Larry Ridley
Encyclopedia
Larry Ridley is an American
jazz
bassist
and music
educator.
.
Ridley served as chairman of the Jazz Panel of the National Endowment for the Arts
(NEA) and was the organization's National Coordinator of the Jazz Artists in Schools Program for five years (1978–1982). Ridley is a recipient of the MidAtlantic Arts Foundation’s “Living Legacy Jazz Award”, an 1998 inductee the International Association for Jazz Education Hall of Fame (IAJE), an inductee of the Downbeat Magazine Jazz Education Hall of Fame, a recipient of the Benny Golson Jazz Award from Howard University
, and was honored by a Juneteenth 2006 Proclamation Award from the New York City Council
.
Ridley is currently the Executive Director of the African American Jazz Caucus, Inc., an affiliate of IAJE. He is also the IAJE Northeast Regional Coordinator.
Ridley credits Dr. David Baker, another Indianapolis native and notable jazz musician, as one of his prime mentors. Ridley was bassist for David Baker's Big band during his studies at Indiana University.
Ridley is currently serving as Jazz Artist in Residence at the Harlem
based New York Public Library
/Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. He established an annual series there dedicated to presenting the compositions of jazz masters that are performed by Ridley and his Jazz Legacy Ensemble.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
bassist
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
and music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
educator.
Biography
Ridley was born and reared in Indianapolis, IN. He began performing professionally while still in high school in the 1950s. Ridley studied at the Indiana University School of Music and later at the Lenox School of Jazz. Ridley has been involved in jazz education, heading the jazz program at Rutgers University. He continues to actively teach as Professor of Jazz Bass at the Manhattan School of MusicManhattan School of Music
The Manhattan School of Music is a major music conservatory located on the Upper West Side of New York City. The school offers degrees on the bachelors, masters, and doctoral levels in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition...
.
Ridley served as chairman of the Jazz Panel of the National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
(NEA) and was the organization's National Coordinator of the Jazz Artists in Schools Program for five years (1978–1982). Ridley is a recipient of the MidAtlantic Arts Foundation’s “Living Legacy Jazz Award”, an 1998 inductee the International Association for Jazz Education Hall of Fame (IAJE), an inductee of the Downbeat Magazine Jazz Education Hall of Fame, a recipient of the Benny Golson Jazz Award from Howard University
Howard University
Howard University is a federally chartered, non-profit, private, coeducational, nonsectarian, historically black university located in Washington, D.C., United States...
, and was honored by a Juneteenth 2006 Proclamation Award from the New York City Council
New York City Council
The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of the City of New York. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The Council serves as a check against the mayor in a "strong" mayor-council government model. The council monitors performance of city agencies and...
.
Ridley is currently the Executive Director of the African American Jazz Caucus, Inc., an affiliate of IAJE. He is also the IAJE Northeast Regional Coordinator.
Ridley credits Dr. David Baker, another Indianapolis native and notable jazz musician, as one of his prime mentors. Ridley was bassist for David Baker's Big band during his studies at Indiana University.
Ridley is currently serving as Jazz Artist in Residence at the Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
based New York Public Library
New York Public Library
The New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries...
/Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. He established an annual series there dedicated to presenting the compositions of jazz masters that are performed by Ridley and his Jazz Legacy Ensemble.
As sideman
- Freddie HubbardFreddie HubbardFrederick Dewayne "Freddie" Hubbard was an American jazz trumpeter. He was known primarily for playing in the bebop, hard bop and post bop styles from the early 1960s and on...
: Blue SpiritsBlue SpiritsBlue Spirits is an album by trumpeter Freddie Hubbard released on the Blue Note label. It features performances by Hubbard, James Spaulding, Joe Henderson, Harold Mabern, Jr., Larry Ridley, Clifford Jarvis, Big Black, Kiane Zawadi, Hank Mobley, McCoy Tyner, Bob Cranshaw, Pete LaRoca...
(Blue Note), Hub CapHub Cap (album)Hub Cap is the third album by trumpeter Freddie Hubbard and was released on the Blue Note label in 1961 as BLP 4073 and BST 84073. It features performances by Hubbard, Julian Priester, Jimmy Heath, Cedar Walton, Larry Ridley and Philly Joe Jones....
(1961) - Red GarlandRed GarlandWilliam "Red" Garland was an American hard bop jazz pianist whose block chord style, in part originated by Milt Buckner, influenced many forthcoming pianists in the jazz idiom.-Beginnings:...
Trio: The Nearness of You (Prestige, OJC, 1961) - Roy HaynesRoy HaynesRoy Owen Haynes is an American jazz drummer and bandleader. Haynes is among the most recorded drummers in jazz, and in a career lasting more than 60 years has played in a wide range of styles ranging from swing and bebop to jazz fusion and avant-garde jazz...
