Ray Brown

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 double 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 Russel 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, and their work together eventually led to the creation of the Modern Jazz Quartet.

Around this time Brown was also appearing in Jazz at the Philharmonic concerts, organised by Norman Granz. It was at these concerts that he met the jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, whom he married in 1947. Together they adopted a child born to Fitzgerald's half-sister Francis, whom they christened Ray Brown, Jr. Fitzgerald and Brown divorced in 1952.

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. 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 double bass instruction books, and developed a jazz cello.

Teddy Edwards / Howard McGhee: Together Again!!!!

Read "Together Again!!!!" reviewed by Richard J Salvucci

by Richard J Salvucci
October 26, 2024

Howard McGhee was one of the cats present at the creation, when bop became a thing. His life embodied a classic redemption story, complete with death (metaphorically) by drugs, years in exile and finally, by dint of his own struggles and a timely gig with Woody Herman, resurrection. While he had been widely admired and respected in the late 1940s as a pioneering trumpeter, the unspoken judgment was that it was his misfortune to come to prominence when Dizzy Gillespie ...

Album Review

Oscar Peterson: Con Alma

by Chris May
December 31, 2023

To borrow Duke Ellington's description of Louis Armstrong, Oscar Peterson was born poor, died rich and never hurt anyone along the way. He also brought joy to untold numbers of people. But, truth to tell, his style was the twentieth-century equivalent of modern day AI-produced generative music. Sit Peterson down at a piano, progamme him (as in give him a tune to play), and press Go: a torrent of technique poured out. Trouble is, Peterson's pianism was ...

Album Review

The Oscar Peterson Trio: Con Alma: The Oscar Peterson Trio Live in Lugano, 1964

Read "Con Alma: The Oscar Peterson Trio Live in Lugano, 1964" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic

by Mike Jurkovic
November 7, 2023

Was there ever a more generous player than Oscar Peterson? A man who, by simply doing the thing he most loved and thrilled to do, which was make people feel better way down deep in their bones, sat at his piano and made the world grateful? Rekindled that spark--of imagination, of potential, of better--just by running his hands along the eighty-eights and instigating his soul mates, bassist Ray Brown and drummer Ed Thigpen to do the same. That ...

Album Review

Sonny Rollins: Go West! The Contemporary Records Albums

Read "Go West! The Contemporary Records Albums" reviewed by Richard J Salvucci

by Richard J Salvucci
July 26, 2023

Apparently, the median age of a jazz listener is in his or her mid to late 40s. So, perhaps, the representative listener was born in the mid-1970s. Sonny Rollins first recorded in 1949. The recordings reviewed here were made in the late 1950s, well before many contemporary listeners were born. While there have been ample reissues of Rollins' work, most coincided with the still-active phase of his career. Much of his work has appeared since “Skylark" on The Next Album ...

Album Review

Oscar Peterson Trio with Herb Ellis and Ray Brown: Vancouver 1958

Read "Vancouver 1958" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
July 8, 2023

This iteration of the Oscar Peterson Trio, with guitarist Herb Ellis and bassist Ray Brown, had been together for five years at the time of this recording, but it was reaching its expiration date. Following appearances at The Vancouver Jazz Festival on August 4 and 8, 1958, there was only one further instance of the trio recording together that year, and that was for KABC-TV Stars of Jazz on August 18,1958 after which Herb Ellis left the band. The principals ...

Reassessing

The Easy Way

by Richard J Salvucci
February 21, 2023

It is fair to wonder how Jimmy Giuffre would be remembered had he not gone off on to the wilder shores of atonality, collective improvisation, and free jazz with Paul Bley and Steve Swallow in the early 1960s. It is easy to forget that Giuffre was regarded as a rising star, both as a multi-instrumentalist (he played tenor and baritone sax; clarinet was apparently a double for him) and a composer, in the 1950s. Yes, mentioned in the same breath ...

Book Review

On Jazz: A Personal Journey

by Richard J Salvucci
November 16, 2022

On Jazz:A Personal Journey Alyn Shipton300 Pages ISBN: 978-1-108-83423-0 Cambridge University Press 2022 Alyn Shipton is a distinguished jazz journalist, bassist, BBC radio presenter and biographer who may be best known for his A New History of Jazz (Continuum, 2001). In some ways, the present volume is a companion piece, because if you are inclined to wonder how anyone could have ever learned enough to write a 900 page volume, you may ...

