Sunday, July 07, 2002

 

Jazz is Forever. Ray Brown is dead.
Marshall Lamm is the publicist for Yoshi's jazz club in Oakland, and as we sat in the back of the Hush Hush Room last week he dropped a few names. Marshall likes to golf, and mentioned that he and jazz bassist, Ray Brown were hitting the links just days before Brown passed on to the stage in the sky. I was shocked to say the least. My mouth dropped open and I felt weak, tired, and sad.

I've been collecting records for years now, and most recently re-ignited a taste for Ray Brown's fusion of loungey cocktail jazz with hard bop, his amalgamation of funky soul and improvisation. His affable character and plain good natured vibe is a blessing to entertainment today. Hell, his take on jazz was greatly appreciated by deejays and fans alike, and will be greatly missed. He was scheduled to perform at Yoshi's next week. Lamm divulged that John Clayton will be subbing for Brown. Brown "is the primary contributor to bebop from a bassist's standpoint," Clayton said. "We had Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker and Thelonious 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."

In his memoir, "To Be Or Not to Bop," Gillespie wrote that "Ray Brown, on bass, played the strongest, most fluid and imaginative bass lines in modern jazz at the time, with the exception of Oscar Pettiford."

He was finishing up a stint at the Jazz Kitchen in Indianapolis and Ray Brown died in his sleep, possibly dreaming of new ways to play his stand up bass. More likely he was dreaming of a hole in one.

posted by Hog 11:50 AM