Ronald Patrick Escheté (born August 19, 1948) is an American seven-string jazz guitarist. He is the first person to record a cover version of "
Christmas Time Is Here", which
Vince Guaraldi wrote for the Charlie Brown television program.
Career
When Escheté was fourteen, he began playing guitar. During the late 1960s, he studied
classical guitar
The classical guitar (also known as the nylon-string guitar or Spanish guitar) is a member of the guitar family used in classical music and other styles. An acoustic wooden string instrument with strings made of gut or nylon, it is a precursor o ...
and flute at Loyola University in New Orleans. From 1969–1970, he worked in Las Vegas supporting singer
Buddy Greco. He moved to Los Angeles, where he played with
Dave Pike and
Gene Harris.
Escheté has been an educator since the early 1970s when he taught at community colleges in southern California. In the mid 1970s, he began teaching at the
Musicians Institute in Hollywood and in the 1990s at California State University at Long Beach. He has written several instruction books, such as ''The Jazz Guitar Soloist'' and ''Melodic Chord Phrases''.
His early influences were jazz guitarists
Wes Montgomery,
Jim Hall, and
Howard Roberts. He has played with
Ray Brown,
Ella Fitzgerald,
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy Eldridge but addi ...
,
Milt Jackson
Milton Jackson (January 1, 1923 – October 9, 1999), nicknamed "Bags", was an American jazz vibraphonist, usually thought of as a bebop player, although he performed in several jazz idioms. He is especially remembered for his cool swinging solo ...
, and
Diana Krall.
Discography
As leader
* ''Spirit's Samba'' (JAS, 1977)
* ''To Let You Know I Care'' (
Muse, 1979)
* ''Line-Up'' (Muse, 1981)
* ''Christmas Impressions'' (Music Is Medicine, 1982)
* ''A Beautiful Friendship'' (Discovery, 1982) with Dewey Erney
* ''The Second Set'' (Sounds Great, 1984) with Dewey Erney
* ''Stump Jumper'' (Bainbridge, 1986)
* ''Mo' Strings Attached'' (The Jazz Alliance, 1993)
* ''A Closer Look'' (
Concord Jazz, 1994)
* ''Rain or Shine'' (Concord Jazz, 1995)
* ''Soft Winds'' (Concord Jazz, 1996)
* ''The Sunset Hour'' (Holt, 1998)
* ''Live at Rocco'' (RevJazz, 2000)
* ''No Place to Hide'' (SMS Jazz, 2002) with Mort Weiss
* ''Homeward Bound'' (RevJazz, 2003)
* ''In the Middle: Live at Spazio'' (RevJazz, 2006)
* ''All Too Soon'' (SMS Jazz, 2008) with Mort Weiss
* ''How My Heart Sings: Live at Steamers'' (BluePort, 2017)
As sideman
With
Gene Harris
* ''Hot Lips'' (JAM, 1982)
* ''Nature's Way'' (JAM, 1984)
* ''Listen Here!'' (Concord Jazz, 1989)
* ''Black and Blue'' (Concord Jazz, 1991)
* ''Like a Lover'' (Concord Jazz, 1992)
* ''A Little Piece of Heaven''
ive(Concord Jazz, 1993)
* ''Funky Gene's'' (Concord Jazz, 1994)
* ''Brotherhood'' (Concord Jazz, 1995)
* ''It's the Real Soul''
ive(Concord Jazz, 1996)
* ''In His Hands'' (Concord Jazz, 1997)
* ''Down Home Blues'' (Concord Jazz, 1997) with Jack McDuff
With
Stix Hooper
* ''We Went West'' (Stix Hooper Enterprises, 2015)
* ''Friends Across the Pond (A Tribute to the
George Shearing Quintet)'' (Stix Hooper Enterprises, 2016)
With
Dave Pike
* ''Times Out of Mind'' (Muse, 1976)
* ''On a Gentle Note'' (Muse, 1978)
* ''Let the Minstrels Play On'' (Muse, 1980)
* ''Moon Bird'' (Muse, 1983)
With others
*
Ernestine Anderson, ''Be Mine Tonight'' (Concord Jazz, 1987)
* Ernestine Anderson, ''Now and Then'' (Qwest/WB, 1993)
*
Ray Anthony, ''1988 & All That Jazz'' (Aero Space, 1988)
* Lanny Aplanalp, ''Natural Colors'' (Autumn Down, 2002)
*
Jeff Berlin, ''Taking Notes'' (Denon, 1997)
*
Ray Brown, ''Don't Forget the Blues'' (Concord Jazz, 1986)
* Judy Chamberlain, ''Road Trip'' (JazzBaby, 2002)
*
John Clayton John Clayton may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Writing
* John Clayton (architect) (died 1861), English architect and writer
* John Bell Clayton (c. 1907–1955), American writer
* John Clayton (sportswriter) (1954–2022), American sportswriter ...
