Music city., Ben blew., Joanie's jump., Caribe., There will never be another you., Times Square., Plain Jane Snavely., Spring is here., Coldwater Canyon blues., Time's up., Aunt Orsavella., Angel., Four blow four's., Earful., Wonderful you., Anything goes., Blooz., Smoggy day., In from somewhere., Lonely time., I love you that's all., Black Jack., Los Angeles River., Fish tail.
Track Information:
101 Music City / Russell Garcia, Art Pepper, Bud Shank. Saxophone,Piano,Trumpet,Trombone,Bass.
102 Ben Blew / Wayne Marsh Quintet, Ted Brown, Wayne Marsh. Saxophone,Piano.
103 Joanies Jump / Bill Perkins, Med Flory. Saxophone,Piano,Trumpet,Trombone.
105 There Will Never Be Another You / Billy Usselton Sextet, Abe Aaron, Billy Usselton. Saxophone,Bass clarinet.
106 Times Square / Bill Perkins, Marty Paich Orchestra, Richie Kamuca. Saxophone,Piano,Trumpet,Trombone.
201 Plain Jane Snavely / Bill Perkins, Med Flory. Saxophone,Piano,Trumpet,Trombone.
104 Caribe / John Towner Quartet, Howard Roberts, John Towner. Piano,Guitar.
202 Spring is Here / John Towner Quartet, Howard Roberts, John Towner. Piano,Guitar.
203 Coldwater Canyon Blues / Bill Perkins, Marty Paich Orchestra, Richie Kamuca. Saxophone,Piano,Trumpet,Trombone.
204 Time's Up / Wayne Marsh Quintet, Ted Brown, Wayne Marsh. Saxophone,Piano.
205 Fish Tail / Russell Garcia, Art Pepper, Bud Shank. Saxophone,Piano,Trumpet,Trombone.
206 Angel / Billy Usselton Sextet, Abe Aaron, Billy Usselton. Saxophone,Bass clarinet.
301 Four Blow Four's / Bill Perkins, Marty Paich Orchestra, Richie Kamuca. Saxophone,Piano,Trumpet,Trombone.
302 Earful / Wayne Marsh Quintet, Ted Brown, Wayne Marsh. Saxophone,Piano.
303 Wonderful You / Bill Perkins, Med Flory. Saxophone,Piano,Trumpet,Trombone.
304 Anything Goes / John Towner Quartet, Howard Roberts, John Towner. Piano,Guitar.
305 Blooz / Billy Usselton Sextet, Abe Aaron, Billy Usselton. Saxophone,Bass clarinet.
306 Smoggy Day / Russell Garcia, Art Pepper, Bud Shank. Saxophone,Piano,Trumpet,Trombone.
401 In From Somewhere / Billy Usselton Sextet, Abe Aaron, Billy Usselton. Saxophone,Bass clarinet.
402 Lonely Time / Bill Perkins, Marty Paich Orchestra, Richie Kamuca. Saxophone,Piano,Trumpet,Trombone.
403 Aunt Orsavella / John Towner Quartet, Howard Roberts, John Towner. Piano,Guitar.
404 Love You That's All, I / Bill Perkins, Med Flory. Saxophone,Piano,Trumpet,Trombone.
405 Black Jack / Wayne Marsh Quintet, Ted Brown, Wayne Marsh. Saxophone,Piano.
406 Los Angeles River / Russell Garcia, Art Pepper, Bud Shank. Saxophone,Piano,Trumpet,Trombone.
Local Numbers:
FW-ASCH-LP-1589
Kapp.500
Publication, Distribution, Etc. (Imprint):
Kapp 195x
Restrictions:
Restrictions on access. No duplication allowed listening and viewing for research purposes only.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.
Ray Brown was an African-American musician, composer, bandleader, manager, music teacher and promoter. He became best known for his collaborative work with Dizzy Gillespie, Oscar Peterson, Ella Fitzgerald, the Oscar Peterson Trio and Norman Granz' s Jazz at the Philharmonic. Over the course of his career, Brown received awards and accolades from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Jazz Hall of Fame, Down Beat and Playboy. Brown's papers document his professional music career from 1944 to 2002 and include music compositions and notes, publicity materials, photographs, and some recordings of his performances.
