Ray Bryant
Raphael "Ray" Bryant (born December 24, 1931 in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , † June 2, 2011 in New York City ) was an American modern jazz pianist .
Life
Bryant comes from a musical family; the mother led a church choir; his (older) brother was Tommy Bryant ; his nephews are Kevin and Robin Eubanks . From the age of six he received piano lessons; he also played bass in high school. When he was 14, he joined the musicians' union with his brother to play in local bands. He also received lessons from Elmer Snowden . He learned the bebop style through Red Garland in the mid-1940s . In 1948 and 1949 he toured with Tiny Grimes , then accompanied Billy Krechmer and Jack Teagarden . From 1953 he was resident pianist of the Blue Note club in Philadelphia, where he a. a. starred with Charlie Parker , Miles Davis and Lester Young . In 1955 he recorded with Betty Carter . In 1955 he worked on the prestige album Miles Davis and Milt Jackson Quintet / Sextet (together with Jackie McLean , Percy Heath and Art Taylor ). 1956/57 he was the companion of Carmen McRae ; In 1957 he recorded with Coleman Hawkins and Roy Eldridge at the Newport Jazz Festival .
In 1959 Bryant moved to New York City, where he worked with Sonny Rollins , Charlie Shavers and Curtis Fuller and soon led his own trio; later he lived and worked in Toronto . He performed regularly at international festivals and has recorded a large number of albums. A popular success in 1960 was his title "Little Susie". His composition "Changes" was taken over by Miles Davis. He recorded the “Cubano Chant” for example with the Jazz Messengers on the Drum Suite album .
Bryant combined elements of blues, boogie-woogie, gospel, and even stride piano in his playing ; his style is characterized as "soulful", Allmusic particularly emphasizes his unaccompanied blues playing.
Discographic notes
- Ray Bryant Trio [1956] with Candido Camero , Kenny Clarke , Ike Isaacs , Osie Johnson , Jo Jones , Wyatt Reuther , Specs Wright , 1956
- Me and the Blues with Ike Isaacs, Specs Wright, 1957
- Alone with the Blues , solo album, 1958
- Now's the Time with Tommy Bryant , Oliver Jackson , 1959
- Little Susie with Tommy Bryant, Gus Johnson , Eddie Locke , 1959
- Con Alma with A'nt Idy Harper , Arthur Harper , Bill Lee , Mickey Roker , 1960
- Groove House with Tommy Bryant, Bobby Donaldson , Panama Francis , Wally Richardson , 1963
- Cold Turkey with Ben Riley , Jimmy Rowser , 1964
- Ray Bryant Soul , solo album, 1964
- Soul with Sonny Brown , Tommy Bryant, Walter Perkins , 1964
- Gotta Travel On with Walter Booker , Clark Terry , Freddie Waits , 1966
- Lonesome Traveler , 1966
- Slow Freight , 1967
- The Ray Bryant Touch with Rudy Collins , Jimmy Rowser, 1967
- Take a Bryant Step , solo album, 1967
- Up Above the Rock , 1968
- Sound Ray with Jimmy Rowser, Harold White , 1969
- Alone at Montreux [live] , solo album, 1972
- Hot Turkey with Panama Francis , Major Holley , 1975
- Here's Ray Bryant with George Duvivier , Grady Tate , 1976
- All Blues with Sam Jones , Grady Tate, 1978
- Potpourri with Mickey Roker , Jimmy Rowser, 1980
- Ray Bryant Trio Today with Rufus Reid , Freddie Waits , 1987
- All Mine ... And Yours with Winard Harper , Rufus Reid, 1989
- Ray's Tribute to His Jazz Piano Friends with Ray Drummond , Winard Harper, 1997
- Ray Bryant Meets Ray Brown , 1999
- North of the Border [live] with Harry Anderson , Winard Harper, 2001
- Plays the Complete Little Susie , 2007
literature
- Leonard Feather , Ira Gitler : The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz. Oxford University Press, New York 1999, ISBN 0-19-532000-X .
Web links
- Works by Ray Bryant in the catalog of the German National Library
- Discography on jazzdisco.org
- Ray Bryant at Discogs (English)
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Bryant, Ray |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Bryant, Raphael |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American modern jazz pianist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 24, 1931 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Philadelphia , Pennsylvania |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 2, 2011 |
| Place of death | New York City |