November 23, 1946 – November 1, 2025

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Bassist Ray Drummond passed away on Nov. 1, 2025 at the age of 78.

He was born on Nov. 23, 1946 in Brookline, Massachusetts.

After brief stints on trumpet and French horn, Drummond started playing bass when he was 14, earning an MBA from Stanford University.

He began his career playing in San Francisco, started working as an educator in 1975, moved to New York, and played with an endless list of jazz greats.

A reliable and swinging bassist with a large tone, Drummond appeared on hundreds of recordings and taught at many schools in his life.

His first recordings were with Smiley Winters (1970) and violinist Michael White (1971) and, among his 300 appearances on records, were notable sessions with Bobby Hutcherson, Johnny Griffin, Lee Konitz, Pharoah Sanders, Art Farmer, Woody Shaw, David Murray, Tom Harrell, Stan Getz, John Hicks, Hod O’Brien, Kenny Barron, George Coleman, Houston Person and countless others in addition to leading eight albums of his own.

From 2017, Ray Drummond and pianist Kenny Barron play “How Deep Is The Ocean.”

-Scott Yanow

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