Ray Anderson (born October 16, 1952) is an American

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 ...

trombonist. Trained by the Chicago Symphony trombonists, he is regarded as someone who pushes the limits of the instrument, including performing on

alto The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: '' altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In four-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in ch ...

and soprano trombone. He is a colleague of trombonist George E. Lewis. Anderson also plays sousaphone (marching tuba) and sings. He was frequently chosen in ''DownBeat'' magazine's Critics Poll as best trombonist throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Biography

After studying in California, he moved to New York in 1972 and freelanced. In 1977, he joined

Anthony Braxton Anthony Braxton (born June 4, 1945) is an American experimental composer, educator, music theorist, improviser and multi-instrumentalist who is best known for playing saxophones, particularly the alto. Braxton grew up on the South Side of Chi ...

's Quartet (replacing George E. Lewis) and started working with

Barry Altschul Barry Altschul (born January 6, 1943, in New York City) is a free jazz and hard bop drummer who first came to notice in the late 1960s for performing with pianists Paul Bley and Chick Corea. Biography Altschul is of Russian Jewish heritage, ...

's group. In addition to leading his own groups since the late 1970s including the funk-oriented Slickaphonics, in which he began taking an occasional good-humored vocal, where he shows the ability to sing two notes at the same time (a

minor third In music theory, a minor third is a interval (music), musical interval that encompasses three half steps, or semitones. Staff notation represents the minor third as encompassing three staff positions (see: interval (music)#Number, interval numb ...

apart). Anderson has worked with

George Gruntz George Gruntz (24 June 1932 – 10 January 2013) was a Swiss jazz pianist, organist, harpsichordist, keyboardist, and composer known for the George Gruntz Concert Big Band and his work with Phil Woods, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Don Cherry, Chet Baker ...

's Concert Jazz Band. Anderson has worked with David Murray,

Charlie Haden Charles Edward Haden (August 6, 1937 – July 11, 2014) was an American jazz double bass player, bandleader, composer and educator whose career spanned more than fifty years. Haden helped to revolutionize the harmonic concept of bass playin ...

's Liberation Music Orchestra, Dr. John, Luther Allison,

Bennie Wallace Bennie Wallace (born November 18, 1946) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Biography Wallace was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He began playing in local clubs with the encouragement of East Ridge, Tennessee High School band director and ...

, Gerry Hemingway, Henry Threadgill,

John Scofield John Scofield (born December 26, 1951) is an American guitarist and composer. His music over a long career has blended jazz, jazz fusion, funk, blues, soul and rock. He first came to mainstream attention as part of the band of Miles Davis; he ...

, Roscoe Mitchell, Randy Sandke's Inside Out Band, Sam Rivers' Rivbea Orchestra, Bobby Previte, George Russell and others. Anderson is a member of

Jim Pugh Jim Pugh (born February 5, 1964) is a former professional tennis player from the United States. He grew up in Palos Verdes, California and at age 10 began taking tennis lessons from John Hillebrand. He played tennis at UCLA. He became a doub ...

's Super Trombone with Dave Bargeron and Dave Taylor. He received a grant from the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

for a series of solo trombone concerts. Anderson has frequently returned to his early love of New Orleans music for inspiration. His Alligatory Band and Pocket Brass Band, featuring tuba player Bob Stewart or sousaphonist Matt Perrine and trumpeter

Lew Soloff Lewis Michael Soloff (February 20, 1944 – March 8, 2015) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and actor. He was a founding member of the band Blood, Sweat & Tears. Biography From his birth place of New York City, United States, he studie ...

, are rooted in its tradition. Since 2003 he has taught and conducted at

Stony Brook University Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public university, public research university in Stony Brook, New York, United States, on Long Island. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is on ...

Discography

As leader/co-leader

* ''Harrisburg Half Life'' ( Moers Music, 1980) * ''Right Down Your Alley'' ( Soul Note, 1984) * '' Old Bottles - New Wine'' ( Enja, 1985) * '' It Just So Happens'' (Enja, 1987) * '' Blues Bred in the Bone'' (Enja, 1988) * ''What Because'' ( Gramavision, 1989) * ''Wishbone'' (Gramavision, 1991) * '' Every One of Us'' (Gramavision, 1992) * '' Big Band Record'' (Gramavision, 1994) * '' Azurety'' ( hatART, 1994) with

Han Bennink Han Bennink (born 17 April 1942) is a Dutch drummer and percussionist. On occasion his recordings have featured him playing soprano saxophone, bass clarinet, trombone, violin, banjo and piano. Though perhaps best known as one of the pivotal figu ...

and Christy Doran * '' Don't Mow Your Lawn'' (Enja, 1994) with the Alligatory Band * '' Slideride'' (hat ART, 1994) with Craig Harris, George E. Lewis and Gary Valente * '' Cheer Up'' (hatArt, 1995) with Han Bennink and Christy Doran * ''Where Home Is'' (Enja, 1998) * ''Bonemeal'' (Raybone, 2000) * ''Ibrahim Electric Meets Ray Anderson'' (Sundance, 2005) * ''Sweet Chicago Suite'' (2012) With BassDrumBone * ''Wooferlo'' (Soul Note, 1989) * ''Hence the Reason'' (Enja, 1997) * ''Cooked to Perfection'' (Auricle, 1999) * ''March of Dimes'' (Data, 2002) * ''The Line Up'' ( Clean Feed, 2006) * ''The Other Parade'' (Clean Feed, 2011) * ''The Long Road'' (Auricle, 2016) With Slickaphonics * ''Wow Bag'' (Enja, 1982) * ''Modern Life'' (Enja, 1984) * ''Humatomic Energy'' (Blue Heron, 1985) * ''Check Your Head at the Door'' (

Teldec Teldec (Telefunken-Decca Schallplatten GmbH) is a German record label in Hamburg, Germany. Today the label is a property of Warner Music Group. History Teldec was a producer of (first) shellac and (later) vinyl records. The Teldec manufacturing ...

