Ronnie Ball
b. 22 December 1927, Birmingham, Warwickshire, England. After playing piano as a semi-pro during his teenage years, Ball emerged as a leading light of the British bop scene in the early '50s. No sooner had he made his mark than he decided to move to New York, where, from 1952 onwards, he worked and recorded with bop luminaries such as Lennie Tristano, Dizzy Gillespie, Kenny Clarke, Hank Mobley, Art Pepper and Warne Marsh. The mainstream then beckoned and by the end of the decade he had played with Buddy Rich, Gene Krupa and Roy Eldridge. For a few years in the early '60s he was accompanist to singer Chris Connor and soon after became deeply involved in studio work providing deftly supportive accompaniment for singers and instrumentalists alike. His early bop recordings display a fleet inventive soloist at ease and at one with the most distinguished company.