1 - American jazz double … Read Full Bio ↴There is more than one artist named Ray Brown.
1 - American jazz double bassist
2 - Australian singer/guitarist
1. Raymond Matthews Brown (October 13, 1926–July 2, 2002) was an American jazz double bassist.
Ray Brown was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and had piano lessons from the age of eight. After noticing how many pianists attended his high school, he thought of taking up the trombone, but was unable to afford one. With a vacancy in the high school jazz orchestra, he took up the double bass.
A major early influence on Brown's bass playing was the bassist in the Duke Ellington band, Jimmy Blanton. As a young man Ray Brown became steadily more well known in the Pittsburgh jazz scene, with his first experiences playing in bands with the Jimmy Hinsley Sextet and the Snookum Russel band. After graduating from high school, hearing stories about the burgeoning jazz scene on 52nd Street, in New York City, he bought a one way ticket to New York.
Arriving in New York at the age of twenty, he met up with Hank Jones, with whom he had previously worked, and was introduced to Dizzy Gillespie, who was looking for a bass player. Gillespie hired Brown on the spot and he soon played with such established musicians as Art Tatum and Charlie Parker.
From 1946 to 1951 he played in Gillespie's band. Brown, along with the vibraphonist Milt Jackson, drummer Kenny Clarke, and the pianist John Lewis formed the rhythm section of the Gillespie band, and their work together eventually led to the creation of the Modern Jazz Quartet.
Around this time Brown was also appearing in Jazz at the Philharmonic concerts, organised by Norman Granz. It was at these concerts that he met the jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, whom he married in 1947. Together they adopted a child born to Fitzgerald's half-sister Francis, whom they christened Ray Brown, Jr. Fitzgerald and Brown divorced in 1952.
It was at a Jazz at the Philharmonic concert in 1949 that Brown first worked with the jazz pianist Oscar Peterson, in whose trio Brown would play from 1951 to 1966. After leaving the Trio he became a manager and promoter as well as a performer.
In 1966, he settled in Los Angeles where he was in high demand working for various television show orchestras. He also accompanied some of the leading artists of the day, including Frank Sinatra, Billy Eckstine, Tony Bennett, Sarah Vaughan, and Nancy Wilson. He also managed his former musical partners, the Modern Jazz Quartet, as well as a young Quincy Jones, produced some shows for the Hollywood Bowl, wrote jazz double bass instruction books, and developed a jazz cello.
It was whilst in Los Angeles that he composed music for films and television shows. He was awarded his first Grammy for his composition, "Gravy Waltz", a tune which would later be used as the theme song for The Steve Allen Show.
In the 1980s and 1990s he led his own trios and continued to refine his bass playing style. In his later years he recorded and toured extensively with pianist Gene Harris. In the early 1980s, he discovered Diana Krall in a restaurant in Nanaimo, British Columbia.
He continued to perform until his death; he died while taking a nap before a show in Indianapolis.
2. Ray Brown & The Whispers were a highly successful Australian rock band from 1964-67. Led by singer Ray Brown, they ranked alongside The Easybeats, Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs and Normie Rowe as one of the most popular acts of the period. After a few name and personnel changes which led to short lived incarnations, Ray sought to further/widen his career and in late '67 Ray headed overseas and spent two years working in the U.S.A. which included the recording of a solo album Just Ray Brown for Capitol, produced by American composer arranger producer David Axelrod. Despite the name producer and large budget, it flopped, largely due to poor choices of material by the company. According to a contemporary interview from Go-Set, Ray declared that "Capitol spent $30,000 on it, put in a 30 piece orchestra and then wouldn't let me pick my own material."
3. Ray Brown is from Tallahassee, FL and has been writing songs and performing since 2010. His debut album, CANYON, was released in August, 2012. The East Village arts quarterly, BOOG CITY describes his songs as "funny and tragic at the same time" and The New Yorker dubbed him "a solid songwriter".
https://raybrown.bandcamp.com
Cherokee
Ray Brown Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I can't forget you, Cherokee sweetheart.
Child of the prairie, your love keeps calling,
My heart enthralling, Cherokee.
Dreams of summertime, of lover time gone by,
Throng my memory so tenderly, and sigh. My
Sweet Indian maiden, one day I'll hold you,
In my arms fold you, Cherokee.
In this song, Ray Brown reminisces about a past love interest he had with a Native American woman. He describes her as a "Sweet Indian maiden" that he met and couldn't forget. He is enchanted by her love and how it is continuously calling him, enthralling his heart. He recalls memories of their time together with tender emotions, dreaming of the summertime they spent together.
Brown longs for the day when he will be reunited with his "Cherokee sweetheart" and hold her in his arms. The lyrics are beautifully written, conveying a sense of love and longing that anyone who has experienced heartbreak or separation can relate to. The song's melody and instrumentation are tender and soothing, adding to the overall emotional impact of the lyrics.
Line by Line Meaning
Sweet Indian maiden, since first I met you,
Addressing a Native American woman whom the singer met before, and has been constantly thinking about.
I can't forget you, Cherokee sweetheart.
Expressing how unforgettable and sweet this woman is, using her ethnicity and the name of her tribe in the endearing nickname given to her.
Child of the prairie, your love keeps calling,
Using nature to describe how her love keeps beckoning him, likening it to the vast open space of the prairie where she's from.
My heart enthralling, Cherokee.
Saying that his heart is captivated by the love call of this woman from the Cherokee tribe, and he can't resist its charm.
Dreams of summertime, of lover time gone by,
Being nostalgic of the past, particularly of summer when love was in the air, and reminiscing about a past lover.
Throng my memory so tenderly, and sigh. My
Feeling a rush of tender memories when recalling past summer loves, which leads him to sigh with nostalgia.
Sweet Indian maiden, one day I'll hold you,
Repeating the sweet nickname then giving a promise to hold and embrace her someday in the future.
In my arms fold you, Cherokee.
Describing the act of holding and embracing this Native American woman from the Cherokee tribe, to show how much he longs for her.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, RESERVOIR MEDIA MANAGEMENT INC
Written by: Ray Noble
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind