Ray Brown

Raymond Matthews Brown (October 13, 1926 – July 2, 2002) was an influential American jazz double bassist, known for extensive work with Oscar Peterson among many others.
Ray Brown was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and had piano lessons from the age of eight. After noticing how many pianists attended his high school, he thought of taking up the trombone, but was unable to afford one. With a vacancy in the high school jazz orchestra, he took up the upright bass.

A major early influence on Brown's bass playing was the bassist in the Duke Ellington band, Jimmy Blanton. As a young man Ray Brown became steadily more well known in the Pittsburgh jazz scene, with his first experiences playing in bands with the Jimmy Hinsley Sextet and the Snookum Russell band. After graduating from high school, hearing stories about the burgeoning jazz scene on 52nd Street, in New York City, he bought a one way ticket to New York. Arriving in New York at the age of twenty, he met up with Hank Jones, with whom he had previously worked, and was introduced to Dizzy Gillespie, who was looking for a bass player. Gillespie hired Brown on the spot and he soon played with such established musicians as Art Tatum and Charlie Parker.
From 1946 to 1951 he played in Gillespie's band. Brown, along with the vibraphonist Milt Jackson, drummer Kenny Clarke, and the pianist John Lewis formed the rhythm section of the Gillespie band. Lewis, Clarke and Jackson eventually formed the Modern Jazz Quartet. Brown became acquainted with singer Ella Fitzgerald when she joined the Gillespie band as a special attraction for a tour of the southern United States in 1947. The two married that year, and together they adopted a child born to Fitzgerald's half-sister Frances, whom they christened Ray Brown, Jr. Fitzgerald and Brown divorced in 1952.

Around this time Brown was also appearing in Jazz at the Philharmonic concerts, organised by Norman Granz. It was at a Jazz at the Philharmonic concert in 1949 that Brown first worked with the jazz pianist Oscar Peterson, in whose trio Brown would play from 1951 to 1966. Between 1957 and 1959, he appeared on Blossom Dearie's first five recordings for Verve Records. After leaving the Trio he became a manager and promoter as well as a performer. In 1966, he settled in Los Angeles where he was in high demand working for various television show orchestras. He also accompanied some of the leading artists of the day, including Frank Sinatra, Billy Eckstine, Tony Bennett, Sarah Vaughan, and Nancy Wilson. He also managed his former musical partners, the Modern Jazz Quartet, as well as a young Quincy Jones, produced some shows for the Hollywood Bowl, wrote jazz bass instruction books, and developed a jazz cello. In Los Angeles he composed music for films and television shows.
From 1974 to 1982, Brown performed and recorded a series of albums with guitarist Laurindo Almeida, saxophonist and flutist Bud Shank, and drummer Shelly Manne (replaced by Jeff Hamilton after 1977) under the name The L.A. Four. He also joined up with Milt Jackson again to record the classic Jackson, Johnson, Brown & Company (1983), featuring Jackson and Brown with J. J. Johnson on trombone, Tom Ranier on piano, guitarist John Collins, and drummer Roy McCurdy.

In the 1980s and 1990s he led his own trios and continued to refine his bass playing style. In his later years he recorded and toured extensively with pianist Gene Harris. In the early 1980s, Ray Brown met Diana Krall in a restaurant in Nanaimo, British Columbia.[4] According to Jeff Hamilton, in an interview recorded on the "Diana Krall Live in Rio" DVD, he first heard Diana Krall play at a workshop and, impressed with her piano skills (she was not yet singing) introduced her to bassist John Clayton. Hamilton and Clayton both encouraged Krall to move to Los Angeles to study under Ray Brown and others. In 1990, he teamed up with pianist Bobby Enriquez and drummer Al Foster, for Enriquez's album, The Wildman Returns. During 1990 - 1993 the "Legendary Oscar Peterson Trio" reunited, with Oscar Peterson, Herb Ellis and Ray Brown, with either Bobby Durham or Jeff Hamilton added on drums. Albums of this group earned no less than 4 Grammy Awards. In May 1993 this group ended, while Oscar Peterson suffered a severe stroke.
Ray played for a time with the "Quartet" with Monty Alexander, Milt Jackson and Mickey Roker. After that he toured again with his own trio, with several young pianists like Benny Green, Geoff Keeezer and Larry Fuller. The last edition of the Ray Brown Trio was that with pianist Larry Fuller and drummer Karriem Riggins. With that trio he continued to perform until his death in 2002; he died in his sleep, after having played golf, before a show in Indianapolis. Probably his last recorded show was in Europe, during the Bern Jazz Festival, on May 4, 2002, with Larry Fuller and Karriem Riggins.

