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Ben Riley
Riley was born in Savannah, Georgia, but his parents moved to New York City when he was four years old, and he was brought up there. His father was a shipyard worker, and his mother did domestic work. After a couple of years living in Baltimore, Maryland during World War II (when his father was working for the Bethlehem Steel Corporation), the family moved to Sugar Hill, Georgia, where Riley stayed until moving back to New York.
His interest in drumming began in Savannah, where he listened to marching bands, but in New York he lived in the same neighbourhood as Sonny Rollins, Billy Taylor, Jimmy Cobb, and Roy Haynes, from the last of whom especially he learnt a great deal. He then studied with Cecil Scott, a saxophonist and band leader whose band played at the Club Sudan, near the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem, and Riley occasionally sat in with them.
Riley then started learning from another drummer, Phil Wright, who became a popular figure in their neighbourhood because of his ability to write out the drum parts from recordings. This enabled the drummers, such as Cobb and Riley, to learn the parts before joining bands. Aside from playing along to records, their main education came from listening to jam sessions organised and attended by masters such as Art Blakey. Among the master drummers who taught and influenced Riley were Philly Joe Jones and Ed Thigpen (with whom he played at The Composer).
In high school Riley played in the school band, and after graduation he joined the army, where he was a paratrooper, and also played with the army band. Upon leaving the army in 1954 he moved to New York, and in 1956 started playing jazz professionally. He played with such musicians as Randy Weston, Mary Lou Williams, Sonny Rollins, Woody Herman, Stan Getz, Billy Taylor, and Johnny Griffin. What made his name, however, and helped direct his career to success, were four years spent playing, touring, and recording with the great pianist, Thelonious Monk.
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Continue ReadingBen Riley's Monk Legacy
by Russ Musto
This interview was first published at All About Jazz on November 7, 2006. Ben Riley is one of the most richly experienced drummers in jazz today. The Georgia-born drummer came up in Harlem during the second wave of bebop in the fifties, playing with Randy Weston and others. He was at Minton's with saxophonist Eddie “Lockjaw" Davis and anchored the saxophonist's two-tenor quintet with Johnny Griffin, but his true claim to fame came during his years with iconoclast ...
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by Raul d'Gama Rose
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Continue ReadingBen Riley's Monk Legacy Septet: Memories of T
by J Hunter
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by David A. Orthmann
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Continue ReadingBen Riley And The Monk Legacy Band To Perform And Sign Autographs At J&R Music And Computer World, Tuesday, October 31 At 12:30 PM
Source:
All About Jazz
Concert To Be Broadcast Live On WBGO Jazz 88.3 FM Jazz drummer Ben Riley and the Monk Legacy Band will perform and sign autographs for fans at J&R Music and Computer World (23 Park Row) on Tuesday, October 31 at 12:30 PM. WBGO Jazz 88.3FM will broadcast and webcast the concert live starting at 12:30 with Midday Jazz host Rhonda Hamilton. The hour-long performance and interview will feature drummer Riley and the Monk Legacy Band performing the music of the ...
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Ben Riley's Monk Legacy Septet Performs at Long Island University's Brooklyn Campus, September 20 at Kumble Theater Free
Source:
Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services
Ben Riley's Monk Legacy Septet Performs at Long Island University's Brooklyn Campus, September 20 -Free performance at the Kumble Theater for the Performing Arts-
Brooklyn, N.Y. - An ensemble dedicated to carrying on the legacy of jazz great Thelonious Monk, Ben Riley's Monk Legacy Septet will perform at the Kumble Theatre for the Performing Arts at Long Island University's Brooklyn Campus. Drummer Ben Riley and arranger/trumpeter Don Sickler have taken their deep love and understanding for Monk's music ...
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Sunnyside Releases Kenny Barron's "Live At Bradley's" With Ray Drummond and Ben Riley
Source:
All About Jazz
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Shane Dahler
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A. Christopher Johnson
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Music
Bird of Beauty
From: SparkbirdBy Ben Riley
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