Ron McClure (born November 22, 1941) is an American jazz bassist.

Early life

McClure was born in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

, United States. He started on piano at age five, and later played accordion and bass. McClure studied privately with Joseph Iadone and, later, with Hall Overton and

Don Sebesky Don Sebesky (born December 10, 1937) is an American arranger, jazz trombonist, and keyboardist. Biography Sebesky trained in trombone at the Manhattan School of Music; in his early career, he played with Kai Winding, Claude Thornhill, Tommy Do ...

. McClure attended the

Hartt School of Music The Hartt School is the comprehensive performing arts conservatory of the University of Hartford located in West Hartford, Connecticut, United States, that offers degree programs in music, dance, and theatre. Founded in 1920 by Julius Hartt and ...

, graduating in 1963.

Later life and career

McClure worked in the

Buddy Rich Bernard "Buddy" Rich (September 30, 1917 – April 2, 1987) was an American jazz drummer, songwriter, conductor, and bandleader. He is considered one of the most influential drummers of all time. Rich was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York ...

Sextet in 1963. He then joined

Maynard Ferguson Walter Maynard Ferguson CM (May 4, 1928 – August 23, 2006) was a Canadian jazz trumpeter and bandleader. He came to prominence in Stan Kenton's orchestra before forming his own big band in 1957. He was noted for his bands, which often served ...

's big band and, afterwards,

Herbie Mann Herbert Jay Solomon (April 16, 1930 – July 1, 2003), known by his stage name Herbie Mann, was an American jazz flute player and important early practitioner of world music. Early in his career, he also played tenor saxophone and clarinet (incl ...

in 1964; and then assumed the bass chair in the

Wynton Kelly Wynton Charles Kelly (December 2, 1931 – April 12, 1971) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He is known for his lively, blues-based playing and as one of the finest accompanists in jazz. He began playing professionally at the age of ...

Trio vacated by

Paul Chambers Paul Laurence Dunbar Chambers Jr. (April 22, 1935 – January 4, 1969) was an American jazz double bassist. A fixture of rhythm sections during the 1950s and 1960s, he has become one of the most widely-known jazz bassists of the hard bop era. ...

in 1965 (playing behind guitarist

Wes Montgomery John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery (March 6, 1923 – June 15, 1968) was an American jazz guitarist. Montgomery was known for an unusual technique of plucking the strings with the side of his thumb and his extensive use of octaves, which gave him a dist ...

). From 1966 to 1969, he was a member of Charles Lloyd's "classic quartet" with pianist

Keith Jarrett Keith Jarrett (born May 8, 1945) is an American jazz and classical music pianist and composer. Jarrett started his career with Art Blakey and later moved on to play with Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis. Since the early 1970s, he has also been a ...

and drummer

Jack DeJohnette Jack DeJohnette (born August 9, 1942) is an American jazz drummer, pianist, and composer. Known for his extensive work as leader and sideman for musicians including Charles Lloyd, Freddie Hubbard, Keith Jarrett, Bill Evans, John Abercrombie, ...

, which was voted "Group of the Year" in 1967 by ''Downbeat'' magazine. In 1970, with pianist-composer

Mike Nock Michael Anthony Nock (born 27 September 1940) is a New Zealand jazz pianist, currently based in Australia. Biography He was born in Christchurch, New Zealand. Nock began studying piano at 11. He attended Nelson College for one term in 1955.' ...

, drummer

Eddie Marshall Edwin "Eddie" Marshall (April 13, 1938 – September 7, 2011Obituary
) was an American

and violinist Michael White, he co-founded the

jazz-rock Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, ...

group, the Fourth Way. He also participated in

Carla Bley Carla Bley (born Lovella May Borg; May 11, 1936) is an American jazz composer, pianist, organist and bandleader. An important figure in the free jazz movement of the 1960s, she is perhaps best known for her jazz opera '' Escalator over the Hill'' ...

's album, '' Escalator over the Hill'', and worked with saxophonist

Joe Henderson Joe Henderson (April 24, 1937 – June 30, 2001) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. In a career spanning more than four decades, Henderson played with many of the leading American players of his day and recorded for several prominent l ...

