Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on October 13th 1926, Ray Brown took piano lessons as a child. By high school, he had switched to bass and admired the playing of Jimmy Blanton in the Duke Ellington Orchestra. After graduation, he became a regular on the Pittsburgh jazz scene playing in a variety of local bands. By 1946 Brown was ready to go to New York and bought a one-way ticket. His first job was with Dizzy Gillespie and he was soon playing with Art Tatum, Charlie Parker and other prominent stars in the bebop community. His own trio featured Hank Jones and Charlie Smith. Brown worked with Dizzy Gillespie from 1946 to 1951 along with Milt Jackson, Kenny Clarke and John Lewis. He met Ella Fitzgerald when she joined the Gillespie band for a tour in 1947 and they were married that year (divorcing in 1953).
From 1951 to 65 Ray Brown was a member of the Oscar Peterson trio alongside Barney Kessel and Herb Ellis and eventually Ed Thigpen. Brown recorded extensively for Norman Granz in the 1950s. The 1960s found him in Los Angeles where he was one of the busiest studio bassists. In the 1970s and early 80s he recorded extensively with Laurindo Almeda, Bud Shank and Shelly Manne under the name The LA4. Later in his career, Ray Brown made a number of albums with André Previn, some including Joe Pass, Mundell Lowe and singer Kiri Te Kanawa. He was inducted into the DownBeat Hall of Fame in 2003, a year after his death.
