Ronnie Ball

Ronald "Ronnie" Ball (December 22, 1927 – October 1984)[1] was a jazz pianist, composer and arranger, born in Birmingham, England.

For the British Police and Crime Commissioner, see Ron Ball. For the American thriller and suspense writer, see Ron Clark Ball.
Ronnie Ball
Birth nameRonald Ball
Born(1927-12-22)22 December 1927
Birmingham, UK
DiedOctober 1984 aged 56
New York
GenresJazz
Occupation(s)Musician, Composer
InstrumentsPiano
Years active1950-1984

Biography

Ball moved to London in 1948, and in the early 1950s he worked both as a bandleader and under Ronnie Scott, Tony Kinsey, Victor Feldman, and Harry Klein. In 1952 he moved to New York City[1] and studied with Lennie Tristano. At the time it was his ambition to learn more about the American jazz scene and in the 1950s and 1960s he worked extensively with well-known jazz personnel. Among the musicians Ball played with are Chuck Wayne (1952), Dizzy Gillespie, Lee Konitz (1953–55), Kenny Clarke, Hank Mobley, Art Pepper, J.J. Johnson (1956), Kai Winding (1956, 1958), Warne Marsh,(1956–57), Buddy Rich (1958), Gene Krupa (1958), Roy Eldridge (1959) and Chris Connor (1961–63).[2]

Ball plays on tracks 1–12 of the Lennie Tristano/Warne Marsh compilation Intuition with Ted Brown (tenor saxophone), Ben Tucker (bass), and Jeff Morton (drums), recorded in Los Angeles in October 1956, now on Capitol CDP 7243 8 52771 2 2.

During a two-year period (1961-1963) Ball occasionally accompanied American jazz singer Chris Connor and made recordings with her on many occasions. As most of his adult life was spent in New York, he only made a small number of recordings in London and there is very little recorded material available on CD. Despite this, his work with Lee Konitz and Warne Marsh is available in the UK on CD. Later in the 1960s Ball worked as part of the house trio at the famed Studio 51 Club on Great Newport Street in London. He ended his musical career to work doing transcriptions for a music publisher until his death in 1984.[3]

Death

Ball died in New York City in October 1984, aged 56. His exact date of death is unknown.[4]

Discography

With Kenny Clarke

With Teddy Edwards

With Roy Eldridge

With Lee Konitz

With Warne Marsh

References
Footnotes
  1. Ind, Peter (2005). Jazz Visions: Lennie Tristano and His Legacy. Equinox. p. 79. ISBN 978-1-84553-281-9.
  2. Ronnie Ball Biography www.allmusic.com Retrieved 21 May 2020.
  3. Ronnie Ball Discography www.henrybebop.co.uk Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  4. Ronnie Ball, JazzDisco.org. Retrieved 24 April 2019
Further reading
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