, 1986) * ''Live'' (Teldec, 1987)

As sideman

With

* '' Another Time/Another Place'' (Muse, 1978) * '' Somewhere Else'' (Moers Music, 1979) * ''

Brahma Brahma (, ) is a Hindu god, referred to as "the Creator" within the Trimurti, the triple deity, trinity of Para Brahman, supreme divinity that includes Vishnu and Shiva.Jan Gonda (1969)The Hindu Trinity, Anthropos, Bd 63/64, H 1/2, pp. 212– ...

'' (Sackville, 1980) * '' For Stu'' (Soul Note, 1981) With

* '' Creative Orchestra (Köln) 1978'' (hatART, 1995) * '' Performance (Quartet) 1979'' (hatART, 1981) * '' Seven Compositions 1978'' (Moers Music, 1979) * '' Composition No. 94 for Three Instrumentalists (1980)'' (Golden Years of Jazz, 1999) * '' Composition 98'' (hatART, 1981) With

* '' The Montreal Tapes: Liberation Music Orchestra'' (rec. 1989, Verve, 1999) * '' Dream Keeper'' (

DownBeat ''DownBeat'' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm that it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1 ...

's Jazz album of the year) With

Julius Hemphill Julius Arthur Hemphill (January 24, 1938 – April 2, 1995) was a jazz composer and saxophone player. He performed mainly on alto saxophone, less often on soprano and tenor saxophones and flute. Biography Hemphill was born in Fort Worth, Texas, ...

* '' The Boyé Multi-National Crusade for Harmony'' (New World, 2021) With Roscoe Mitchell *'' Sketches from Bamboo'' (Moers Music, 1979) With

Lucky Peterson Judge Kenneth "Lucky" Peterson (December 13, 1964 – May 17, 2020) was an American musician who played contemporary Blues music, blues, fusing soul music, soul, Rhythm and blues, R&B, gospel music, gospel and rock and roll. He was a vocalist, g ...

* ''

Triple Play In baseball or softball, a triple play (denoted as TP in baseball statistics) is the act of making three out (baseball), outs during the same play. There have only been 739 triple plays in Major League Baseball (MLB) since 1876, an average of ju ...

'' (

Alligator An alligator, or colloquially gator, is a large reptile in the genus ''Alligator'' of the Family (biology), family Alligatoridae in the Order (biology), order Crocodilia. The two Extant taxon, extant species are the American alligator (''A. mis ...

, 1990) With Bobby Previte & Bump * ''Just Add Water'' ( Palmetto, 2001) With Sam Rivers' Rivbea All-star Orchestra *'' Inspiration'' ( BMG France, 1999) *''

Culmination In observational astronomy, culmination is the passage of a celestial object (such as the Sun, the Moon, a planet, a star, constellation or a deep-sky object) across the observer's local meridian. These events are also known as meridian tran ...

'' (BMG France, 1999) With

Hank Roberts Hank Roberts (born March 24, 1954, Terre Haute, Indiana) is an American jazz cellist and vocalist. He plays the electric cello, and his style is a mixture of rock, jazz, avant-garde, folk, and classical influences. He emerged with the downtown Ne ...

* ''

Black Pastels ''Black Pastels'' is the debut album by cellist Hank Roberts which was recorded in 1987 and released on the JMT Records, JMT label.Shimada, T.JMT label discography accessed October 7, 2014 Reception The AllMusic review by Scott Yanow said it was ...

'' ( JMT, 1988) With George Russell's New York Band * '' Live in an American Time Spiral'' (Soul Note, 1983) With Bob Thiele Collective * ''Lion Hearted'' (1993) With

Roseanna Vitro Roseanna Elizabeth Vitro (born February 28, 1951) is a jazz singer and teacher from Arkansas. Biography Born Roseanna Elizabeth VitroScott Fredrickson and Gary W. Kennedy.Vitro (Wickliffe), Roseanna" In ''The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz'', 2 ...

and

Kenny Werner Kenny Werner (born November 19, 1951) is an American jazz pianist, composer, and author. Early life Born in Brooklyn, New York, on November 19, 1951, and then growing up in Oceanside, Long Island, Werner began playing and performing at a young ...

* '' The Delirium Blues Project: Serve or Suffer'' (2008)

References

External links

Ray Anderson's official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Ray 1952 births Living people American jazz trombonists American male trombonists Jazz musicians from Chicago CIMP artists Enja Records artists Stony Brook University faculty University of Chicago Laboratory Schools alumni 21st-century American trombonists 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Clean Feed Records artists Palmetto Records artists Black Saint/Soul Note artists Moers Music artists Gramavision Records artists