Scope and Contents:
The collection primarily documents the near sixty-year music career of upright bass player, bandleader, composer, and instructor Raymond Matthews (Ray) Brown and the various bands that he played with. The materials consist of music manuscripts, musical arrangements, published sheet music, photographs, programs, newspaper clippings, magazine articles, posters, audio and video recordings, honors and awards, correspondence, and publications. There is very little information about Brown's education, family or other aspects of his personal life.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into six series.
Series 1: Musical Compositions and Notes, 1940s-2000s, undated
Series 2: Publicity Materials, 1950s-2002, undated
Series 3: Photographic Materials, 1940-2003, undated
Series 4: Personal Papers, 1954-2010
Series 5: Audiovisual Materials, 1978-1993, undated
Series 6: Performance Materials, 1964-1995, undated
Biographical / Historical:
Raymond Matthews Brown was an African American musician (double bass and cello) born on October 13, 1926 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He became known for his collaborative work with Dizzy Gillespie, Oscar Peterson, Ella Fitzgerald (to whom he was married for a few years), and others. He was a composer, bandleader, manager, music teacher, and promoter. His professional music career lasted almost sixty years, dating from 1944 to 2002.
Brown's career began with a risky move to New York City in 1945, as a recent high school graduate, which resulted in his being hired on the spot to play with Dizzy Gillespie. Brown continued to play with Gillespie and others in various groups, recording songs such as "One Bass Hit" and "Night in Tunisia," before leaving in 1947. Brown married notable jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald that same year. He and Fitzgerald adopted a son, Raymond Matthew Brown Jr., and performed together in Norman Granz's Jazz at the Philharmonic. Granz's tours, which Brown participated in from around 1949 to 1958, allowed him to travel and play all around the world. After being introduced to Oscar Peterson during a Philharmonic tour, Brown became a founding member of the Oscar Peterson Trio in 1952. His growing commitment to the group, along with other factors, led to Brown and Fitzgerald's divorce in 1953. However, the two would continued to collaborate and perform together, as friends and colleagues.
Brown worked with Peterson and other prominent jazz musicians to find the Advanced School of Contemporary Music in Toronto, which lasted from 1960 to 1965. He left the Peterson trio in the late 1960s and moved to Los Angeles to work as a composer, manager, educator, and publisher. In California, he worked for several movie and television show orchestras, became bassist for all of Frank Sinatra's television specials, and accompanied some noted singers, including Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, and Tony Bennett. He composed the theme song to Steve Allen's show, "Gravy Waltz," for which they both won a Grammy Award in 1964. He also managed the Modern Jazz Quartet, and Quincy Jones. In the 1980s, he formed the Ray Brown Trio with pianist Gene Harris, which lasted nine years. He also directed events such as the Monterey Jazz and Concord Summer Festivals, and consulted for the Hollywood Bowl Association. Brown continued to play and record with his trio and various other groups, such as the Oscar Peterson Trio and the Modern Jazz Quartet, for the rest of his life. He also published an instructional book for the bass, Ray Brown's Bass Method, through his own company in 1999. Over the course of his career, Brown received awards and accolades from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Jazz Hall of Fame, Down Beat, Playboy, and many more. Ray Brown died in 2002 at the age of seventy- five.
Related Materials:
Materials in the Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Charismic Productions Records of Dizzy Gillespie NMAH.AC.0979
Ella Fitzgerald Papers NMAH.AC.0584
Duke Ellington Collection NMAH.AC.0301
Duke Ellington Oral History Project NMAH.AC.0368
Edward and Gaye Ellington Collection of Duke Ellington Materials NMAH.AC.0704
Ruth Ellington Collection of Duke Ellington Materials NMAH.AC.0415
Leslie Schinella Collection of Gene Krupa Materials NMAH.AC.1220
Provenance:
The collection was donated to the Archives Center in 2015 by Ray Brown's widow, Cecilia Brown.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
The Archives Center does not own the reproduction rights to the music of the Bill Holman Collection. All requests for performance or publication of Mr. Holman's compositions and/or arrangements should be directed to Bill Holman at 323-466-8809.
Collection Citation:
Bill Holman Collection, 1951-2000, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
The Archives Center does not own the reproduction rights to the music of the Bill Holman Collection. All requests for performance or publication of Mr. Holman's compositions and/or arrangements should be directed to Bill Holman at 323-466-8809.
Collection Citation:
Bill Holman Collection, 1951-2000, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
