Ray Brown, Pioneering Bebop Bassist, Dies At 75

INDIANAPOLIS (Jazz News Website) - Ray Brown, the bassist whose peerless musicianship spanned the birth of bebop up to the present, died in his sleep Tuesday (July 2) in Indianapolis at the age of 75. An official cause of death has not yet been disclosed.

Brown had appeared with his trio Monday (July 1) night at Indianapolis club the Jazz Kitchen, and, after playing a round of golf the next day, returned to his hotel room, where he was found dead after he failed to appear at the club.

The Pittsburgh-born Brown was one the first bassists to grow up in the revolutionary bebop movement of the '40s, joining (at age 19) the Dizzy Gillespie big band in 1946, where he shared the bandstand with bop innovators Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, and Max Roach. After leaving Gillespie, Brown formed his own trio, which sometimes backed singer Ella Fitzgerald, whom Brown married in 1948. Although divorced only four years later, the couple adopted a son, Ray Brown Jr.

Brown performed for years in Norman Granz' globe-trotting Jazz at the Philharmonic tours, and also in the famed trio of pianist Oscar Peterson from the early '50s through the mid-'60s. Brown's composition, "The Gravy Waltz," became a GRAMMY� -winning jazz standard, and a popular vocal number, with lyrics written by Steve Allen.

Brown played on hundreds of sessions in his career, and released over 40 albums as a leader. From the '90s onward, he recorded a series of noteworthy albums for the Telarc label, often featuring younger players Benny Green, Geoff Keezer, Diana Krall, Kevin Mahogany, Joe Lovano, Joshua Redman, and Russell Malone. His most recent album Some of My Best Friends Are . . . Guitarists, was released only a week before his death.
Brown is survived by his wife, Cecilia, and son, Ray Brown Jr.