Jazz great Ray Brown dies on tour at 75
Legendary jazz bassist Ray Brown, considered one of the founders of bebop, died in his sleep on Tuesday (7/2), shortly before he was to play the final night of a two-night engagement in Indianapolis. He was 75.
Legendary jazz bassist Ray Brown, considered one of the founders of bebop, died in his sleep on Tuesday (7/2), shortly before he was to play the final night of a two-night engagement in Indianapolis. He was 75.
Brown reportedly had played a round of golf earlier in the day and returned to his hotel for a nap. His body was found in his room after a bandmate, who became concerned after Brown failed to show up for the show, went to the hotel to check on him.
According to the Indianapolis Star, the announcement of Brown’s death “brought gasps and groans from the packed house” of fans who had come to the Jazz Kitchen to see the show.
Brown, a native of Pittsburgh, moved to New York in the ‘40s and was quickly asked to join Dizzy Gillespie’s band, which also featured Charlie Parker and Bud Powell. Gillespie, in his memoir “To Be Or Not to Bop,” wrote that Brown “played the strongest, most fluid and imaginative bass lines in modern jazz at the time, with the exception of Oscar Pettiford.”
In 1947, Brown married vocalist Ella Fitzgerald, and formed a trio so that he could tour with her. He continued as Fitzgerald’s musical director after their divorce in the early ‘50s.
Brown toured with producer Norman Granz’s Jazz at the Philharmonic for 18 years. There, he met pianist Oscar Peterson, who made Brown a member of the Oscar Peterson Trio until it disbanded in 1966.
Among the artists Brown performed with over the course of his career were Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Sarah Vaughn, Billy Eckstine and Peggy Lee.
In recent years, Brown recorded for the Telarc label. He also joined forces with Oscar Peterson and Milt Jackson for 1999’s “The Very Tall Band,” a collaboration recorded live at New York City’s Blue Note in November 1998.
Brown’s latest release, “Some of My Best Friends Are ... Guitarists,” with John Pizzarelli, Herb Ellis, Russell Malone, Ulf Wakenius, Bruce Forman and Kenny Burrell was released last month.
Brown lived in Los Angeles, and is survived by his wife, Cecilia, and his adopted son, Ray Brown, Jr.
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