Gene Ramey

[mrpc]

A friend of mine lent me a VHS of the Buck Clayton All-Stars with Gene Ramey on bass. It was filmed in Brussels studio in 1961. Gene sounds great, tone, lines, drive and feel, great gut strings, unorthodox technique and all. I've always liked his sound on records, and have seen the photo of him jamming with Bird in 1940. Anybody know more about Gene?

[Aaron Saunders]

What's his "unorthodox technique?" Sounds like an interesting player.

[mrpc]

Unorthodox in the way that Charlie Haden has unorthodox technique. It looks like his own homegrown style to me, and he gets great overtones that keep "singing" after the initial attack of each note. A really powerful acoustic player!

[Mark Carlsen]

Unorthodox meaning Ol' school ? Gene is great, check him out w.Prez...

[mrpc]

Yes, old school for sure on one hand, modern on the other. BTW, the video is on Shanachie, #6303.

[Ed Fuqua]

Gene was a good, solid bassist who played in a variety of situations around NYC in the late 40s and 50s and even into the 60s. He started on trumpet, switched to tuba and made the switch to upright. The only cat I know that he studied wit was Walter Page, but among the raft of cats he played with (while being a bassist on the scene) was Lennie Tristano. There's a nice trio record of Lennie, Gene and Roy Haynes that was a live gig at some Chinese restaurant in Midtown that had music.

[mrpc]

Yeah, Gene was as solid as can be! Gene isn't as famous as some other players who have passed on, for whatever reason. It would be interesting to hear some opinions about that.

According to a brief google search, it looks like Gene made it to his early 80's after he moved back home to Austin, Texas in the mid '70's. Not bad, considering he started jamming with Charlie Parker (famous for abusing drugs) day and night in the late 30's. By 1961 when this video was shot in Belgium, he was playing strong and looking very healthy.

So I'd think it's safe to say that he made a considerable contribution to the music that's being played and composed in western music now. He deserves more than faint praise, IMHO. Gene Ramey was, and is, one of the main bass playing cats of music, at least in my book!

[FredaRamey]

Hi, I'm not a bass player but I am Gene Ramey's grand-daughter. I registered here for the sole purpose of maybe answering some questions for you.

[John Wiitala]

Man, I've gotta find that trio record from Confucius Restaurant. I've got that record with Lennie, Ramey, Lee Konitz and Art Taylor from the same place--great record.

[FredaRamey]

Well, even though nobody asked, I can tell you that (I believe) one of of the factors attributing to Gene Ramey's acuity on the bass was that he was "double jointed". He could stretch, bend and contort his fingers such that watching him play was like observing an athletic sport and did so with an incredible strength.

[nachodaddy]

Originally Posted by FredaRamey

Well, even though nobody asked, I can tell you that (I believe) one of of the factors attributing to Gene Ramey's acuity on the bass was that he was "double jointed". He could stretch, bend and contort his fingers such that watching him play was like observing an athletic sport and did so with an incredible strength.

Howdy Freda, I can't believe you didn't get a single question from anyone. Gene was undoubtedly a great player, and he had his own style(his eyes being about even with the D string tuning machine, for one, I like that,,), but, if you were Jimmy Bond's daughter I'd be buggin' the livin' daylights out of you. And don't you dare take that the wrong way! There is a recent thread here on famous DB'er's equipment, ie, their actual basses and string choices over the years. If you can fill that in, I, for one, would be interested. And again, I, for one, appreciate your attempt to reach out.

[gerry grable]

If you are into Jimmy Bond, I have a good one for you.
I just stumbled onto this on a free movie site.

Movie Powder - Free Online Movies

Log into the site (don't worry it's safe and legal) and look for the film Night Tide, starring a very young and blond Dennis Hopper.
It had to be one of his first films. In the credits you will see that the music was composed by Jimmy Bond, and in the opening scenes he even appears, playing with a small group in a bar scene.
In the olden days jazz was considered daring and hip by film makers, and you can see many similar situations with jazz players. Then (IMO) rock and roll came in and everything went into the crapper.
Gerry

[nachodaddy]

Originally Posted by gerry grable

If you are into Jimmy Bond, I have a good one for you.
I just stumbled onto this on a free movie site.

Movie Powder - Free Online Movies

Log into the site (don't worry it's safe and legal) and look for the film Night Tide, starring a very young and blond Dennis Hopper.
It had to be one of his first films. In the credits you will see that the music was composed by Jimmy Bond, and in the opening scenes he even appears, playing with a small group in a bar scene.
In the olden days jazz was considered daring and hip by film makers, and you can see many similar situations with jazz players. Then (IMO) rock and roll came in and everything went into the crapper.
Gerry

Great Gerry! And isn't that Paul Horn on flute from his pre-new age wacko days?ROFL. I recall you responding to my Jimmy Bond thread saying the last time you saw him was in '64. Was he ever married? Have Kids? One other responder said he heard(but, didn't know as true) that he started selling real estate in California in the '80's. I think the newest LP I have of him as a session player is from mid to late '70's, then, just poof, disappeared.

[gerry grable]

unfortunately that was the last time I saw him,and I only spoke to him briefly. It was a great jazz festival and I was lucky and honored to be playing on the same stage (with the Mike Ning Trio, with Chuck Gray on drums).