Benjamin Franklin Brown (born August 25, 1952, Opa-Locka, Florida) is an American jazz double-bassist.
Brown grew up in a musical family and initially learned piano before switching to guitar. He played briefly as a guitarist early in his professional career before studying bass formally at Miami Dade Junior College and the University of Miami, graduating in 1974. While a student, he played in the Miami Philharmonic Orchestra and was the bassist in the house band for a Miami jazz club, where he played behind touring musicians such as Mose Allison, Barney Kessel, and Sonny Stitt. [1] After he finished his degree he worked with Al Gafa, Lou Rawls, Buddy Rich, Dizzy Gillespie, and Al Haig. He also began a longtime association with Rodney Jones, with whom he would work into the 1990s. In the early 1980s he played bass for Broadway musicals and played behind Tony Bennett and Lena Horne. In 1985 he began playing with Jimmy Heath; the pair collaborated into the early 1990s. He toured with Gregory Hines in 1987 and worked with Walter Bishop, Jr. near the end of the decade, including on a tour of Japan. He played with the Broadway shows Jelly's Last Jam and Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk in the early 1990s, and played in that decade with Ruth Brown, Al Grey, Harry Edison, Mike Longo, and Carol Sloane.
Brown has also worked as an educator, teaching at Queens College (1995-1997).
John FrancisAnthony Pastorius III, also known as Jaco Pastorius was an American jazz bassist, composer, and producer. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential bassists of all time, Pastorius recorded albums as a solo artist, band leader, and as a member of the jazz fusion group Weather Report from 1976 to 1981. He also collaborated with numerous artists, including Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny and Joni Mitchell.
John Symon Asher Bruce was a Scottish musician. He gained popularity as the primary lead vocalist and bassist of rock band Cream. After the group disbanded in 1968, he pursued a solo career and also played with several bands.
Richard Quentin Laird was an Irish musician, best known as the bassist and a founding member of the jazz fusion band Mahavishnu Orchestra, with which he performed from 1971 to 1973.
Stanley Clarke is an American bassist, composer and founding member of Return to Forever, one of the first jazz fusion bands. Clarke gave the bass guitar a prominence it lacked in jazz-related music. He is the first jazz-fusion bassist to headline tours, sell out shows worldwide and have recordings reach gold status.
Raymond Matthews Brown was an American jazz double bassist, known for his extensive work with Oscar Peterson and Ella Fitzgerald. He was also a founding member of the group that would later develop into the Modern Jazz Quartet.
Jan Hammer is a Czech-American musician, composer, and record producer. He rose to prominence while playing keyboards with the Mahavishnu Orchestra during the early 1970s, as well as with his film scores for television and film including "Miami Vice Theme" and "Crockett's Theme", from the 1980s television program Miami Vice. He has continued to work as both a musical performer and producer.
David Holland is an English double bassist, bass guitarist, cellist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has lived in the United States since the early 1970s.
Larry Grenadier is an American jazz double bassist.
Salvador "Sal" Cuevas was an American salsa bassist known for his association with the Fania All-Stars from 1978 to 1985. Although he also played the upright bass, he was one of the most popular electric bassists in the New York salsa scene, often playing in a funk style. "He was the first to bring the slaps and funk style that he learned from R&B, Funk, and Jazz music, into Salsa music."according to Billy Idol, Sal Cuevas came up with the base for “ Eyes without a face” Billy was looking for a sound that was powerful enough that would compliment the dark unromantic lyrics.
Milton John Hinton was an American double bassist and photographer.
Ellery Eskelin is an American tenor saxophonist raised in Baltimore, Maryland and residing in New York City. His parents, Rodd Keith and Bobbie Lee, were both professional musicians. Rodd Keith died in 1974 in Los Angeles, California, and became a cult figure after his death in the little-known field of "song-poem" music. Organist Bobbie Lee performed in local nightclubs in Baltimore in the early 1960s and provided Eskelin an introduction to standards from the Great American Songbook as well as inspiring an early interest in jazz music.
Israel López Valdés, better known as Cachao, was a Cuban double bassist and composer. Cachao is widely known as the co-creator of the mambo and a master of the descarga. Throughout his career he also performed and recorded in a variety of music styles ranging from classical music to salsa. An exile in the United States since the 1960s, he only achieved international fame following a career revival in the 1990s.
Niels Lan Doky is a Danish jazz pianist, composer and producer. He is the older brother of jazz bassist Chris Minh Doky.
Charles Anthony "Buster" Williams is an American jazz bassist. Williams is known for his membership in pianist Herbie Hancock's early 1970s group, as well as working with guitarist Larry Coryell, the Thelonious Monk repertory band Sphere and as the accompanist of choice for many singers, including Nancy Wilson.
William Orval Crow is an American jazz bassist. Among other work, Crow was the long-term bassist in saxophonist Gerry Mulligan's bands in the 1950s and 1960s.
Harold Jerome Stein was an American jazz musician and bebop saxophone player.
Luico Hopper is an American musician who plays the bass, and an equestrian.
James G. Aton, best known as Jim Aton or Jimmy Aton, was an American jazz bassist, pianist, vocalist and composer. He worked with numerous notable artists including Billie Holiday, Anita O'Day and Bill Evans. He appeared in films such as Bop Girl Goes Calypso (1957) with the Bobby Troup Trio, Roustabout (1964) with Elvis Presley and Barbara Stanwyck, and in They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (1969) with Jane Fonda.
Earl Charles Barrington May was an American jazz bassist. He was "one of the most prodigious and prolific bassists of the postwar era".
Colin Thomas Purbrook was an English jazz pianist and songwriter. He also played double-bass and, occasionally, trumpet.