Jazz Articles about Ray Brown

Ray Brown: A Jazz Odyssey

by C. Andrew Hovan
June 1, 2002

While it seems that things have come to a point in the history of jazz when many of the music's elder statesmen are leaving us and there are fewer and fewer masters left to pass on the proverbial flame, 75-year-old bassist Ray Brown continues to champion the mainstream cause while inflecting his own music with the breath of experiences that have enriched his diversified career. From the early development of bebop to his current trio, which has served as an ...

Ray Brown: Ray Brown Trio: Live At Starbucks

by AAJ Staff
February 1, 2001

In the very near future, you’re going to hear a lot of the Ray Brown Trio in the Starbucks nearest you. That’s because the renowned coffee shop has elevated its interest in jazz from the realm of background music to CD production. No doubt, you’ll be able to buy Ray Brown Trio: Live At Starbucks with your cappucino in city, airport and suburban mall coffeeshops nationwide. Maybe what Ken Burns Jazz did for Wynton Marsalis’ public profile, Starbucks will do ...

Ray Brown: Some Of My Best Friends Are...The Trumpet Players

by AAJ Staff
October 1, 2000

In the latest edition of his “Some Of My Best Friends Are..." series, Ray Brown honors the trumpet players as they honor him. Having already musically expressed his friendship with singers, pianists and saxophonists, Brown's next group of honorees will include...trombonists? Drummers? Guitarists?The interesting aspect of Some Of My Best Friends Are...The Trumpet Players is the influence of Dizzy Gillespie. An inspiration to Brown, who first received recognition in Dizzy's group, as well as to jazz trumpeters everywhere, ...

Ray Brown: The Concord Jazz Heritage Series, Ray Brown

by Jim Santella
November 1, 1998

From previous recordings made between 1975 and 1992, this compilation is part of a 29-part series celebrating Concord’s 25 years of mainstream jazz support. Ray Brown’s soft, yet clear bass pizzicato includes a vocal style that swings like the Count Basie straight-ahead blues mood. The trio with Gene Harris and Jeff Hamilton is represented by four tracks; they add Ralph Moore on “Ralph’s Boogie." It’s always a pleasure to listen to Herb Ellis, who appears in several different combinations. Without ...

Ray Brown: Summertime

by Jim Santella
June 1, 1998

Ray Brown's latest release introduces Swedish guitarist Ulf Wakenius to a wider audience. Wakenius joins the bassist again for a set of familiar standards (he also appeared on Brown's 1995 Telarc release, Seven Steps To Heaven ). Showing a strong Wes Montgomery influence with embedded blues, Wakenius shares the spotlight with the trio, which now includes pianist Geoff Keezer as well as drummer Gregory Hutchinson.

Brown takes the solo line on “It's Only a Paper Moon," swinging as usual, before ...

The Ray Brown Trio: Live at Scullers

by C. Michael Bailey
December 1, 1997

The piano trio is the most durable assembly in Jazz music. Durable in such a way that it almost always delivers high functioning music that is immediately accessible and enjoyable. Durable also in popularity. There have been many notable piano trios, all generally having one member as an anchor -- Oscar Peterson, Ahmad Jamal, Bill Evans, Bobbie Timmons, Elmo Hope, Horace Silver, Gene Harris, Monty Alexander, Tommy Flanagan, and the list goes on of notable piano trio cornerstones.

Certainly one ...