Ronnie Burrage
b. James Ronaldo Burrage, 19 October 1959, St. Louis, Missouri, USA. Burrage grew up in a musical atmosphere, with his mother playing classical piano. He sang in the St. Louis Cathedral boys’ choir and played drums/percussion in various funk bands. Burrage only worked a term of his scholarship at Howard University, drawn like so many other jazz musicians to New York City. In the early '80s, as part of the St Louis Metropolitan Jazz Quintet, he accompanied Arthur Blythe and visitors Jackie McLean, Andrew Hill and McCoy Tyner. Between 1983-85 he drummed in the Woody Shaw quintet. In 1986, he formed Third Kind Of Blue with multi-reedsman John Purcell and bassist Anthony Cox, a suave mix of avant garde and more commercial, bebop-oriented elements. Burrage plays vibes and marimba as well as drums and his playing is informed by a feel for texture that is decidedly original: a new challenge for the frontline.