Discography

New Sounds in Modern Music (1946), Savoy Records
Bass Hit! (1956), Norgran Records
The Poll Winners (1957) with Barney Kessel, Shelly Manne, Contemporary
This Is Ray Brown (1958), Polygram
Jazz Cello (1960), Verve Records
Ray Brown with the All-Star Big Band - Guest Soloist: Cannonball Adderley (1962), Verve Records
Much in Common with Milt Jackson (1962), Polygram
Ray Brown / Milt Jackson (1965), Verve Records
This One's for Blanton (Duke Ellington, Ray Brown) (1972), Original Jazz
Hot Tracks (Herb Ellis and the Ray Brown Sextet) (1975), Concord Jazz
Brown's Bag (1975), Concord Jazz
Overseas Special (1975), Concord Jazz
The Big 3 (1975), Pablo Records
As Good as It Gets (1977), Concord Jazz
Something for Lester (1977), (Japanese)
Quadrant (1977) with Milt Jackson, Mickey Roker, Joe Pass, Original Jazz Classics
Rockin' In Rhythm (1977) with Hank Jones, Jimmie Smith, Concord Jazz
Tasty[1] (1978) with Jimmy Rowles, Concord Jazz
Tasty! (1979), Concord Jazz
Live at the Concord Jazz Festival (1979), Concord Jazz
Echoes from West (1981), Atlas
Ray Brown, vol 3 (1982), Japanese
Milt Jackson - Ray Brown Jam (1982), Pablo Records
Jackson, Johnson, Brown & Company (1983), Original Jazz Classics
Soular Energy (1984), Groove Note/Concord Jazz
One O'Clock Jump (1984), Verve Records
Bye Bye Blackbird (1985), Paddle Wheel
Don't Forget the Blues (1985), Concord Jazz
The Red Hot Ray Brown Trio[2] (1985), Concord Jazz
Breakin' Out (1987) with George Shearing, Marvin Smith, Concord Jazz
Two Bass Hits (1988), Capri
Bam Bam Bam[2] (1988), Concord Jazz
Georgia on My Mind (1989), LOB
Listen Here! (1989) with Gene Harris Quartet, Concord Jazz
After Hours (1989)
Uptown (1990)
Moore Makes 4 (1990), Concord Jazz
Summer Wind: Live at the Loa (1990), Concord Jazz
3 Dimensional: The Ray Brown Trio (1991), Concord Jazz
Old Friends (1992)
Kiri Sidetracks: The Jazz Album (1992)
Bassface (1993), Telarc
Black Orpheus (1994), Evidence
Don't Get Sassy (1994), Telarc
Some of My Best Friends Are...The Piano Players (1994), Telarc
Seven Steps to Heaven (1995), Telarc
Introducing Kristin Korb with the Ray Brown Trio (1996), Telarc
Some of My Best Friends Are...The Sax Players (1996), Telarc
Live at Scullers (1996), Telarc
SuperBass (1997), Telarc
Some of My Best Friends Are...Singers (1998), Telarc
Triple Play (1998), Telarc
Summertime (Ray Brown Trio, Ulf Wakenius) (1998), Telarc
Moonlight in Vermont (1998), Prevue
Christmas Songs with The Ray Brown Trio (1999), Telarc
Some of My Best Friends Are... The Trumpet Players (2000), Telarc
Blues for Jazzo (2000), Prevue
The Duo Sessions (2000) with Jimmy Rowles, Concord Jazz
Live at Starbucks (2001), Telarc
SuperBass 2 (2001), Telarc
In the Pocket (Herb Ellis/Ray Brown Sextet) (2002), Concord Jazz
Some of My Best Friends Are ... Guitarists (2002), Telarc
Triple Scoop (2002), Concord Jazz
Ray Brown, Monty Alexander, & Russell Malone (2002), Telarc
Straight Ahead (2003) with Monty Alexander, Herb Ellis, Concord Jazz
Walk On (2003), Telarc
As Good as It Gets[1] (2000), Concord Jazz
Live from New York to Tokyo (2003), Concord Jazz
Bassics: The Best of the Ray Brown Trio 1997-2000 (2006), Concord Jazz