Video / DVD

Backgrounder: Ray Brown Trio - 'Don't Get Sassy'

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
May 17, 2022

On April 21 and 22, 1994, the Ray Brown Trio went in to studio A at Signet Sound in West Hollywood to record an album called Don't Get Sassy for Robert Woods and Jack Renner's Telarc label. The trio was comprised of Benny Green on piano, Ray Brown on bass and Jeff Hamilton on drums, and there appears to have been an audience on hand in the studio. This trio had been playing and recording together since 1991, when they ...
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Education

Music Education Monday: Still all about that bass (with Ray Brown and Milt Hinton)

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
April 27, 2015

As yr. humble editor is not one to leave any good material unused, or any bad pun or pop culture reference unmade - at least of couple times - today's “Music Education Monday" post is a sequel to last December's “All About That Bass", featuring a few more bass-related links and video clips that turned up during the info-gathering for that post. Keeping in mind that the general criteria here is “music instructional materials available for free on the internet," ...
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Recording

Ray Brown + the All-Star Big Band

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
October 7, 2014

Ernie Wilkins was busy in 1962. Wilkins, of course, was always busy, but '62 was a crescendo year for the big-band arranger. He worked largely for the Verve and Riverside labels that year, writing charts for Harry James, Mark Murphy, Illinois Jacquet, Oscar Peterson, Milt Jackson, Cannonball Adderley, Count Basie and Sam Jones. Then the bubble burst toward the end of '62. His drug problem spiraled out of control and sent him into rehab until 1969, when he began working ...
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Video / DVD

Video: Ray Brown, Germany 2000

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
September 23, 2013

In the following rare video of the Ulf Wakenius Project in 2000 at the annual Jazz Baltica Festival in Salzau, Germany, the Swedish guitarist Ulf Wakenius was joined by Michael Brecker (tenor sax), Ray Brown (bass), Niels Lan Doky (piano) and Terri Lyne Carrington (drums). If the name Ulf Wakenius doesn't ring a bell, he was a member of the Oscar Peterson Quartet and Ray Brown Trio in the late '90s. A special thanks to my man Jimi Mentis in ...
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Recording

Ukraine Tour Coincides With The SRI Jazz Release Of The Best Of Ray Brown Jr.

Source: Shelly Liebowitz
March 11, 2013

Following a smashing success from his Ukrainian Tour, SRI Jazz Releases the long awaited “The Best of Ray Brown Jr.” Ray Brown Jr’s recent tour in the Ukraine, a smashing success for the artist, which included starring in Jazz Festivals, concerts and television interviews, coincides with the SRI Jazz release of ”The Best of Ray Brown Jr”. The tour was originally only scheduled to be comprised of a few shows but due to the response of his fans there, Ray ...
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Performance / Tour

Jazz This Week: Ray Brown Tribute, Galactic, Jimmy Webb, Latin and East Indian Rhythms Meet Jazz, and More

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
March 17, 2011

The jazz and creative music calendar this week in St. Louis offers a variety of stylistic approaches, from a tribute to a beloved mainstream bassist to shows mixing jazz with funk, Latin and East Indian sounds, electronica, and more. Fans of bop and swing naturally will gravitate toward the Ray Brown Tribute that begins tonight and continues through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro. Headed by Brown's protege, bassist Christian McBride, and featuring pianist Benny Green and drummer Gregory Hutchinson, ...
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Video / DVD

STLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Paying Tribute to Ray Brown

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
March 13, 2011

This week, let's take a look at some videos previewing the tribute to bassist Ray Brown that will play at Jazz at the Bistro starting next Wednesday, March 16 through Saturday, March 19. The band is led by bassist Christian McBride, who was a protege of Brown's, and includes pianist Benny Green and drummer Greg Hutchinson, who both worked with Brown as up-and-coming musicians during the 1990s. Unfortunately, there don't seem to be ...
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270

Music Industry

Ray Brown Defined the Modern Jazz Rhythm Section

Source: All About Jazz
April 16, 2009

Grammy Award-winning double-bassist Ray Brown was a leader in defining the modern jazz rhythm section -- in addition to being a first-rate soloist.

His unique dynamic and innate sense of swing graced performances by Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Oscar Peterson and countless others.

Raymond Matthews Brown was born October 13, 1926, in Pittsburgh, PA -- birthplace to many jazz greats. His musical education began with piano lessons, but when he discovered how many pianists there were in his ...
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316

Event

Ray Brown, Jr. Sets All-Star Charity Tribute

Source: All About Jazz
February 4, 2009

Shelly Liebowitz, President of SRI Jazz Records, has announced that Ray Brown, Jr. will headline a special concert during New Orleans’ Jazz and Heritage Festival week, on Saturday, April 25, at historic Generations Hall, a city landmark since 1821. Entitled “Friends and Family Celebrate Ella’s Birthday,” the event will take place on Ella Fitzgerald’s (Brown, Jr.’s mother) 92nd birthday. The show is being presented in association with respected non-profit organization, Active Music. It will raise money for Global Green’s “Rebuild ...
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309

Interview

Wrhu Bob Collins NY "Jazz Cafe" Interviews Ray Brown Jr on His Latest Release, "Friends and Family"

Source: All About Jazz
November 17, 2008

Veteran Jazz DJ Bob Collins, host of WRHU “Jazz Cafe," recently conducted a warm and engaging interview with Ray Brown Jr. on his latest album, Friends and Family. Collins' insight into this interview explores Brown's early beginnings, his relationship to his mother, Ella Fitzgerald, and his experience in recording the all-star album featuring Jane Monheit, Melba Moore, Terry Gibbs, Dionne Warwick, David “Fathead" Newman, Paul Williams, Maria Muldaur, Dr. John, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Freda Payne, Sophie B. Hawkins, David Somerville, ...
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