: Cymbalism (1963) - Roy Haynes: Cracklin’ (OJC, 1963)
- Jackie McLeanJackie McLeanJohn Lenwood McLean was an American jazz alto saxophonist, composer, bandleader and educator, born in New York City.-Biography:McLean's father, John Sr., played guitar in Tiny Bradshaw's orchestra...
; Destination... Out!Destination... Out!Destination... Out! is an album by American saxophonist Jackie McLean recorded in 1963 and released on the Blue Note label.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Thom Jurek awarded the album 5 stars and stated "Of all of McLean's Blue Note dates, so many of which are classic jazz recordings, Destination...
(Blue Note, 1963) - Hank MobleyHank MobleyHenry Mobley was an American hard bop and soul jazz 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 neither as aggressive as John Coltrane nor as mellow as Stan Getz...
: Dippin'Dippin'Dippin' is an album by jazz saxophonist Hank Mobley released on the Blue Note label in 1965.-Track listing:# "The Dip" - 7:54# "Recado Bossa Nova" - 8:09# "The Break Through" - 5:49# "The Vamp" - 8:19...
(Blue Note, 1965) - Lee MorganLee MorganEdward Lee Morgan was an American hard bop trumpeter.-Biography:...
: CornbreadCornbread (album)Cornbread is an jazz album by trumpeter Lee Morgan, released on the Blue Note label in 1966. It features performances by Morgan, Herbie Hancock, Billy Higgins, Jackie McLean, Hank Mobley and Larry Ridley.-Track listing:...
(Blue Note, 1965) - Jackie McLean: JacknifeJacknife (album)Jacknife is an album by American saxophonist Jackie McLean recorded in 1965 but not released until 1975 on the Blue Note label. The album was initially released as a double LP containing sessions from 1965 and 1966 but the single CD release only contains those tracks from 1965.-Reception:The...
(Blue Note, 1965) - Horace SilverHorace SilverHorace Silver , born Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silva in Norwalk, Connecticut, is an American jazz pianist and composer....
: The Jody GrindThe Jody GrindThe Jody Grind is a 1966 album by the Horace Silver Quintet, led by jazz pianist Horace Silver.-Track listing:# "The Jody Grind" – 5:53# "Mary Lou" – 7:12# "Mexican Hip Dance" – 5:56# "Blue Silver" – 6:00# "Grease Piece" – 7:34# "Dimples" – 7:18...
(Blue Note, 1966) - Stéphane GrappelliStéphane GrappelliStéphane Grappelli was a French jazz violinist who founded the Quintette du Hot Club de France with guitarist Django Reinhardt in 1934. It was one of the first all-string jazz bands....
/Joe Venuti: Venupelli Blues (Affinity, 1969) - Dexter GordonDexter GordonDexter Gordon was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and an Academy Award-nominated actor . He is regarded as one of the first and most important musicians to adapt the bebop musical language of people like Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Bud Powell to the tenor saxophone...
: The Panther (Prestige RecordsPrestige RecordsPrestige Records was a jazz record label founded in 1949 by Bob Weinstock. The company was located at 203 South Washington Avenue in Bergenfield, New Jersey, and recorded hundreds of albums by many of the leading jazz musicians of the day, sometimes issuing them under the names of several...
, 1970) - Al CohnAl CohnAl Cohn was an American jazz saxophonist and arranger and composer.-Biography:Alvin Gilbert Cohn was born in Brooklyn, New York. He was initially known in the 1940s for playing in Woody Herman's Second Herd as one of the Four Brothers, along with Zoot Sims, Stan Getz, and Serge Chaloff...
: Play It Now! (Xanadu, 1975) - Chet BakerChet BakerChesney Henry "Chet" Baker, Jr. was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist and singer.Though his music earned him a large following , Baker's popularity was due in part to his "matinee idol-beauty" and "well-publicized drug habit."He died in 1988 in Amsterdam, the...
: Chet Baker Quartet/Live in France 1978 , track 6 only , (Gambit Records, 2005) - DameroniaDameroniaDameronia was the name of a bebop jazz ensemble founded by Don Sickler and Philly Joe Jones in the 1980s in tribute to Tadd Dameron. They recorded two albums, one for Uptown Records and the other for Soul Note Records, and continued to perform even after Jones' death in 1985....
: Live au Theatre Boulogne-Billancourt (1989) - Hank Mobley: Straight No FilterStraight No FilterStraight No Filter is an album by jazz saxophonist Hank Mobley released on the Blue Note label. It features performances recorded at four different sessions from 1963 to 1966.-Reception:...
(1989)
Website
- http://www.larryridley.com
- http://www.juneteenth.com