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Ron McClure
He started on piano at age five, and later played accordion and bass. McClure studied privately with Joseph Iadone and, later, with Hall Overton and Don Sebesky.
He attended the Hartt School of Music, graduating in 1963 and worked in the Buddy Rich Sextet the same year. He then joined Maynard Ferguson's big band and, afterwards, Herbie Mann in 1964; and then assumed the bass chair in the Wynton Kelly Trio vacated by the late Paul Chambers in 1965 (playing behind guitarist Wes Montgomery). He thereafter joined the "classic quartet" of Charles Lloyd, together with pianist Keith Jarrett and drummer Jack DeJohnette, spanning 1966-69, which was voted "Group of the Year" in 1967 by Downbeat Magazine. In 1970, together with pianist-composer Mike Nock, drummer Eddie Marshall and violinist Michael White, he co-founded the groundbreaking jazz-rock group, The Fourth Way. He also participated in pianist-composer Carla Bley's innovative album, "Escalator Over The Hill". In the greater part of the 1970s, Ron engaged himself in an association with saxophonist Joe Henderson, with whom he joined Blood, Sweat & Tears. Henderson left soon before recordings were made but McClure stayed on to perform in three B,S&T albums ("Mirror Image", "New City", "Live And Improvised"). Henderson and McClure recorded four albums together. In the 1980s, McClure joined Quest, led by saxophonist Dave Liebman, which included drummer Billy Hart and pianist Richie Beirach. He also recorded a duo album with pianist Michel Petrucciani. McClure's major engagements in the 1990s through the early 2000s were with Lee Konitz, and then with the reassembled Quest.
McClure has done sessions as a leader for Ode, Bellaphon, EPC, Steeplechase, and Ken Music. His solo output include the contributions of John Scofield, John Abercrombie, Vic Juris, Richie Beirach and Randy Brecker, amongst other distinguished jazz musicians.
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Ron McClure: Lookout Farms and New Moons
by Donald Elfman
Bassist Ron McClure has a practical philosophy about what he does. “Making music begins with doing your job," he says. “It's nice if you can be a hot soloist, but do your job first and do it well." These are words that the bassist has lived by for over 40 years in the jazz music business. McClure has done everything from playing with saxophonists such as Charles Lloyd to being part of pop recordings by the Pointer Sisters and Blood, ...
Continue ReadingRon McClure: Wonderland, Always & Between or Beyond
by Robert Iannapollo
Harold Danko / Ron McClure Wonderland Steeplechase 2008 Kalman Olah Trio Always Memphis International 2007 Mike Nock Underground Between Or Beyond MPS Japan 1970-2008
Although not particularly well known, bassist Ron McClure has been one of those utility musicians that everyone seems to ...
Continue ReadingMarian McPartland: Twilight World
by C. Michael Bailey
Marian McPartland can be described on one word: gracious. Listeners have been treated to weekly installments of Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz, on US National Public Radio, for the past twenty-nine years, experiencing firsthand her graciousness in her light but stubborn Berkshire accent, her unmatched interview style, and, above all, her gin-crystalline pianism. That would be impressive enough if one were not to consider the fact that McPartland is the living corporate memory of jazz.
Marian McPartland celebrates her ...
Continue ReadingRon McClure: Making Music
by AAJ Staff
Submitted on behalf of Ron McClure Remembering one's self, or having an internal awareness file, with constant access capability, is a wonderful and necessary thing in the process of making music, since we all forget ourselves. The term making music means different things to different people. In 1964, bassist Chuck Israels told me: “Whatever you do in your career, don't become competitive." I think I know what my wise friend meant, and have tried to ...
Continue ReadingRon McClure Quartet: Dream Team
by C. Andrew Hovan
It would be hard to argue with bassist and leader Ron McClure when he assesses the musicians assembled here as being a “dream team”. Drummer Billy Hart alone guarantees the success of just about any record date he is a part of, while pianist Marc Copland has recently been turning heads with his own acclaimed series of Savoy dates. The ringer here is likely to be tenor saxophonist Rich Perry, at long last getting his due thanks to a viable ...