&
Jeff Clayton, ''The Clayton Brothers'' (Concord Jazz, 1979)
*
James Darren, ''This One's from the Heart'' (Concord Jazz, 1999)
*
Joey DeFrancesco, ''Falling in Love Again'' (Concord Jazz, 2003)
* Jan Deneau Trio, ''Different Shades of Blue'' (Maria, 1973)
*
The Four Freshmen, ''Four Freshmen and Friends'' (Four Freshmen Society, 2015)
* Tommy Gumina, ''Polycolors'' (Polytone, 1990)
*
Niki Haris, ''Dreaming A Dream'' (BMG, 1997)
* Luther Hughes, ''Luther Hughes & Cahoots'' (Contemporary, 1987)
*
Jacintha
Jacintha Abisheganaden (born 3 October 1957), known professionally as Jacintha, is a Singaporean singer, actress, and theater practitioner who studied at the National University of Singapore and received a degree in arts, majoring in English l ...
, ''Jacintha Is Her Name'' (Groove Note, 2003)
*
Milt Jackson
Milton Jackson (January 1, 1923 – October 9, 1999), nicknamed "Bags", was an American jazz vibraphonist, usually thought of as a bebop player, although he performed in several jazz idioms. He is especially remembered for his cool swinging solo ...
, ''Big Mouth'' (Pablo, 1981)
* Rick Jarrett, ''Back to Romance'' (Soulful Sonance, 2001)
*
Diana Krall, ''Live in Paris'' (Verve, 2002)
n bonus track (of Canadian release)* Craig Larson Trio, ''Legacy'' (Larson Jazz, 2002)
*
Warne Marsh, ''Two Days in the Life of...'' (Interplay, 1987)
*
Jack McDuff
Eugene McDuff (September 17, 1926 – January 23, 2001), known professionally as "Brother" Jack McDuff or "Captain" Jack McDuff, was an American jazz organist and organ trio bandleader who was most prominent during the hard bop and soul jazz era ...
, ''Color Me Blue'' (Concord Jazz, 1992)
*
Don Rader, ''Anemone'' (Jet Danger, 1980)
* Don Rader, ''A Foreign Affair'' (L&R/Bellaphon, 1991)
*
Herman Riley
Herman Riley (August 31, 1933 – April 14, 2007) was a jazz saxophonist who was a studio musician in Los Angeles. He worked with Gene Ammons, Lorez Alexandria, Count Basie, Bobby Bryant, Donald Byrd, Benny Carter, Quincy Jones, Shelly Manne ...
, ''Herman'' (JAM, 1984)
*
Charlie Shoemake, ''Strollin' '' (Chase, 1991)
*
Andy Simpkins, ''Calamba'' (Discovery, 1989)
*
Keely Smith
Dorothy Jacqueline Keely (March 9, 1928The reference work ''The Encyclopedia of Native Music: More Than a Century of Recordings from Wax Cylinder to the Internet'' gives Smith's date of birth as March 9, 1932. – December 16, 2017), profession ...
, ''I'm in Love Again'' (Fantasy, 1985)
*
Mary Stallings, ''I Waited for You'' (Concord Jazz, 1994)
* Mary Stallings, ''Spectrum'' (Concord Jazz, 1996)
* Dan St. Marseille, ''Retrospection'' (Resurgent, 1995)
*
Mort Weiss, ''Mort Weiss Meets Joey DeFrancesco'' (SMS Jazz, 2002)
* Mort Weiss, ''The Three Of Us: The Mort Weiss Trio'' (SMS Jazz, 2003)
* Mort Weiss, ''The Four of Us: The Mort Weiss Quartet Live at Steamers'' (SMS Jazz, 2005)
* Steve Wilkerson & Joey DeFrancesco, ''It's A Blues Sorta Thing'' (Dane, 1999)
* James Zollar, ''Soaring With Bird'' (Naxos, 1997)
References
External links
Ron Escheté Interview - NAMM Oral History Library (2011)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eschete, Ron
1948 births
Living people
People from Houma, Louisiana
Loyola University New Orleans alumni
American jazz guitarists
Seven-string guitarists
20th-century American guitarists
Jazz musicians from Louisiana