Ronald Ball (December 22, 1927 – October 1984) was an English

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, composer and arranger.

Early life

Born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, Ball moved to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1948.

Career

In the early 1950s Ball worked both as a bandleader and under

Ronnie Scott Ronnie Scott Order of the British Empire, OBE (born Ronald Schatt; 28 January 1927 – 23 December 1996) was a British jazz Tenor saxophone, tenor saxophonist and jazz club owner. He co-founded Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London's Soho district ...

, Tony Kinsey, Victor Feldman, and Harry Klein. In 1952, he moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and studied with

Lennie Tristano Leonard Joseph Tristano (March 19, 1919 – November 18, 1978) was an American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and teacher of jazz improvisation. Tristano studied for bachelor's and master's degrees in music in Chicago before moving to New Yo ...

. At the time, it was his ambition to learn more about the American jazz scene and in the 1950s and 1960s he worked extensively with other jazz musicians. Among the musicians Ball performed with are

Chuck Wayne Chuck Wayne (February 27, 1923 – July 29, 1997) was an American jazz guitarist. He came to prominence in the 1940s, and was among the earliest jazz guitarists to play in the bebop style. Wayne was a member of Woody Herman's First Herd, the f ...

(1952),

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 improvisation, improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy El ...

Lee Konitz Leon "Lee" Konitz (October 13, 1927 – April 15, 2020) was an American jazz Alto saxophone, alto saxophonist and composer. He performed successfully in a wide range of jazz styles, including bebop, cool jazz, and avant-garde jazz. Konitz's ass ...

(1953–55),

Kenny Clarke Kenneth Clarke Spearman (January 9, 1914January 26, 1985), known professionally as Kenny Clarke and nicknamed Klook, was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. A major innovator of the bebop style of drumming, he pioneered the use of the ride ...

Hank Mobley Henry Mobley (July 7, 1930 – May 30, 1986) was an American tenor saxophonist and composer. Mobley was described by Leonard Feather as the "middleweight champion of the tenor saxophone", a metaphor used to describe his tone, that was neithe ...

Art Pepper Arthur Edward Pepper Jr. (September 1, 1925 – June 15, 1982) was an American jazz musician, most known as an alto saxophonist. He occasionally performed and recorded on tenor saxophone, clarinet (his first instrument) and bass clarinet. Active ...

, J.J. Johnson (1956),

Kai Winding Kai Chresten Winding ( ; May 18, 1922 – May 6, 1983) was a Danish-born American trombonist and jazz composer. He is known for his collaborations with fellow trombonist J. J. Johnson. His version of " More", the theme from the movie ''Mondo Ca ...

(1956, 1958),

Warne Marsh Warne Marion Marsh (October 26, 1927 – December 18, 1987) was an American tenor saxophonist. Born in Los Angeles, his playing first came to prominence in the 1950s as a protégé of pianist Lennie Tristano and earned attention in the 1970s as ...

,(1956–57),

Buddy Rich Bernard "Buddy" Rich (September 30, 1917 – April 2, 1987) was an American jazz drummer, songwriter, conductor, and bandleader. He is considered one of the most influential drummers of all time. Rich was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, ...

(1958),

Gene Krupa Eugene Bertram Krupa (January 15, 1909 – October 16, 1973) was an American jazz drummer, bandleader, and composer. Krupa is widely regarded as one of the most influential drummers in the history of popular music. His drum solo on Benny Goodman ...

(1958),

Roy Eldridge David Roy Eldridge (January 30, 1911 – February 26, 1989), nicknamed "Little Jazz", was an American jazz trumpeter. His sophisticated use of harmony, including the use of tritone substitutions, his virtuosic solos exhibiting a departure from ...

(1959) and

Chris Connor Mary Jean Loutsenhizer, known professionally as Chris Connor (November 8, 1927 – August 29, 2009), was an American jazz singer. Biography Chris Connor was born Mary Loutsenhizer in Kansas City, Missouri, to Clyde Loutsenhizer and Mabel Sh ...

(1961–63). Ball plays on the Warne Marsh album '' Jazz of Two Cities'' (recorded during October 1956 in Los Angeles) with Marsh and Ted Brown (tenor saxophone), Ben Tucker (bass), and Jeff Morton (drums). It was later reissued on Tristano/Marsh Capitol compilation ''Intuition'' (Capitol CDP 7243 8 52771 2 2). That same year, Ball recorded his first record as leader. The album, called ''All About Ronnie'', was released on

Savoy Records Savoy Records is an American record company and label established by Herman Lubinsky in 1942 in Newark, New Jersey. Savoy specialized in jazz, rhythm and blues, and gospel music. In September 2017, Savoy was acquired by Concord Bicycle Music. ...

and featured Brown and Clarke, as well as

Willie Dennis Willie Dennis (née William DeBerardinis, January 10, 1926 – July 8, 1965) was an American jazz trombonist known as a big band musician but who was also an excellent bebop soloist. Career After working with Elliot Lawrence, Claude T ...

and Wendell Marshall. During a two-year period (1961-1963), Ball occasionally accompanied American jazz singer

and made recordings with her on many occasions. As most of his adult life was spent in New York, he only made a small number of recordings in London and very little recorded material was reissued on CD. Later in the 1960s, Ball worked as part of the house trio at the Studio 51 Club on Great Newport Street in London. He ended his musical career to work completing transcriptions for a music publisher until his death in 1984.

Death

Ball died in New York City in October 1984, aged 56. His exact date of death is unknown. Ronnie Ball, ''JazzDisco.org''
Retrieved 24 April 2019

Discography

As leader *''All About Ronnie'' (Savoy, 1956) With

*'' Klook's Clique'' (Savoy, 1956) With

Teddy Edwards Theodore Marcus "Teddy" Edwards (April 26, 1924 – April 20, 2003) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Biography Edwards was born in Jackson, Mississippi, United States. He learned to play at a very early age, first on alto saxophone ...

*'' Sunset Eyes'' (Pacific Jazz, 1960) With

*'' Swingin' on the Town'' (Verve, 1960) ;With

*'' Lee Konitz at Storyville'' (Storyville, 1954) *'' Konitz'' (Storyvile, 1954) *''

Lee Konitz in Harvard Square ''Lee Konitz in Harvard Square'' is an album by saxophonist and bandleader Lee Konitz featuring performances recorded in Boston in 1954 which was originally released as a 10-inch LP on George Wein's Storyville Records (George Wein's), Storyville ...

'' (Storyvile, 1954) With

*'' Jazz of Two Cities'' (Imperial, 1956) *'' Art Pepper with Warne Marsh'' (Contemporary, 1956 986 with

*'' Music for Prancing'' (Mode, 1957) *''

'' (Atlantic, 1958)

References

;Footnotes ;Further reading * Ronnie Ballat

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

Leonard Feather Leonard Geoffrey Feather (13 September 1914 – 22 September 1994) was a British-born jazz pianist, composer, and producer, who was best known for his music journalism and other writing. Biography Feather was born in London, England, into an u ...

and Ira Gitler, ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz''. Oxford, 1999, p. 34. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ball, Ronnie 1927 births 1984 deaths English jazz pianists Musicians from Birmingham, West Midlands Savoy Records artists 20th-century British pianists 20th-century English musicians