New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
– November 1, 1982) was an American jazz
tuba
The tuba (; ) is the lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece (brass), mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th&n ...
player.
Early life and education
Draper was born in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
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 history of jazz and 20th-century music.
Born and rai ...
.
Imprisoned over his drug use, after his release in the late 1960s, Draper formed the first jazz rock fusion band composed of established jazz musicians of the day. This preceded
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of musi ...
's '' Bitches Brew'', which is normally recognized as the first jazz rock fusion group and recording by two years. Original band members included George Bohanon on trombone, Hadley Caliman on tenor sax, John Duke on upright bass, Paul Lagos on drums and Tom Trujillo on guitar. This band, after its first live performance at Hollywood's Whisky a Go Go - where it shared the bill with Nazz - was offered numerous record deals and booked solid at rock venues for the rest of the year. Paul Lagos went on to tour with John Mayall and was one of the founders of the group Pure Food & Drug Act, featuring Don 'Sugarcane' Harris.
Draper began using heroin again, whereupon the more experienced band members quit, except for the youngest member, guitarist Tom Trujillo and his landlord, Chuck Gooden. This led to a search for new members and hirings that included San Diego trumpeter Don Sleet and Ernie Watts. After two years of searching and many personnel changes, including getting clean from drugs, Draper brought drummer Paul Lagos back, along with saxophonist Richard Aplanalp, trumpeter Phil Wood, and bassist Ron Johnson. This new group was eventually named Red Beans and Rice, named after their favorite meal cooked by Draper's first wife, Cassondra. This group appeared on bills with some of the day's headlining groups including Jimi Hendrix,
Chicago Transit Authority
The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is the operator of mass transit in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and some of its surrounding suburbs, including the trains of the Chicago 'L' and CTA bus service. In , the system had a ridership of , ...
, Jethro Tull, and Gil Scott Heron. In a 1970 ''Billboard'', reviewing a Dr. John performance mentioned that "His excellent support included Ray Draper on tuba....".
They went on to record the album produced by Jackie Mills titled ''Red Beans and Rice Featuring Sparerib Ray Draper'' on Epic Records. But when the band saw that Draper and his manager Forrest Hamilton had put only Draper's picture on the cover, the whole group quit and Draper was on his own once more. After this, he got hooked back on heroin and he sporadically performed and recorded but he was no longer able to recreate the band sound with other players. He left California and spent a couple years in London before returning to New York in the hopes of becoming clean once again. He remarried and had two children, Kayella and Hakim, with his second wife, Anne, continuing to compose for other musicians.
Draper played for a time with
Max Roach
Maxwell Lemuel Roach (January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in history. He wo ...
, as mentioned in the 2004 book, "Drummin' Men": "For a time, the Roach group included a tuba, played by young, talented Ray Draper. The instrument was used both as a rhythmic presence and as part of the front-line sound." In 1982, Draper joined the orchestra of
Lionel Hampton
Lionel Leo Hampton (April 20, 1908 – August 31, 2002) was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, and bandleader. Hampton worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich, to Charlie Parker, Charle ...
.
In 1982, coming out of a bank in
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Harl ...
, he was held up by a gang of juveniles. The 13-year-old leader of the gang shot him, after Draper had given him his money. Draper had been clean of drug use and was working on a composition, found in his attaché case upon his death.
Like Sonny
This article presents the discography of the American jazz saxophonist and bandleader John Coltrane (1926–1967).
Introduction
Coltrane participated in his first recording sessions while enlisted in the Navy from August 6, 1945, to August 11, ...
Epic
Epic commonly refers to:
* Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation
* Epic film, a genre of film with heroic elements
Epic or EPIC may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and medi ...
Who Knows What Tomorrow's Gonna Bring?
''Who Knows What Tomorrow's Gonna Bring?'' is an album by American organist Brother Jack McDuff recorded in 1970 and released on the Blue Note label.
Strange Blues
''Strange Blues'' is an album by American saxophonist Jackie McLean, recorded in 1957 and released on the Prestige label.
'' (Prestige, 1957)
*''
Fat Jazz
''Fat Jazz'', also referred to as ''Jackie McLean Plays Fat Jazz'', is an album by American saxophonist Jackie McLean, which was recorded in late 1957 and released by the Jubilee label in 1959.Max Roach
Maxwell Lemuel Roach (January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in history. He wo ...
*''
Max Roach + 4 at Newport
Max or MAX may refer to:
Animals
* Max (dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog
* Max (English Springer Spaniel), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of OBE)
* Max (gorilla) (1 ...