Rick Cutler has been playing drums since the age of 5 1/2 & keyboards since his teens. He studied both at the Julliard School as well as with jazz great Chick Corea.

He has performed in many Broadway shows including Hair, The Wiz, Candide, They're Playing Our Song, Woman of the Year & Seesaw.

He has written much music for TV, Film & Radio. Some of his work in this field include the Emmy-nominated theme for Dateline NBC, Later Today, on NBC, the theme for the New York Yankees on MSG Cable & the Outlaws & Lawmen mini-series on the Discovery channel.

For 18 years, he served as keyboardist & musical director for tap dance legend Gregory Hines. His composition, "Boom" was choreographed by Mr. Hines & performed at the nationally televised Gala For The President with President & Mrs. Clinton in attendance. He was also the composer of all of the original music for The Gregory Hines Show on CBS.

He was one of the original percussionists for Leonard Bernstein's "Mass" which was written & performed for the opening of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. He performs on the original recording of that piece with Mr. Bernstein conducting.

For 8 years he toured the world as 1st keyboardist & then drummer (&, on a few occasions, conductor) for Liza Minnelli. He performed in her Tony-winning Broadway show, "Liza's At The Palace" as well as on the Grammy-nominated cast recording.

He has also played on countless TV & Radio commercials & themes.

Some of the artists he has performed & recorded with include Michael Franks, Noel Pointer, Stevie Van Zandt, Herbie Hancock, Freddie Hubbard, Don Rickles, Billy Eckstine, Gloria Gaynor, Rodney Dangerfield, Regis Philbin, Donna Summer, Pete Seeger, Larry Coryell, Jon Lucien, Johnny Hartman, Savion Glover, Perry Farrell (of Jane's Addiction), Richie Stotts (of the Plasmatics), Charles Aznavour & the NY Philharmonic Brass Quintet.

His 1st CD release, Sanctuaries, received praise from musicians such as Mike Garson (former keyboardist for David Bowie) & Mark Soskin (pianist for Sonny Rollins). His sophomore effort, First Melancholy, Then The Night Stretch, was released in 2011 & his 3rd & 4th CDs (From The Silence & Daydreams (Probably) were released in 2013 & 2017 respectively & received airplay on over 115 radio stations worldwide as well as garnering many great reviews, in print & online.

He was interviewed by the Huffington Post in 2017 towards promoting the Daydreams (Probably) CD. His 5th CD, Women & Children, was released in 2020. In the fall of 2021 he released 2 digital singles, Parallel Universes, a guitar/drums duet with guitarist Vinnie Zummo & Yar, a solo piano piece. A video for Parallel Universes, directed by Spike Lee protege Lee Davis was also released.  

In the fall of 2022, he released The Black & Blue Sessions, Vol. 1 which is an electric album extensively using loops & samples. Coming soon is The Black & Blue Sessions, Vol. 2 in May 2023. Upcoming projects include an album of children's music accompanying poetry & the release of a documentary about the life of writer Elmore Leonard to which he co-wrote the score.