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Ron Hart

Ron Hart received his BFA in Music Composition from Ohio University and continued his post-graduate work in Composition and Film Scoring at UCLA in 1978. Ron has played and recorded with a variety of music artists, beginning at age 19 with Dionne Warwick. His work as a jazz pianist continued with saxophonists Sonny Stitt and Richie Cole, bebop guitarist Bill deArango (Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker), trumpeter Harry “Sweets” Edison (Count Basie), bassist/producer Larry Klein (Joni Mitchell, Herbie Hancock), Jorge Strunz (Strunz & Farah), South Indian violinist L. Subramaniam, and many others.

In 1981 ShadowLight Records released the Landress/Hart Group’s LP, “Dancing Moments,” a jazz/fusion album featuring Ron on piano and keyboards. The album received heavy airplay on commercial jazz stations as well as college radio.

“The Light Beyond the Atoms,” CD, released in 2008 on Ron’s indie label, PureBeam Music, is a suite of original music featuring Ron on grand piano with synthesizer orchestration. A selection from the album was featured on Hearts of Space online radio and can be found in their archives under Program 889 “Wistful.” Also appearing on that show are jazz greats Herbie Mann, Chick Corea, Gary Burton and Jan Garbarek.

In October, 2011 PureBeam Music released a newly recorded CD entitled “April in Paris” by Ron Hart on piano and upright bassist Gary Fitzgerald. This exciting mainstream and progressive jazz album features dynamic interplay between these two inspired musicians. A uniquely playful jazz treatment of Hit the Road, Jack as well as five other standards (April in Paris, Sidney’s Soliloquy, Night and Day, Angel Eyes and My Romance ) and five originals provide many unexpected moments.

Cashbox Magazine listed the CD in their Jazz Top 50 during April, May & June, 2012. DownBeat Magazine included "April in Paris" in their September, 2012 issue.

Ron and Gary appeared at the Arcosanti Jazz Festival in June, 2013 and played with alto sax great Richie Cole there in addition to their duo performances.

In June, 2021 PureBeam Music released Ron's classical music album, "Reflections of Lake Shrine (and other original classical music works)" featuring a five-movement suite of orchestral music, an ambient suite, chamber music and soundtrack cues.

All albums can be streamed on Spotify, Apple Music, and all major streaming services.

Awards

Ron Hart was included in the 1992-1993 edition of Who’s Who in Entertainment as a composer, musician and record company executive, and received the Albert Nelson Marquis Who's Who Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018.

Brando Noir, Multi-Media Film Noir Extravaganza; Curated By Ran Blake And Aaron Hartley - Dedicated To The Work Of Actor Marlon Brando

Source: Braithwaite & Katz Communications
October 24, 2012

Monday, October 29 at NEC Part of Yearlong 40th Anniversary Celebration for NEC’s Groundbreaking Contemporary Improvisation Department Blake Also To Receive Lifetime Achievement Award from NEC on Saturday Join pianist/composer/improviser Ran Blake and co-producer Aaron Hartley as they anticipate Halloween with specimens of that most haunting genre, film noir. Now an annual tradition, this year's concert switches from a director focus to the work of an actor who brought the word “brooding" into everyday speech: Marlon Brando. The event takes ...
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JazzReview.com Reviewed by Brian S. Lunde April in Paris / Ron Hart and Gary Fitzgerald "If Ron Hart and Gary Fitzgerald are not quite household names in jazz, they have still made a fine contribution to the jazz library of piano and bass recordings. Ray Charles made "Hit the Road, Jack" a raucous, foot- tapping R&B hit. Here, Hart and Fitzgerald slow it down to a bluesy walk. Fitzgerald opens and closes with straight-time quarter notes that evoke our "Jack" hitting the road reluctantly, just putting one foot in front of the other. In the middle, however, Fitzgerald builds the song by stepping first into eighth notes, then a nice double-time walking bass line. A very fresh treatment of this song. Hart and Fitzgerald have given us some very enjoyable jazz on April in Paris. If you enjoy trios, give this record a try and you'll appreciate the simpler but still swinging sound of piano and bass."