Ray Brown (musician)

Ray Brown
Brown in New York, ca. 1947
Background information
Birth name	Raymond Matthews Brown
Born	(1926-10-13)October 13, 1926 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	July 2, 2002(2002-07-02) (aged 75) Indianapolis, Indiana,
Genres	Jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician composer
Instruments	Double bass cello
Years active	1946-2002
Labels	Verve Concord Pablo Telarc Atlantic Blue Note Warner Bros. Impulse!
Associated acts	Oscar Peterson Dizzy Gillespie Diana Krall Milt Jackson Jazz at the Philharmonic Frank Sinatra Tony Bennett Blossom Dearie Lalo Schifrin Jim Hall

Raymond Matthews "Ray" Brown (October 13, 1926 – July 2, 2002) was an American jazz double bassist and cellist, known for extensive work with Oscar Peterson and Ella Fitzgerald, among others.

Ray Brown was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and took piano lessons from the age of eight. After noticing how many pianists attended his high school, he thought of taking up the trombone but was unable to afford one. With a vacancy in the high school jazz orchestra, he took up the upright bass.

A major early influence on Brown's bass playing was Jimmy Blanton, the bassist in the Duke Ellington band. As a young man Brown became increasingly well known in the Pittsburgh jazz scene, with his first experiences playing in bands with the Jimmy Hinsley Sextet and the Snookum Russell band. After graduating high school, having heard stories about the burgeoning jazz scene on 52nd Street in New York City, he bought a one-way ticket to New York. He arrived in New York at the age of 20, met up with Hank Jones, with whom he had previously worked, and was introduced to Dizzy Gillespie, who was looking for a bass player. Gillespie hired Brown on the spot, and he soon played with such established musicians as Art Tatum and Charlie Parker.

From 1946 to 1951 Brown played in Gillespie's band. Brown, along with the vibraphonist Milt Jackson, drummer Kenny Clarke, and pianist John Lewis formed the rhythm section of the Gillespie band. Lewis, Clarke, and Jackson eventually formed the Modern Jazz Quartet. Brown became acquainted with singer Ella Fitzgerald when she joined the Gillespie band as a special attraction for a tour of the southern United States in 1947. The two married that year, and together they adopted a child born to Fitzgerald's half-sister Frances, whom they christened Ray Brown, Jr. Fitzgerald and Brown divorced in 1953, bowing to the various career pressures both were experiencing at the time, though they would continue to perform together.