Don Riker

Don Riker (Donald Kay Riker) was born 22 October 1945 in Manhattan (New York, NY). He began attending live jazz performances in Manhattan in 1962. After meeting DownBeat editor Dan Morgenstern he began reviewing live performances for DownBeat. From 1963-64 he hosted jazz shows on WHCL-FM in upstate New York and a 1964 performance of the Coleman Hawkins quartet at Hamilton College. In 1965 he hosted a jazz show on WBAI-FM in New York City and contributed jazz liner notes for Blue Note and Prestige Records. He interviewed pianist Steve Kuhn in a cover story for Pauline Rivelli's Jazz magazine (December, 1965). His jazz mentor was famed bassist Milt Hinton.