Ray Brown Trio

Ray Brown – born October 13, 1926, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – was a jazz double bassist best known for his work with Ella Fitzgerald (who he was briefly married to), Dizzy Gillespie, and Oscar Peterson. Originally, Brown took piano lessons but switched to upright bass in high school. During his early years, he became known in Pittsburg jazz circles while playing with bands like the Jimmy Hinsley Sextet and the Snookum Russell Band. Brown relocated to New York when he was 20 and joined Dizzy Gillespie’s band. In 1947, Ella Fitzgerald joined Gillespie on a tour and by the end of the year, Ray Brown and Ella Fitzgerald were married (they divorced in 1953 but continued to work together on occasion). Brown played with Gillespie until 1951 before leaving and joining the Oscar Peterson Trio. He also pursued a career as a session musician, working with artists like Ben Webster, Lester Young & Harry Edison, Buddy Rich, Charlie Parker, Gerry Mulligan, and many others. Brown returned to recording albums as a leader in 1956 with Bass Hit! He won a Grammy Award in 1961 for his track “Gravy Waltz”, which was later used as the theme to The Steve Allen Show. After years of solo recordings, session work, and collaborations, Ray Brown finally formed his own trio. However, instead of having a stable line-up, Ray Brown worked with many different musicians throughout the course of his trio recordings. The Ray Brown Trio released the album Live at the Concord Jazz Festival featuring Ernestine Anderson in 1979. Their studio releases included Echoes from the West (1981), Bye Bye Blackbird (1984), Soular Energy (1985), The Red-Hot Ray Brown Trio (1987), and more. In late ‘90s and early ‘00s, the Ray Brown Trio released a several albums in the Some of My Best Friends Are… series (1998’s …Singers, 2000’s …Trumpet Players, and 2002’s …Guitarists) in which the trio backed popular jazz artists. Ray Brown died on July 2, 2002, at the age of 75.