Dick Twardzik

{{Short description|American jazz pianist}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Dick Twardzik | image = Dick Twardzik.jpg | birth_name = Richard Henryk Twardzik | birth_date = {{Birth date|1931|4|30}} | birth_place = Danvers, Massachusetts, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1955|10|21 |1931|4|30 |mf=yes}} | death_place = Paris, France | genre = Jazz | occupation = Musician | instrument = Piano | years_active = 1945–1955 }}

'''Richard Henryk Twardzik''' (April 30, 1931 – October 21, 1955)<ref name="Larkin50"/> was an American jazz pianist who worked in Boston for most of his career.

==Biography== Son of Henryk Franciszek Twardzik, Polish-American painter from Kraków, and Mary Claire Grant. Twardzik trained in classical piano as a child and made his professional debut at the age of fourteen. He was taught by Margaret Chaloff, the mother of baritone saxophone player Serge Chaloff. Twardzik recorded with Serge Chaloff and with Charlie Mariano. He worked with Charlie Parker on several occasions toward the end of Parker's life.<ref name="Larkin50">{{cite book |editor1-last=Larkin |editor1-first=Colin |title=The Virgin Encyclopedia of Fifties Music |year=2002 |publisher=Virgin Books |isbn=1-85227-937-0 |page=458 |edition=3rd}}</ref> Twardzik also played professionally with Chet Baker and Lionel Hampton. He recorded with Baker and Chaloff in 1954 and 1955.<ref name="Larkin50"/>

In his teenage years, Twardzik became addicted to heroin.<ref name="Ankeny">{{cite web |last1=Ankeny |first1=Jason |title=Richard Twardzik |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/richard-twardzik-mn0000822392/biography |website=AllMusic |access-date=11 April 2020}}</ref> He died October 21, 1955, at age 24, from a heroin overdose<ref name="Gioia1998">{{cite book|last=Gioia|first=Ted|title=West Coast Jazz: Modern Jazz in California, 1945-1960 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O-b1Qmta2wsC&pg=PA185|access-date=10 April 2020|date=October 1998|publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-21729-4 |page=185}}</ref> while on tour with Chet Baker in Europe.<ref name="Ankeny" />

The song "In Memory of Dick", was written by saxophonist Bobby Jaspar, who occasionally played with Twardzik and Baker during their tour in Europe.

==Discography== ===As leader=== * ''Trio'' with Russ Freeman (Pacific Jazz, 1956)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jazzdisco.org/pacific-jazz-records/discography-1952-1954/|title=Pacific Jazz Records Discography: 1952-1954 |website=Jazzdisco.org |access-date=October 29, 2019}}</ref>

===As sideman=== * Chet Baker, ''Chet Baker in Europe'' (Pacific Jazz, 1955) * Chet Baker, ''Indian Summer (The Complete 1955 Concerts In Holland)'' (Nederlands Jazz Archief NJA0701, 2007) * Serge Chaloff, ''The Fabel of Mabel'' (1201 Music, 1999) * Charlie Parker, ''The Happy Bird'' (Charlie Parker, 1961) * Charlie Parker, ''Boston, 1952'' (Uptown UPCD 27.42, 1996)

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Further reading== *Jack Chambers, ''Bouncing with Bartok'', Toronto: Mercury Press, 2008, {{ISBN| 9781551281414}}

==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20090205163022/http://jazz.com/jazz-blog/2009/1/20/twardzik-chambers-one "The Tragedy of Richard Twardzik"] by Ted Gioia (review of Chambers book)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Twardzik, Dick}} Category:1931 births Category:1955 deaths Category:Jazz musicians from Massachusetts Category:People from Danvers, Massachusetts Category:20th-century American pianists Category:American jazz pianists Category:American male jazz pianists Category:Deaths by heroin overdose in France Category:20th-century American male pianists