Ray Crawford (musician)

Ray Crawford (February 7, 1924 – December 30, 1997) was an American jazz guitarist who originally played tenor saxophone, until tuberculosis prevented him continuing with the instrument. He made notable contributions to albums by Ahmad Jamal, Gil Evans, and Sonny Criss, and pioneered a technique of rhythmic bongo-style guitar accompaniment. Favourite amongst his recorded solos were those on "La Nevada" on Gil Evans's Out of the Cool album.

Discography

As leader

I Know Pres (1977) reissued as Smooth Groove

As sideman

With Ahmad Jamal

Chamber Music of the New Jazz (1956) The Ahmad Jamal Trio (1956) Listen to the Ahmad Jamal Quintet (1961)

With Gil Evans

Great Jazz Standards (1960) Out of the Cool (1961)

With Curtis Amy & Dupree Bolton

Katanga! (1963)

With Sonny Criss

Crisscraft (1975)

References

African-American jazz guitarists

1924 births

1997 deaths

Jazz musicians from Pittsburgh

20th-century American composers

American male jazz musicians