Ray Bryant born 24 December 1931

Raphael Homer "Ray" Bryant (December 24, 1931 – June 2, 2011) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger.

Bryant was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on December 24, 1931. His mother was an ordained minister who had taught herself to play the piano; his father also played the piano and sang. His brothers were the bass player Tommy, drummer and singer Len, 
and Lynwood. Ray began playing the piano around the age of six or seven, following the example of his mother and his sister, Vera. Gospel influences in his playing came from being part of the church at this stage in his early life. He had switched from classical music to jazz by his early teens, and played the double bass at junior high school. He was first paid to play when he was 12.  He turned professional aged 14, and immediately joined a local band led by Mickey Collins.

After three years working on and off in Collins's band, Bryant toured with guitarist Tiny Grimes (1948–49). He was then a solo pianist based in Syracuse, New York for a year. After returning to Philadelphia, he played Dixieland in Billy Kretchmer's club for around two years. He attracted more attention after becoming house pianist at the Blue Note club in Philadelphia in 1953. He was there until 1956, accompanying many leading players such as Lester Young, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, and Sonny Stitt. Davis and Sonny Rollins both liked Bryant's playing enough to record with him in New York in 1955: on Quintet/Sextet and Work Time, respectively.

These albums were for Prestige Records,for whom Bryant "began a period as an occasional house pianist", also recording with Art Taylor (1957), Tiny Grimes and Coleman Hawkins (both 1958–9),  and as a leader (1957–8).  In this period, he was also the accompanist for singer Carmen McRae (1956–57).Bryant was also a member of trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie's small and big bands for four months in 1957. Bryant recorded under drummer Art Blakey for several studio-based albums in 1957–58.

Bryant settled in New York in 1959. There, he played both mainstream jazz and the newer hard bop. His earlier period at the Blue Note in Philadelphia helped him get work, as he already knew a lot of the musicians who were based in New York. For three months in 1959, Bryant was the pianist in singer Ella Fitzgerald's small band. Bryant recorded with "Hal Singer, Arnett Cobb, Benny Golson, Lem Winchester, and Oliver Nelson" in 1959.

For around ten years from this point, his own trio contained bassists including Tommy Bryant and Jimmie Rowser, and drummers including Walter Perkins, Mickey Roker, Grady Tate, and Freddie Waits. He formed his own trio and was signed by producer and talent scout John Hammond to Columbia Records in 1960.Their first album contained the hit single "Little Susie", a blues created when Bryant was with Jones. Signature Records responded immediately by releasing their own version of Bryant playing the same tune. This version, sold as "Little Susie (Part 4)", reached No. 12 on the Billboard Hot R&B chart.

                             

Hammond also paired Bryant with singer Aretha Franklin for the album Aretha: With The Ray Bryant Combo in 1960. Bryant was in Baltimore with Hammond when the Madison dance craze was developing and, at the producer's suggestion, adapted an earlier composition for the dance – it was renamed "Madison Time".This reached No. 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1960. Another Bryant single – "Sack o' Woe" – appeared on the R&B chart in 1961.

In 1963 Bryant switched to Sue Records and recorded the first of four albums for the label. Three years later he was with Cadet Records. He had another top 100 hit with a cover version of Bobbie Gentry's "Ode to Billie Joe" in 1967.

A performance at the 1972 Montreux Jazz Festival led to Bryant also getting more work as a solo pianist. He also toured Europe frequently from the 1970s. Between 1976 and 1980 Bryant recorded five albums for Pablo Records. For the following seven years, he did not record as a leader.  This ended when an admiring producer for Japanese Polygram recruited him: Bryant recorded 10 albums for them between 1987 and 1995.

In the 2000s, most of his performances were in Europe and Japan, and he reduced his schedule. Solo piano recordings from performances at Rutgers University in 2004 and 2008 were released on the CD In the Back Room. Bryant died on June 2, 2011 at the age of 79 in Queens, New York, after a long illness.

(Edited from Wikipedia)