admired singers, working with West Coast vocalist and friend Laurie Antonioli on the album Varuna (Origin, 2015) and other recordings.

Much of Beirach’s way with post-bop counterpoint and angular harmony and melody earned him a nickname, The Code, or simply Code. In his high-school days he studied with Lennie Tristano, and later Ludmila Ulehla at the Manhattan School of Music. If something of Tristano’s teaching can be discerned in recordings such as Eon, Beirach exploded his early mentor’s sharply cornered leanness for a sound that was more emotional, passionate, even histrionic.

Still, Beirach remained devoted to the learning process. In 1972, after completing a master’s in music theory and composition at MSM, the pianist began a live apprenticeship with Stan Getz before joining up with Liebman in 1973, continuing on with the saxophonist throughout the 1970s, then as part of Quest during the whole of the 1980s.

In between Beirach’s early solo albums and his work with Liebman on ECM, the pianist played with Chet Baker during his brief stay at the Horizon and A&M labels (The Best Thing for You, recorded in 1977 but released later) and guitarist and ECM labelmate John Abercrombie (Arcade, Abercrombie Quartet and M, 1978-1980).

He filled the 1990s with solo piano albums such as Inamorata, Self Portraits and Sunday Songs (the latter on Blue Note), a high-profile date with Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette (Trust, Evidence, 1993) and a handful of projects with bassist-alto saxophonist George Mraz (including two Milestone albums, My Foolish Heart and Jazz).

In 2000 Beirach moved to Germany, where he taught jazz piano at the Mendelssohn-Bartholdy high school for some time, wrote a handful of advanced piano mastery texts such as The Lineage of Modern Jazz Piano and teamed up with an ensemble of Hessheim-area young players for a new trio and continued to release new music.

Pianist Roberta Piket, who studied with Beirach formally and became a good friend, called him “a vanishingly rare original voice in this music” in an intimate tribute on Facebook. She also quoted him as follows: “You have the right to play what you imagine.” JT