Ronnell Bright born 3 July1930

Ronnell Lovelace Bright (July 3, 1930 – August 12, 2021) was an American jazz pianist. He was one of the most sought-after piano accompanists in jazz. Not many pianists could match his sensitivity or taste in chords behind a singer. Over the years, Ronnell backed Sarah Vaughan, Carmen McRae, Nancy Wilson, Doris Day and nearly any other singer who comes to mind. His strong skills as a songwriter and composer led to collaborations with Johnny Mercer, Paul Francis Webster, Sammy Cahn and others. Among the dozens of jazz artists who have recorded his songs are Horace Silver, Stanley Turrentine, Dexter Gordon and Johnny Hartman. 

Ronnell was born and grew up in  Chicago. His father was a preacher and his mother was a former schoolteacher. He had three sisters and a brother. His sister, Della Bright, was a singer in a vocal trio called the Rhythm Debs. They sang with Fletcher Henderson whenever he came to Chicago. Fletcher used to come over to their house and chart out the vocal arrangements and rehearse the trio on their old upright piano. 

Bright started to play this piano at an early age and when he was 5 years old his parents started him on piano lessons with  piano teacher, Jeanne Fletcher who taught him classical music. When he was 8, he was called a child prodigy and. would give recitals at theaters downtown, and teachers would bring their favorite students to hear him play. He won a piano competition when he was nine years old. In 1944, he played with the Chicago Youth Piano Symphony Orchestra. 

In 1948, he enlisted in the Navy and played in the band on an aircraft carrier, which toured the Caribbean. On board was singer Julius LaRosa. They used to have music programs on board where Ronnell would play piano and Julius sang. They became great friends. In 1949, Ronnell left the navy but had to remain in the reserves for four years. 

                         Here’s “Sail ‘Em” from above album.

                         

He studied at Juilliard, graduating early in the 1950s. Moving back to Chicago, he played with Johnny Tate and accompanied Carmen McRae before moving to New York City in 1955. There he played with Rolf Kühn and assembled his own trio in 1957. In 1957–58 he was with Dizzy Gillespie,s big band and acted as an accompanist for Sarah Vaughan (1958-60,1963), Al Hibbler, Lena Horne (1961) , and Gloria Lynne (1963). 

The Ronnell Bright Trio first came about as a 1958 studio set recorded in Paris while Bright was there working as Sarah Vaughan's accompanist.  In a fascinating interview for Marc Myers' JazzWax blog, Bright relates how he was playing at a late-night jam session at a club in Paris when a rep from Polydor Records approached and asked if he wanted to record an album while he was in town.  Bright pulled together bassist Richard Davis (also from Sarah Vaughan's band) and English drummer Art Morgan (who was in town with the Ted Heath Band), and they cut the album. 

Ronnell’s compositions were recorded by Vaughan, Cal Tjader, Horace Silver, and Blue Mitchell. From 1964 -1967, he became Nancy Wilson's arranger and pianist after moving to Los Angeles. . While with Wison he he worked in television and made cameo appearances in the TV shows The Jeffersons and Sanford and Son, also working on The Carol Burnett Show. He also played on Doris Day’s 1967 Love Album. 

In 1970 he played with Ray Anthony and also found work as a studio musician, playing in Supersax from 1972 to 1974. He won a Grammy in 1973 for his contribution to the album, Supersax Plays Bird. After leaving Supersax he taught high school for a year. After a long stay on the West Coast he returned to New York in 1985 where had an excellent opportunity to make himself known to a New York audience in his solo performance for the Kool Jazz Festival at Carnegie Recital Hall. 

He continued to play in various restaurants but by 2008, Ronnell was living with his wife, Dianne, in relative obscurity in Denver. 

Ronnell died on August 12, 2021 at the age of 91 from dementia. 

(Edited fom Jazzwax, Wikipedia, New York Times)