Drummond, Ray
Drummond, Ray
Drummond, Ray, bassist; b. Brookline, Mass., Nov. 23, 1946. His father was in the U.S. Army and his family frequently moved around the United States and Europe. In 1954 he began playing brass instruments; he took up bass in 1961. He graduated from Nuremberg American H.S. in Nuremberg, Germany (1964); that fall he entered Claremont Men’s Coll. near L.A., graduating in June 1968 with a B.A. in Political Science; then he went to Stanford Business School M.B.A. program, 1970–71. He lived in San Francisco from 1971–74 and actively freelanced there; from 1974 to 1977 he lived on the Monterey Peninsula; in November 1977 he moved to N.Y. He began working with Thad Jones, the Mel Lewis Orch., and Betty Carter. He has since played with numerous bands on over 200 recordings. He has worked as a leader and composer as well, producing a few excellent recordings.
Discography
Susanita (1986); Camera in a Bag (1989); One to One I and II (with Bill Mays; 1990,1991); The Essence (1990); Excursion (1993); Continuum (1994); Vignettes (1996).
—Lewis Porter