Remembering Ray Bryant, born on this day in 1931 (1931-2011)

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The pianist, Ray Bryant, (December 24, 1931, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States – June 2, 2011, New York), born Raphael Homer Bryant, was one of the most famous pianists of that state in the years of the postwar jazz. Along with his brother, Tommy, a bassist, he played as a resident musician at the Blue Note Club in Philadelphia, a renowned venue that musicians from New York frequently attended when they played there, including Charlie Parker and Miles Davis.

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His first solo piano album was “Alone With the Blues” in 1958, and he went on to make a few others, including “Alone at Montreux,” “Solo Flight” and “Montreux ’77,” but success and fame came to him. when in 1955, he entered a recording studio to accompany the singer, Betty Carter, one of the best black jazz voices of all time.

After that great success for the “Columbia Records” label, Bryant recorded a new album, now leading his own trio, the formula he liked the most, with the “Prestige Records” label, and where he obtained important critical recognition, for “Blues Changes”, one of the songs included on the album. That song would become a basic element of jazz literature, becoming a recognized standard, covered a thousand times.

After his time with Betty Carter’s band, Ray Bryant, he recorded a good bunch of albums as a “sideman”, with the drummers, Art Blakey, Art Taylor, and Philips Jo Jones, with the singer, Jimmy Rushing, with Carmen McRae, Dizzy Gillespie, Oliver Nelson and Sonny Stitt.

Ray Bryant was a jazz pianist whose sensitivity and virtuosity made him a suitable accompanist for many colleagues. He had a firm touch and an unwavering sense of time, especially in his left hand. Ray Bryant passed away on June 2, 2011, at the age of 79.

Bryant’s style

Bryant’s style was initially influenced by pianists Art Tatum and Teddy Wilson, but blues and gospel elements soon grew stronger in his playing.

Ray Bryant was not known as an innovator, but had a readily recognisable style of his own. Bryant said that he liked to transfer elements of the Count Basie Orchestra to the piano. A writer commented that Bryant’s “solo works are often like carefully crafted sonatas with dramatic changes in mood, tempo and dynamics”.

“Bryant had a firm touch and an unshakable sense of time, notably in his left hand, which he often used to build a bedrock vamp. Even in a bebop setting, he favored the ringing tonalities of the gospel church.” “In his solo playing, […] he often played blues figures in the right hand against stride or boogie-woogie patterns in the left. On his recordings as an accompanist the influence of blues and boogie-woogie is less strong and he plays in a variety of styles.”

Bryant was also a composer, with well-known themes such as “Cubano Chant”, “The Madison Time”, “Monkey Business”, and “Little Susie” to his credit. He said that he did not consciously endeavor to compose music: “An idea will just come to me while I’m doing something else and if it sticks, I develop it into a tune.”

Ed Berger wrote in JazzTimes that his compositions “share many of the attractive melodic and rhythmic qualities that make his playing so widely accessible”, and vary in style from Latin, blues-based, to more lyrical ballads, waltzes and calypsos.

Discography

Ray Bryant Trio Plays

Ray Bryant Plays is an album recorded by American jazz pianist Ray Bryant recorded in 1959 for the Signature label.

Allmusic awarded the album 3 stars calling it “a strong sampling of Ray Bryant’s accessible playing during his early period”

Track listing

"Delauney's Dilemma" (John Lewis) – 2:35
"Blue Monk" (Thelonious Monk) – 5:00
"Misty" (Erroll Garner) – 2:59
"Sneaking Around" (Ray Bryant) – 3:46
"Now's the Time" (Charlie Parker) – 4:00
"Wheatleigh Hall" (Dizzy Gillespie) – 3:55
"Doodlin'" (Horace Silver) – 4:05
"A Hundred Dreams from Now" (Duke Ellington) – 3:20
"Bags' Groove" (Milt Jackson) – 5:34
"Walkin'" (Richard Carpenter) – 3:08
"Take the "A" Train" (Billy Strayhorn) – 3:50
"Whisper Not" (Benny Golson) – 3:35

Recorded in NYC on October 29 (tracks 1 & 5–7), November 5, (tracks 2, 3, 10 & 12), and November 6, 1959 (tracks 4, 8, 9 & 11)

Tracks:

A1 Delauney`s Dilemma 00:00 A2 Blue Monk 02:42 A3 Misty 07:51 A4 Sneaking Around 10:56 A5 Now`s The Time 14:48 A6 Wheatleigh Hall 18:53 B1 Doodlin` 22:54 B2 A Hundred Dreams From Now 27:03 B3 Bags Groove 30:29 B4 Walkin` 36:10 B5 Take The “A” Train 39:24 B6 Whisper Not 43:19

Personnel:

Piano – Ray Bryant Bass – Tommy Bryant Drums – Oliver Jackson

Recorded October 29 and November 5–6, 1959

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