Ray Bryant RIP
Ray Bryant
Listen/Download – Ray Bryant – Up Above the Rock
Listen/Download – Ray Bryant – Quizas Quizas Quizas
Listen/Download – Ray Bryant – Soundray
Listen/Download – Ray Bryant – Stick With It
Greetings all.
I hope the middle of the week finds you all well.
As promised, I’m going to take a little time to pay tribute to the soulful genius of one of my favorite pianists, the mighty Ray Bryant.
Bryant, who passed on June 2nd was one of the mainstays of soul jazz piano in the 50s, 60s and 70s.
As has been mentioned in this space several times, I have strong feelings about the term ‘soul jazz’, in that so little of the music labeled as such really fits the bill in any meaningful way.
There are veritable mountains of wax with jazzers wading into more popular waters, especially in the 60s, but a jazzbo with a pop cover does not soul jazz make (especially since the style came into being organically).
The truth is, that where many – often purely in the interest of keeping their heads above water (and away from a day job) – jazz musicians took to a more “accessible” style in the 60s, many of them had no real aptitude for it, making for much of the bland and uninspired sounds that so many crate diggers are referring to when they badmouth the style.
The real heart of the sound – as is the case in vocal soul music – can be traced to gospel, wherein jazz and soul intersect on a giant (and wholly imaginary) venn diagram.
As the 50s became the 60s, many jazz musicians (with a concentration on organists, guitarists and saxophonists) while still stretching out on post-bop and modal jazz, began to experiment with gospel and R&B at the same time that those styles were evolving into what would become soul music.
By the early 60s, countless organ (and piano, guitar, sax, vibes and all of the possible combinations and permutations possible) combos were coming out of inner city clubs and into recording studios for labels like Prestige, Blue Note, Argo, Riverside and countless smaller independents and compressing the aforementioned mixtures into 45 sized, jukebox friendly slices.
As the popularity (and sales figures) of straight jazz began to decline, jazz musicians concentrated more on soul and pop jazz, hoping to cross over enough to put a little bread in their pockets. While many of these musicians were merely attempting to cash in, some of them found that they had a natural affinity (whether via age or inclination) for these sounds and found ways to innovate and make them swing.
One of the finest of these was Mr. Ray Bryant.
Bryant came up in Philadelphia (his brother Tommy was a bassist) and played alongside many of the giants of the bebop and hard bop eras.
He started recording under his own name in the 50s, and even found some pop success with his 1960 hit ‘Madison Time’.
The tracks featured today all come from Bryant’s tenure with the Cadet label between 1966 and 1969. He recorded seven albums for Cadet in those years, all a mix of original material, jazz standards and pop and soul cover material. He recorded in small and large group settings, often with the production assistance of none other than Richard Evans.
I’ve included tracks from his two final albums for the label in the 60s (he would return for one more in 1974), ‘Up Above the Rock’ (1968) and ‘Sound Ray’ (1969).
The title track of ‘Up Above the Rock’ is a shade over three minutes of pure brilliance, with a stunning Grady Tate breakbeat that makes it the most sought after (and expensive) of his albums. The mix you’re hearing today is from the album. The 45 mix is a little bit hotter, with the drums and the handclaps higher in the mix (check it out on Youtube).
The group is the trio of Bryant on piano, Ron Carter on bass and Tate on drums, augmented by Snookie Young on fluegelhorn and Dobbie Hiques on trumpet. The track sounds light years ahead of its time. No matter how many times I hear it, I expect someone to start rapping as soon as the piano comes in. If you listen to the way Kool G Rap and DJ Polo flipped it (barely) for ‘On the Run’, it’s not too far removed from the original. It’s about as funky as acoustic piano records get, and a great showcase for Bryant’s heavy, straightforward sound. It’s one of those records that I have to listen to multiple times in a sitting.
The other track from ‘Up Above the Rock’ is Bryant’s cover of Osvaldo Farres’ ‘Quizas Quizas Quizas’. The recording here is taken from my 45 and while still somewhat funky, has a much looser, more swinging feel to it. It was also sampled (with a little more subtlety) by Queen Latifah on ‘I Can’t Understand’.
The two remaining tracks are both from the 1969 ‘Sound Ray’ album. A trio session, recorded with Jimmy Rowser on bass and Harold White on drums, ‘Sound Ray’ is another funky session, produced again by Richard Evans. The album sees Bryant stretching out a little more, but still keeping things locked in the groove.
The title track is a hard charging tour de force (I love the opening duet with the bass and drums) with some wonderful keyboard work by Bryant.
‘Stick With It’ is a much more subdued affair, that sounds like a rebuilt version of Horace Silver’s ‘Song For My Father’ (which, oddly enough was also covered on the album).
Ray Bryant would go on to record for Atlantic, Pablo and EmArcy (among many others) through the 70s, 80s and 90s with his last album being a live, solo set recorded at Rutgers University in 2004.
He was a giant, and will be missed.
See you on Friday.
Peace
Larry
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Cover Songs, Funk, Funky16Corners, Instrumental, Jazz, Jazz funk, LP tracks, Original Versions, Soul, Soul Jazz
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Themocracy
I read somewhere that he was the uncle of jazz guitarist and Tonight Show bandleader Kevin Eubanks. Interesting…
I always dug The Fox Stalker from the album Slow Freight. Not as swinging as your selections today, more meditative with tons of heart.
@Uptownjen – Indeed he was
@James – He had a lot of stylistic breadth. The stuff I posted are the things most likely to appeal to F16C readers.
And appeal to F16C readers they certainly do!
I’m a fan of ‘Jazz Funk’, as I like to think of it, and these were a treat.
Wasn’t aware of Ray Bryant, but happy to have discovered him (or had him introduced to me)!
Thanks Larry.
Stu, Glasgow, Scotland
My pleasure Stu! It’s always cool to find something new.
I will never forget Ray Bryant. Thanks to his instrumental “Shake A Lady”, I became Student Council President in 1964. All the other candidates slowly marched down the auditorium aisle to a traditional “Land of Hope and Glory” before giving their speeches. I, on the other hand, thought outside the Box and had someone backstage play “Shake A Lady” instead…as I DANCED down the aisle. The students literally went mad, and after my promise to have the school sponsor a 9th-grade dance – began repeatedly shouting, “We want [My Name] !!” (It was like a scene out of a movie!) I won by a landslide, but Ray Bryant’s song was the snowball that started it…
That’s a great story!
Thanks for that music. I’ve searched the internet looking for Ray’s music. Found a couple of live videos and an interview, as well. Well worth the effort. Thanks so much for your web site. I love it!
One of the greatest!. Enjoy his music.