Raymond Matthews Brown (October 13, 1926 – July 2, 2002) was an influential American jazz double bassist and cellist, known for extensive work with Oscar Peterson and Ella Fitzgerald, among many others.
Ray Brown was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and took 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.
Bye Bye Blackbird
A major early influence on Brown’s bass playing was Jimmy Blanton, the bassist in the Duke Ellington band. As a young man Brown became increasingly well known in the Pittsburgh jazz scene, with his first experiences playing in bands with the Jimmy Hinsley Sextetand the Snookum Russell band. After graduating high school, having heard stories about the burgeoning jazz scene on 52nd Streetin New York City, he bought a one-way ticket to New York. Arriving in New York at the age of 20, 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 Brown 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 1953, bowing to the various career pressures both were experiencing at the time, though they would continue to perform together.
Oscar Peterson Trio- 1961
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. Brown appeared on four tracks from the soundtrack to Clint Eastwood’s biopic about Charlie Parker, titled Bird (1988). Although all of the saxophone parts are Bird’s original playing, the accompaniment was re-recorded in order to beef up the sound, using Brown and amongst others, John Guerin on drums.
In the 1980’s and 1990’s 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 1980’s, Ray Brown met Diana Krall in a restaurant in Nanaimo, British Columbia and she ended up moving to Los Angeles to study under him. During 1990–93 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 four Grammy Awards. In May 1993 this group ended, when Peterson suffered a severe stroke.
Solo Bass on Black Orpheus
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 such as Benny Green, Geoff Keezer, and Larry Fuller. The last edition of the Ray Brown Trio included pianist Larry Fuller and drummer Karriem Riggins. With that trio, Brown continued to perform until his death in 2002.