Ray Brown
b. 13 October 1926, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. One of the outstanding bass players in jazz history, Brown's top-league experience began when, in 1945, at the age of 19, he joined Dizzy Gillespie. Two years later he was leading a trio accompanying Ella Fitzgerald, to whom he was married from 1948-52. In 1951 Brown joined the Oscar Peterson trio and stayed for most of the next 15 years. In 1966 he left Peterson and settled in Los Angeles, which has remained his base ever since. Dividing his time between teaching, working in film and television studios, personal management and playing jazz clubs and festivals, Brown is in constant demand. A founder member of the LA Four, he has also recorded with Duke Ellington. In 1989-90 he was a member of the Philip Morris Superband (led by Gene Harris). Although essentially a mainstream musician, Brown is thoroughly at home in bop, and plays with a great blues feeling. Remarkable for the accuracy of his playing and his lovely tone, Brown's work is a constant lesson to all other bass players regardless of the field of music in which they perform.