Born in Dayton, Ohio, Ric was raised in a musical family. His mother played the piano, and his uncle was the conductor and founder of the Dayton Philharmonic. At age 8 Ric started to play the flute and study the classics. By the time he was a teenager his main interests were in jazz and blues. In College he toured with the Ohio University Jazz Ensemble under the direction of Ernie Bastine. Since then he has added to his arsenal of sounds the saxophone, clarinet and recorder family. He has studied at Juilliard and Jazzmobile and with many prominent musicians such as Joe Allard, Frank Foster, Julius Baker, Samuel Baron, Lenny Pickett, Maricio Smith, Perry Robinson, Dr. Michael White, Jamey Aebersold and Steve Grossman.

Ric has performed with Bobby Rodriguez y Nueva Compania, Louis Ramirez, Ray Santos Caribbean Music Experience, Armando Manzanero, Henry Fiol, Conjunto Melao, Glen Vargas, Duke Ellington Orchestra, Rebirth Brass Band, Treme Brass Band, Hot 8 Brass Band, New York City Soul, Steve Getz Quintet, Steve Tintweiss, Todd Wolfe, Dallas Fisher, Johnny Allen, Michael Packer, Chaz DePalo, Big Ed Sullivan as well as a variety of chamber ensembles and territory bands across the country. He can currently be heard with the Jambalaya Brass Band, Sonido Arrasando and The Times Trio.

Ric's Jambalaya Brass Band embodies the history of the best American music of the last hundred years while at the same time suggesting a prescient trajectory of America's musical future. From the Warner Bros. film, Where the Wild Things Are, to the Britney Spears Super Bowl Party in New York City at Planet Hollywood, to the half-time Mardi Gras show for the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden, Jambalaya Brass Band has literally made the party. More recently, the band has performed the music for two Southern Comfort commercials and a Ritz Cracker ad, at the funeral for the 'old' Coney Island, at D.B.A. New Orleans, at the Mermaid Parade and B.B. King's in NYC, as well as many colleges and other concerts around the country. Both It's a Jungle Out There, their previous CD, and On the Funky Side, their current successful release, have been in heavy rotation on radio stations across the country, and both have charted in the top five of the CMJ, Cashbox and Roots Music Report music charts.

He is a composer whose works encompass many musical styles. In addition to having written over 150 children's songs, Jambalaya Brass Band, The Jazz Samaritans, Conjunto Melao, Flamboyan, Maracaibo, the American Renaissance Theatre Chamber Ensemble and the Ric Frank Group have used his compositions for television, radio and club appearances. His music has been performed on New York City's Theatre Row by the Family Repertory Ensemble. Conjunto Melao, Orchestra G7, Flamboyan, New York City Soul, Reverend Easemore and the Congregational Blues Band, Jazz Samaritans, Maracaibo, the Ric Frank Group and Jambalaya Brass Band have played Ric's arrangements. Ric has been the recipient of two Meet The Composer grants and was the 4th place winner in the Just Plain Folks Music Awards.

Besides being a performer, composer and arranger, Ric is an educator. He taught at the Collegiate Schoolfor 15 years as well as being the director of the pre-school division at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music for 25 years. He has also taught at the Aspen Music Festival, Denver Folklore Center, Haight-Ashbury Jazz Workshop, Johnny Colon's East Harlem Music School, Greenwich House Music School, The International Pre-School, Turtle Bay Music School, Village Community School, and the Huntington Suzuki School. Ric has been the recipient of four grants from the Van Horne Foundation for Excellence in Teaching.

Ric plays and endorses RS Berkeley instruments and Nadir Saxwinds mouthpieces.