Continue ReadingThe Ron McClure Sextet / The Los Angeles Jazz Quartet: Double Triangle / Conversation Piece
by C. Michael Bailey
Better The Second time Around. Naxos Jazz has spent the last three years building a solid base of recording artists. Evidence of this is found in the two most recent releases by The Los Angeles Jazz Quartet and bassist Ron McClure. Both artists have previous debuted on the label with the LAJQ’s Look To The East (Naxos Jazz 86009) and The Ron McClure Quartet’s Pink Cloud (Naxos Jazz 86003). These first releases were firmly steeped in Hard Bop/Mainstream and were ...
Continue ReadingJoe Henderson: In Pursuit of Blackness / Black is the Color
by Robert Spencer
Rather famously, Joe Henderson released a series of albums for Milestone in the early Seventies that courted popular acceptance in a variety of ways: most notably, he played modal proto-world music with Alice Coltrane and added an electric piano and other frou-frou to his ensembles in order to catch the fusion crowd. Nothing worked, and these albums are generally regarded as inferior both to the series of Blue Notes that preceded them and the Grand-Old-Man Verve releases of the present ...
Continue ReadingBassist Ron McClure Interviewed at AAJ
Source:
All About Jazz
Bassist Ron McClure has a practical philosophy about what he does. “Making music begins with doing your job," he says. “It's nice if you can be a hot soloist, but do your job first and do it well." These are words that the bassist has lived by for over 40 years in the jazz music business. McClure has done everything from playing with saxophonists such as Charles Lloyd to being part of pop recordings by the Pointer Sisters and Blood, ...
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Composers Collaborative (Mon) William Zinsser (Wed 6PM) Ron McClure QT (Wed 8:30PM) Gnu Vox (Thu) & More This Week at Cornelia Street Cafe
Source:
Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services
Mon Dec 10, 8:30PM COMPOSERS COLLABORATIVE: SERIAL UNDERGROUND Guy Klucevsek, accordion/voice;Rima Fand, violin;Michael Lowenstern, bass clarinet;Barbara Merjan, percussion;Eileen Mack, clarinet/voice;Jody Redhage, cello/voice;Jonathan Shapiro, vibraphone
Jerome Kitzke & friends - Guy Klucevsek (accordion/vox), Rima Fand (violin), Michael Lowenstern (bass clarinet), and Barbara Merjan (percussion) - perform Kitzke's music with the composer at the piano and vocalizing. Program includes: Breath and Bone (1996) for accordion and vox, She Left in the Crow-Black Night (2003) for bass clarinet, The ...
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David Liebman, Richie Beirach, Ron McClure, Billy Hart, Redemption: Quest Live in Europe on Hatology 642
Source:
All About Jazz
Redemption: Quest Live in Europe on Hatology 642
David Liebman: soprano & tenor saxophones & flute, Richie Beirach: piano, Ron McClure: double bass, Billy Hart: drums
Recorded 2005 in Paris and Baden/Switzerland.
“To be back on tour with Quest after fifteen years was like going home. We are peers with a common language that traverses the past several decades of music; experience and commonality are intangibles which when present create a sum much greater than the individual parts. What a ...
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Cynthia Hilts Trio with Ron McClure at Kavehaz, December 8 6-9 pm, no cover
Source:
All About Jazz
October 24, 2005 To: Listings/Critics/Features From: Blond Coyote Productions Press Contact: CYNTHIA HILTS, [email protected] KAVEHAZ 37 West 26th Street THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8 6-9 PM no cover $10 minimum CYNTHIA HILTS TRIO will play original and amazing jazz at Kavehaz. Cynthia's unique piano and voice bring out the fire of her compositions. She is joined by master bassist Ron McClure and the transcendant Peter Grant on drums. It promises to be an exciting early soiree with new featured compositions “A Hedonist ...
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