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Bassist
Ron Crotty was a member of popular pianist
Dave Brubeck's earlier groups, including both a trio and a quartet. Born in San Francisco,
Crotty is often associated with jazz happenings in the hilly city. One of the most famous independent recording labels from Frisco, Fantasy, made an album of
Crotty's own trio a reality and called the LP Modern Music from San Francisco. Tracks from this session, featuring the participation of Latin jazz pianist
Vince Guaraldi, also made it onto a Fantasy compilation entitled
The Jazz Scene: San Francisco. In 2004,
Crotty worked a series at the Oakland Museum with a shifting cast of pianists, including the ecstatic Bliss Rodriguez.
A portion of
Crotty's career in which he apparently interacted with the British jazz scene resulted from Uncle Sam's marching orders. The bassist's firmly bright sense of timekeeping, polished to a precision point through untold hours with
Ray Brown and
Jimmy Blanton recordings, was a welcome beacon to British jazz players attempting to make sense out of modern jazz in the '40s and '50s. The bassist was important to
Brubeck, who utilized him in the very first of his trios, the third member being vibraphonist
Cal Tjader.
Crotty's best-known recordings with
Brubeck include several college dates taped live during tours in the '50s. ~ Eugene Chadbourne