Otis Ray Appleton (August 23, 1941 – October 7, 2015) was an American jazz drummer.

Early life

Born in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, his interest in drums began when visiting the local fire department to hear their "Drum and Bugle Corps" practice. He played in school bands, but hearing

Freddie Hubbard Frederick Dewayne Hubbard (April 7, 1938 – December 29, 2008) was an American jazz trumpeter. He played bebop, hard bop, and post-bop styles from the early 1960s onwards. His unmistakable and influential tone contributed to new perspectives fo ...

and

James Spaulding James Ralph Spaulding Jr. (was born July 30, 1937) is an American jazz saxophonist and flutist. Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, United states, Spaulding attended the Chicago Cosmopolitan School of Music. Between 1957 and 1961, he was a member of ...

led to a serious interest in jazz.

Career

Appleton toured and recorded with

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the Jazz#Post-war jazz, history of jazz and 20th-century musi ...

, Freddie Hubbard,

Wes Montgomery John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery (March 6, 1923 – June 15, 1968) was an American jazz guitarist. Montgomery was known for his unusual technique of plucking the strings with the side of his thumb and for his extensive use of octaves, which gave him a ...

and others. Due to a car accident and

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

, he lost part of his left leg in 1997. He reportedly received his nickname "killer" from bassist

Larry Ridley Laurence “Larry” Howard Ridley II (born September 3, 1937) is an American jazz bassist and music educator. He is an inductee of the Indianapolis Jazz Hall of Fame. Early life Ridley was born on September 3, 1937, in Indianapolis, Indiana. ...

and became a person of note in Indianapolis's jazz community.

Personal life

Appleton died of congestive heart failure on October 7, 2015, at age 74.

Discography

;With

Jimmy Witherspoon James Witherspoon (August 8, 1920 – September 18, 1997) was an American jump blues and jazz singer. Early life, family and education Witherspoon was born in Gurdon, Arkansas. His father was a railroad worker who sang in local choirs, an ...

* ''

The Blues Is Now ''The Blues Is Now'' is a 1967 studio album by the American singer Jimmy Witherspoon, accompanied by organist Jack McDuff. Reception Thomas Ward reviewed the album for Allmusic and described ''The Blues Is Now'' as "arguably the finest" of With ...

'' (1967) ;With

* ''

Backlash Backlash may refer to: Literature * '' Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women'', a 1991 book by Susan Faludi * ''Backlash'' (Star Wars novel), a 2010 novel by Aaron Allston * Backlash (Marc Slayton), a comic book character from ...

'' (1967)

References

External links

Ray Appleton website
1941 births 2015 deaths African-American jazz musicians American jazz drummers American amputees Musicians from Indianapolis 20th-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American musicians Criss Cross Jazz artists American male drummers Drummers from Indiana {{US-jazz-drummer-stub