Roger "Ram" Ramirez (September 15, 1913 – 11 January 1994) was a Puerto Rican

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

pianist and composer. He was a co-composer of the song " Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?)"

Early life

Ramirez was born in

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan ( , ; Spanish for "Saint John the Baptist, John") is the capital city and most populous Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the ...

on September 15, 1913. He grew up in New York and started playing the piano at a young age.

Later life and career

Ramirez's first professional performances were in the early 1930s. In 1933 he played with Monette Moore, then with Rex Stewart and Sid Catlett in New York. He joined Willie Bryant in 1935, and toured Europe with Bobby Martin in 1937. During the first half of the 1940s Ramirez played with Ella Fitzgerald, Frankie Newton, Charlie Barnet, John Kirby, and Catlett, in addition to leading his own band. Ramirez wrote " Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?)" in 1942, which became a jazz standard following

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday made significant contributions to jazz music and pop ...

's recording of it two years later. He was a freelance into the mid-1950s, when he added electronic organ to his instruments. In 1953 he was in one of Duke Ellington's small groups, as a substitute. Ramirez again toured Europe in 1968, this time with T-Bone Walker. In 1979 and 1980 he was part of the Harlem Blues and Jazz Band, including for appearances in Germany. He also freelanced after this, and retired for health reasons in 1987. Ramirez was married to Marcy and had a daughter. He died of kidney failure in

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

, New York City on January 11, 1994.

Discography (selection)

* Ram Ramirez: ''Live in Harlem'' (Black & Blue) * Ram Ramirez: "Fine and Mellow" (RCA) (as "Roger Ram") * Ram Ramirez: "I'll Remember April" (RCA) (as "Roger Ram") * Putney Dandridge: 1935–1936 (Classics) * ''The Duke's Men – Small Groups, Vol. 1'' (Columbia, 1934–38) * Ella Fitzgerald: 1939–1940 (Classics) * Helen Humes: 1945–1946 (Classics) * John Kirby: 1945–1946 (Classics) * Ike Quebec: 1944–1946 (Classics), ''The Blue Note Swingtets'' (Blue Note, 1944) * Rex Stewart: 1934–1946 (Classics) * Annie Ross & King Pleasure: ''Sings'' (OJC, 1952, 1953)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramirez, Ram 1913 births 1994 deaths American musicians of Puerto Rican descent American male songwriters American jazz pianists American male jazz pianists American male jazz composers American jazz composers Jazz-blues pianists Musicians from San Juan, Puerto Rico 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians Harlem Blues and Jazz Band members Black & Blue Records artists 20th-century jazz composers