Ray Brown, a jazz bassist who played with giants such as Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker and his one-time wife Ella Fitzgerald has died. He was 75.
Brown died in his sleep on Tuesday in Indianapolis where he was concluding the US leg of a tour, said John Clayton, a friend and fellow bassist.
Brown started his career in the 1940s and performed during jazz’s Golden Age with Gillespie, Parker and Bud Powell. In 1952, he became a founding member of the Oscar Peterson Trio.
He was a founder of Be-Bop and appeared with Gillespie in the 1946 film ”Jivin’ in Be-Bop”
Brown later became musical director for Fitzgerald and continued their musical relationship after their divorce.
”He is the primary contributor to Be-Bop from a bassist’s standpoint,” Clayton said. ”We had Dizzie Gillespie, Charlie Parker and Thelonius Monk and there to contribute from the bass chair is Ray Brown. He was extremely important in jazz education, leading a lot of young bass players to learn the instrument.”
After leaving the Oscar Peterson Trio in the mid-1960s, Brown moved to California. He co-founded the group L.A. Four and appeared on the ”Merv Griffin Show.”
Among his recordings is the solo effort ”Something for Lester.” Brown lived in the Sherman Oaks area of Los Angeles with his wife, Cecilia.
Brown was finishing an engagement at the Jazz Kitchen in Indianapolis at the time of his death.
Brown had played golf earlier on Tuesday and went to take an afternoon nap, Clayton said. When he did not show up to perform, a bandmate went to his hotel where his body was found in his room.
Along with his wife, he is survived by a son, Ray Brown Jr., of Hawaii. – Sapa-AP