Raymond Matthews Brown Jr. (born August 13, 1949) is an American jazz and blues singer.

Life and career

The adopted son of Ray Brown and

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

, he was born in New York City, to Fitzgerald's half-sister Frances.

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...

, Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra and many others were regular visitors during his childhood.

KPFT KPFT (90.1 FM) is a listener-sponsored community radio station in Houston, Texas, which began broadcasting March 1, 1970 as the fourth station in the Pacifica radio family. The station airs a variety of music, news, talk, and call-in programs, ...

Pacifica "Joe's Roadhouse" Broadcast December 8, 2007 After moving to California when he was 10, Ray discovered a passion for the drums and for singing. He attended

Beverly Hills High School Beverly Hills High School (usually abbreviated as Beverly or as BHHS) is the only major public high school in Beverly Hills, California. The other public high school in Beverly Hills, Moreno High School, is a small alternative school located on B ...

where he sang with school groups which toured at local festivals and hospitals.Official Management Site: http://www.ShellyLiebowitz.com/rbjr.aspx His father arranged for him to study with jazz percussionists Bill Douglass and

Chuck Flores Charles Walter "Chuck" Flores (January 5, 1935 - November 24, 2016) was an American jazz drummer. One of the relatively small number of musicians associated with West Coast jazz who were actually from the West Coast, Flores was born in Orange, Cal ...

. Despite his jazz roots he admits that his interest in performing rock music was an act of rebellion. "I used to drive my parents crazy with this. I told my father a few years before he died, you know a lot of times I played that music 'cause I just wanted to see the look on your face.". His mother's 1964 single "Ringo Beat" was inspired by her son's interest in rock music. He moved to Seattle in 1971, studying with another drummer, Bill Coleman Sr. It was at this time that Brown began writing songs in addition to playing drums and piano. In the late 1980s Brown toured the Pacific Northwest, Canada, Alaska, Japan, Korea and Guam performing in tours for the United States Department of Defense. This is when his daughter, Alice, was conceived and born in Ketchikan, Alaska to Rebecca Judd. Like his famous parents, Brown says he loves performing on the road. He states,

"I love to tour. I've been able to see a lot of the world and I just absolutely enjoyed being able to be with different types of people, different cultures and to see the world. It's just kind of broadened who I am as a person, which eventually will filter down into the music, the influences."

In 2001, Brown recorded his debut album ''Slow Down for Love'' on SRI Jazz, which reached the top 50 of the Gavin Report. His second album, ''Committed from the Heart'', was released in 2003. His sound has been described as an adult contemporary pop sound layered with R&B. Brown wrote and arranged all the songs on both albums. Additionally in 2003, Brown debuted on the Las Vegas Strip, performing five nights a week in the Le Bistro Theater at the

Riviera ''Riviera'' () is an Italian word which means "coastline", ultimately derived from Latin , through Ligurian . It came to be applied as a proper name to the coast of Liguria, in the form ''Riviera ligure'', then shortened in English. The two areas ...

hotel and casino. In 2007 he released the album ''Stand by Me''. In September 2008, Ray Brown Jr. released a duets album, ''Friends and Family'', produced by Shelly Liebowitz, on SRI Jazz, a division of SRI Records. Vocal artists on this album include

Jane Monheit Jane Monheit (born November 3, 1977"Jane Monheit." ''Contemporary Musicians''. Vol. 33. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, 2001. Retrieved via ''Biography in Context'' database, 2017-05-07.) is an American jazz and pop singer. Early life Monheit was bo ...

Melba Moore Beatrice Melba Hill or Beatrice Melba Smith (sources differ) (born October 29, 1945), known by her stage name Melba Moore, is an American singer and actress. Biography Early life and education Moore was born Beatrice Melba Hill or Beatrice Melba ...

, James Moody, Maria Muldaur,

Dr. John Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. (November 20, 1941 – June 6, 2019), better known by his stage name Dr. John, was an American singer and songwriter. His music encompassed New Orleans blues, jazz, funk, and R&B. Active as a session musician from ...

, Dionne Warwick,

Freda Payne Freda Charcilia Payne (born September 19, 1942Some sources give a birth year of 1945, but this appears to be an error as all sources agree that she is older than her sister Scherrie, born 1944.) is an American singer and actress. Payne is best ...

, Sophie B. Hawkins, Paul Williams,

Dr. Lonnie Smith Lonnie Smith (July 3, 1942 – September 28, 2021), styled Dr. Lonnie Smith, was an American jazz Hammond B3 organist who was a member of the George Benson quartet in the 1960s. He recorded albums with saxophonist Lou Donaldson for Blue Note be ...

, Dave Somerville, Kim Hoyer, and

Sally Kellerman Sally Clare Kellerman (June 2, 1937 – February 24, 2022) was an American actress and singer whose acting career spanned 60 years. Her role as Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan in Robert Altman's film '' M*A*S*H'' (1970) earned her an Oscar n ...

. Additional instrumental performances appear on some of the album tracks with artists

David "Fathead" Newman David "Fathead" Newman (February 24, 1933 – January 20, 2009) was an American jazz and rhythm-and-blues saxophonist, who made numerous recordings as a session musician and leader, but is best known for his work as a sideman on seminal 1950s an ...

, and jazz vibraphonist

Terry Gibbs Terry Gibbs (born Julius Gubenko; October 13, 1924) is an American jazz vibraphonist and band leader. He has performed or recorded with Tommy Dorsey, Chubby Jackson,Theroux, Gary"Gibbs, Terry".''Grove Music Online''. Oxford University Press. R ...

. Also included on the album is Brown's second daughter who went by the stage name 'Haylee' singing "

A-Tisket, A-Tasket "A Tisket A Tasket" is a nursery rhyme first recorded in America in the late nineteenth century. It was used as the basis for a very successful and highly regarded 1938 recording by Ella Fitzgerald, composed by Fitzgerald in conjunction with Al Fe ...

", which was made famous by her grandmother. There is also a bonus track with Brown's parents in a live version of "

How High the Moon "How High the Moon" is a jazz standard with lyrics by Nancy Hamilton and music by Morgan Lewis. It was first featured in the 1940 Broadway revue '' Two for the Show'', where it was sung by Alfred Drake and Frances Comstock. In ''Two for the S ...

" with Ella Fitzgerald and Brown Jr. on vocals and Ray Brown playing bass. In 1998, Brown attended the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation ceremony honoring his mother, Ella Fitzgerald. In 2007, he appeared in a BBC documentary talking about his mother entitled ''Ella Fitzgerald: First Lady of Song.'' Also in 2007, he attended the ceremony for the Ella Fitzgerald stamp produced by the United States Postal Service. He traveled to events commemorating what would have been her 90th birthday. On May 30, 2020, he appeared in a BBC documentary entitled ''Ella Fitzgerald: Just One of Those Things''.

Also appears on

The SOS Band The S.O.S. Band (sometimes written as S.O.S. Band; abbreviation for Sounds of Success) is an American R&B and electro-funk group who gained fame in the 1980s. They are best known for the songs "Take Your Time (Do It Right)", "Just Be Good to M ...

– '' S.O.S.'' (1980)

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Ray Jr. 1949 births American adoptees American jazz singers American jazz pianists American male pianists Ella Fitzgerald Living people Smooth jazz musicians 20th-century American pianists American male jazz musicians