Richard Carr, who grew up in a neighborhood south of Tower Grove Park and later earned two music degrees from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, has been making his mark as a composer-jazz pianist at clubs and restaurants in New Orleans, where he lives.

And now he hopes to gain new fans with the recent release of two new CDs of his music, titled "When Soul & Heart Collide" and "Christmas Fireside."

Carr's parents, Richard Sr. and Patricia Carr, live in the house where their musician son grew up. His mother says the release of the collections of yuletide music and blend of jazz and New Age music may be just what her son needs to build a national following.

"He needs exposure," Patricia Carr said. "We think he has a real talent and that if he gets some exposure, he'll be OK to continue his career in music."

Richard Carr, 38, decided less than five years ago to leave a sports-management job in New Orleans to pursue his first love - music - full time, his mother says. He has released five CDs.

The first three CDs, titled "Through the Mind's Eye," "Fogland" and "An American Quixote," reached the Top-100 rankings of New Age Voice.

Those CDs also earned good reviews from local lawyer Don Wolff, who is the jazz critic for KMOX Radio.

Richard Carr's Internet Web site, www.richardcarr.com, contains other favorable reviews. The Web site describes Carr's music as a "unique blend of classical music, jazz and pop resulting in a romantic New Age-contemporary piano style that is soothing to the soul, mind and body."

Patricia Carr says her son "plays by improvisation, and then they record it. I think he's found that a career in music was always in his heart. He was always his own biggest critic, and he's starting to be more and more satisfied with his compositions."

She says her son started taking piano lessons at age 5, graduated from St. Louis University High School in the early 1980s and continued to be a serious musician while earning bachelor's and master's degrees in music from SIUE in the mid-'80s.

He later earned a degree in sports management and worked in that field for several years before turning back to music as a full-time career.

He plays from four to seven nights a week at clubs, restaurants and hotels in New Orleans' French Quarter and composes and records music when he's not performing.

Patricia Carr says that her son hopes to return to St. Louis in the spring, as part of a Midwestern tour.

He last performed here more than a year ago, in a benefit show at St. Louis University High.

Richard Carr has said that his music is influenced by many sources, including the American, Russian and French composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and such modern performers as Mannheim Steamroller, Tangerine Dream, John Adams, Keith Jarrett, Cole Porter, Steve Reich, George Winston and George Gershwin.

Carr's plans for the next year include extensive touring, a two-piano project with composer-pianist Alex Utterman and another solo CD, tentatively planned for a late June release.

To contact reporter Robert Kelly:
E-mail: rkelly@postnet.com Phone: 314-729-7905