Ray Brown Archives - Page 2

After people find out I’m a bass player, they always ask who my favorite bassist is and the answer is always the same: Ray Brown. The jazz bassist’s sense of melody and harmony always blow me away, but it’s the time and groove that keep me coming back. Here’s a fantastic take on “Bag’s Groove” with the Oscar Peterson Trio....

Fifty-eight never listed studio takes from legendary jazz saxophonist Charlie “Bird” Parker and his groups have been compiled on the set, Unheard Bird: The Unissued Takes. The set features a veritable who’s who of bebop bassists, including Teddy Kotick, Ray Brown, Tommy Potter and Curley Russell. Jazz historian Phil Schaap, currently Curator at Jazz At Lincoln Center, co-produced the compilation...

Ray Brown’s work as a double bassist was incomparable, and a new book of transcriptions from Hal Leonard pays tribute to him. An 80-page paperback, features 18 transcriptions, photos, performance notes and a forward by contemporary jazz virtuoso Christian McBride. While Brown is best known for his work with Oscar Peterson, he also played with Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah...

Ray Brown was the king of jazz bass, but he also had a funky side. Besides playing on some James Brown tracks, he penned a few funk and soul-jazz songs that stood out in his repertoire. We’re celebrating the bass titan’s birthday with this video of his tune “Ray’s New Funk.” The performance comes from a 2000 concert at the...

It’s about time to spread the love a little for the double bass, and today we’re focusing on the superbly classy and undeniably classic, Ray Brown. So who is Ray Brown? A native of Pittsburgh, PA, Brown grew up playing piano and made the transition to bass while in high school. Like many Pennsylvanian-born bass players, he began playing local...

Here’s another great video of Ray Brown doing what he does best. This clip is taken from his performance at the 1977 Montreux Jazz Festival with Milt Jackson. With the help of a star-studded band, the duo tackles “Slippery,” which is also found on Brown’s album Something for Lester. The rest of the band includes Clark Terry on trumpet, Eddie...

No one can lay down a greasy, heavy swing quite like Ray Brown. Here’s a great video of him grooving hard with pianist Gene Harris and drummer Jeff Hamilton on the song “Lady Be Good” during a 1992 concert in France. The trio’s use of dynamics is astounding, going from the softest whispers to raucous wailing.

Here are couple of the greatest jazz bassists having fun on the old standard “Five O’Clock Whistle.” Ray Brown and John Clayton have a groove together like no other. And if you haven’t yet, make sure to check out their SuperBass stuff with Christian McBride.

There are so many players I get inspired by, but whenever someone asks me who my favorite bass player is, I always say “Ray Brown”. His groove, technique, melodicism, and swagger always captivates me, so I was pumped to find this clip of him featured with Dizzy Gillespie’s Orchestra in 1947. At a mere 21 years of age, you can...

This is the complete “Superbass” video performance of “Two for the Blues”, recorded at the Cologne Philharmonic Hall in 1997. The group includes Ray Brown, Christian McBride, John Clayton and John Goldsby. Goldsby shared this video with us, saying, “There is an edited version of this on Youtube, but this is nice because it has trading… This is the complete...

We love these isolated bass tracks. While not so isolated, you can really hear Ray Brown‘s bass on this reworked version of the James Brown hit, “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag”, with Louis Bellson’s orchestra. Lots of leakage on this recording, because the bass was mic’d, while the band performed live. The first part of this video is the...

The line up and theme have been announced for the Detroit International Jazz Festival, which is billed as the largest free jazz festival in North America. The festival’s theme is “Flame Keepers- Carrying the Torch for Modern Jazz,” and will include tributes to six “trailblazers of modern jazz,” including Art Blakey, Ray Brown, Miles Davis, Horace Silver, Betty Carter, and...