Perhaps instead of “Rick Stammer’s Biography”, the title of this page should read; Rick Starmer’s confession… or places I’ve wandered off to. I mean who wants to read a biography that isn’t Lincoln’s, or John Lennon’s..or even Jim Thorpe’s for that matter… but everybody would read a confession, no matter who was confessing.
From 1980 to 1996 I wandered around New York City jamming with just about anyone who let me as long as there was a piano on stage, I was there.
One day in a rehearsal space I met a fellow by the name of “Sarzo.” He was a real hot jazz pianist and the leader of an even hotter jazz quartet. We hit it off right away and he invited me down to a club where he and his crew were performing that evening. I figured this might be a chance to get some experience in the jazz world, so I showed. He came down off the stage during the break and we had drinks and yakked about the Yankee’s and such but he didn’t ask me to sit in. “Oh well” I thought. A week later I was out on a date with a quite fetching young lady by the name of “Gina.” I suggested we go see a friend of mine play some good jazz, so we did. Ol’ Sardo’s eyes popped out when he got a load of Gina as we took our table on the last song of their break. Sardo made a bee line for us, took a seat beside Gina, and proceeded to bird dog on her like she was the only woman in the club.
Sardo wasted no time asking me if I wanted to sit in on the first song of the upcoming set and that he would be glad to stay with Gina while I played. After the second piece I got the hang of playing with a jazz quartet and by the third jam he was sending drinks to me on stage…needless to say I played the whole set. From then on I brought Gina to all the jam sessions and became quite experienced as a player. Gina didn’t mind, she loved to hear me play. We played this game all over the city.
Eventually I got my own band and honed my song writing chops. After gigs I would wander uptown to a bar named “Hanraties” where there was a nine foot Steinway sitting in the back and a readymade crowd of ole timers bellied up to the bar. Henry the bartender took to me and would ask me to play every time I came in. It was a great place to try my new songs and drink my fill until last call. Plus it entertained his customers and kept them drinking…. my drinks were on the house.
My stops during my journey of jams eventually brought me the honor of playing with Michael Bolton, Spiro Gyra, The Uptown Horns, and more…. all at “The Club Nirvanna” on Times Square and “The China Club” on the upper West side. Tours with, “Peter Noone,” Dino Danelli, and my own band “XL.” I’ve played music in many dives whose names are lost in time. More importantly during my journey I conversed and drank with a million people with a million stories ranging from conquest to heart break. I’ve woken up on park benches and in the beds of strangers. I’ve escaped by the skin of my ass and broken bread with millionaires.
Now if you’ll allow me, I’ll sing my stories to you.