Ronnie Bedford Percussion Instructor Ronnie Bedford Check out Ronnie's latest releases at: http://www.jazzology.com/ Ronnie's Fall 2006 75th Birthday Tour Page The word most often heard in describing Ronnie Bedford's performance on the drums is "musical". Listeners are frequently able to discern, with remarkable clarity the melody of a tune being rhythmically rendered as a drum set solo. Always tasteful, his philosophy is to remain loyal to the musical qualities of a composition, not falling into a mere exhibition of technical ability or overplaying and obscuring the identity of the piece. Ronnie Bedford's interest in music began in early childhood in a family where almost everyone played an instrument or sang. He graduated from a toy xylophone to his first drum at age ten and his interest in percussion instruments has never wavered. Ronnie studied with local teachers in his hometown of Bridgeport, Connecticut and joined the musicians union at age sixteen. His income from music financed trips to New York where he studied snare drum and mallets with Fred Albright and Latin Percussion with Willie Rodriguez. In 1950 he received the opportunity to go on the road with Louis Prima and Keeley Smith and made his first recording with them. For the next thirty-five years, with time out for a two year assignment in the 2nd Army Bagpipe Band, Bedford enjoyed a prominent freelance career and traveled wherever the music took him. Primarily based in New York by 1954, ensuing years found him in almost every imaginable musical situation including two Broadway shows in which he played in on-stage ensembles, "No Strings" and "A Thurber Carnival". In the recording studio, he covered everything from pop, rock, TV and radio commercials to jazz. The list of notable musicians he has worked with is extensive. He toured with big bands and small groups across the country and around the world. Some of the most memorable are six months working with Eddie Condon and an illustrious group in the early sixties. When Rod Levitt formed his octet in 1963, Ronnie was the drummer. This group played many concerts and recorded four albums, all of which received five stars in Downbeat Magazine. Levitt's arrangements still sound fresh more than forty years later. Bedford was also a member of Johnny Richard's Orchestra for eight years. With this renowned band, he played at Birdland and made several highly regarded recordings. Around 1969, Bedford decided to place the emphasis of his career on Jazz. In the mid-seventies, he toured for two years with the legendary Benny Goodman. Highlights included concerts in Central Park, Avery Fisher Hall, London's Royal Albert Hall, and Alaska. In 1979, Bedford played in the Premier International Jazz Festival in Mexico City with Buddy DeFranco. He was also frequently a performer in the Newport, Kool and JVC Jazz Festivals for years with various groups. Another high point was Ronnie's association with Benny Carter which began in 1977 and included several engagements in New York City. In 1981, they played a concert for the Tenth Anniversary Celebration of Jazz at the Smithsonian which was recorded for the archives and later released as a video by Sony. After Ronnie and his wife relocated in Wyoming at the beginning of 1986, he continued to work with Carter, recording two compact discs in 1988. In 1994, he coaxed his old friend to perform a concert in Powell, Wyoming at Northwest College where Ronnie has been Percussion Instructor since his move west. While living in Wyoming, Ronnie has organized nearly a dozen jazz concert tours, calling on friends from New York and Los Angeles to join him as "Ronnie Bedford & Friends" playing in the Northern Rocky Mountain region and beyond. One tour finished at "Jazz on the Rocks" festival in Sedona, Arizona. Ronnie is among the founders of the Yellowstone Jazz Festival, held in Cody, Wyoming annually since 1988. His efforts promoting music in Wyoming, jazz in particular, won him the honor of the 1993 Governor's Award for the Arts. In 1998, he released a self-produced CD, "Tour de West". Since then he has produced three more CDs which have been released by Progressive Records. Artist Info at allmusic.com A Selected Discography   Album Artist/Group Label HELLO LOUIS Bobby Hackett Epic ASK ME NOW Pee Wee Russel Impulse MORNING MIST Chuck Wayne Quartet Prestige MY FAIR LADY MY WAY Johnny Richards Orchestra Roulette A QUI SE HABLA ESPANOL Johnny Richards Orchestra Roulette THE DYNAMIC SOUND PATTERNS Rod Levitt Orchestra Riverside INSIGHT Rod Levitt Orchestra R.C.A. Victor SOLID GROUND Rod Levitt Orchestra R.C.A. Victor FORTY SECOND STREET Rod Levitt Orchestra R.C.A. Victor ALL STAR TRUMPET SPECTACULAR Rod Levitt Orchestra Progressive ALL STAR SAXOPHONES Rod Levitt Orchestra Progressive ARIGATO Hank Jones Trio Progressive TRAVELIN' Chuck Wayne Trio & Quartet Progressive NOVEMBER Jack Reilly Trio Revelation SYLVIA SYMS – A JAZZ PORTRAIT OF JOHNY MERCER   DRG MOMENTS Carol Lian – Ronnie Bedford Unichrom TOUR de WEST Ronnie Bedford Quintet (1998 release) Bedford Music NEPTUNE Carol Lian – Ronnie Bedford Unichrom THE GREAT ENCOUNTER Buddy DeFranco – Tal Farlow Progressive JAZZ DANCING Don Friedman Trio Progressive INNER CIRCLE Don Friedman Trio JVC INVITATION Don Friedman Trio Progressive GOOD VIBES FOR KURT WEILL Warren Chaisson Quartet Monmouth Evergreen SOME ONE OF THESE DAYS Dick Meldonian Quartet Progressive FUNKY BUTT Arnett Cobb Progressive DEREK SMITH TRIO PLAYS JEROME KERN   Progressive PRESENTING HAROLD ASHBY   Progressive STEPPING ON CRACKS Walter norris Trio Progressive ROARING BACK INTO N.Y., N.Y. Bill Watrous Quartet Famous Door GEORGE MASSO: No Frills Just Music   Famous Door MR. LUCKY Buddy DeFranco Quintet Pablo OVER THE RAINBOW Benny Carter Saxophone Ensemble Music Masters MY KIND OF TROUBLE Benny Carter Quintet Pablo TRIPLICITY Ronnie Bedford Trio Progressive QUADRUMVIRATE Ronnie Bedford Quartet Progressive JUST FRIENDS Ronnie Bedford Quartet Progressive Acknowledgements: 1. Grove Dictionary of Jazz 2. The Feather/Gitler Encyclopedia 3. "A Life in the Golden Age of Jazz", A Biography of Buddy DeFranco," The House that Trane Built" Websites: Google, All Music. com, www.norhwestmusic.org Books: Benny Carter, "A Life in American Music Bassically Speaking " An Oral History of George Divivier" 52nd Street Beat In-Depth Profiles of Modern Jazz Drummers 1945- 1965 Back to Faculty