. In 1974, McClure joined

Blood, Sweat & Tears Blood, Sweat & Tears (also known as "BS&T") is a jazz rock music group founded in New York City in 1967, noted for a combination of brass with rock instrumentation. In addition to original music, the group has performed popular songs by Laura Ny ...

, staying until 1975 and performing on three albums: ''

Mirror Image A mirror image (in a plane mirror) is a reflected duplication of an object that appears almost identical, but is reversed in the direction perpendicular to the mirror surface. As an optical effect it results from reflection off from substances ...

'', '' New City'' and '' In Concert''. In the 1980s, he joined

Quest A quest is a journey toward a specific mission or a goal. The word serves as a plot device in mythology and fiction: a difficult journey towards a goal, often symbolic or allegorical. Tales of quests figure prominently in the folklore of ever ...

, led by saxophonist

Dave Liebman David Liebman (born September 4, 1946) is an American saxophonist, flautist and jazz educator. He is known for his innovative lines and use of atonality. He was a frequent collaborator with pianist Richie Beirach. In June 2010, he received a N ...

, which also included drummer

Billy Hart Billy Hart (born November 29, 1940) is an American jazz drummer and educator. He is known internationally for his work with Herbie Hancock's "Mwandishi" band in the early 1970s, as well with Shirley Horn, Stan Getz, and Quest, among others. Bi ...

and pianist

Richie Beirach Richard Alan Beirach (born 23 May 1947) is an American jazz pianist and composer. Early life Beirach was born in New York City. He initially studied both classical music and jazz. While still attending high school, he took lessons from pianist L ...

. He also recorded a duo album with pianist

Michel Petrucciani Michel Petrucciani (; ; 28 December 1962 – 6 January 1999) was a French jazz pianist. From birth he had osteogenesis imperfecta, a genetic disease that causes brittle bones and, in his case, short stature. He became one of the most accomplish ...

. McClure's major engagements in the 1990s through the early 2000s were with

Lee Konitz Leon Konitz (October 13, 1927 – April 15, 2020) was an American composer and alto saxophonist. He performed successfully in a wide range of jazz styles, including bebop, cool jazz, and avant-garde jazz. Konitz's association with the cool jazz ...

, and then with the reassembled Quest. His solo output include the contributions of

John Scofield John Scofield (born December 26, 1951), sometimes referred to as "Sco", is an American guitarist and composer whose music over a long career has blended jazz, jazz fusion, funk, blues, soul and rock. He first came to mainstream attention in the ...

, John Abercrombie,

Vic Juris Victor Edward Jurusz Jr. (September 26, 1953 – December 31, 2019), known professionally as Vic Juris, was an American jazz guitarist. Music career Juris was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, but he moved with his family to Parsippany early i ...

Paul Bley Paul Bley, CM (November 10, 1932 – January 3, 2016) was a jazz pianist known for his contributions to the free jazz movement of the 1960s as well as his innovations and influence on trio playing and his early live performance on the Moog and ...

, Michael Eckroth,

, and

Randy Brecker Randal Edward Brecker (born November 27, 1945) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, and composer. His versatility has made him a popular studio musician who has recorded with acts in jazz, rock, and R&B. Early life Brecker was born on Nov ...

Discography

As leader

* ''Home Base'' (Ode ew Zealand 1979) * ''Descendants'' (

Ken Music Ken Music was a jazz record label based in Japan that distributed CDs in Japan, Germany, North America, and Great Britain. The company was founded by Kenichi (Ken) Fujiwara in 1989 as a subsidiary of Matsuka USA, which, among other things, manufac ...

apan Apan is a city and one of the 84 municipalities of Hidalgo, in central-eastern Mexico. The municipality covers an area of 346.9 km². Overview As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 39,247. It was an important site in the Wa ...

1980) * ''Yesterday's Tomorrow'' (EPC/European Music Productions, 1989) with John Abercrombie,

Aldo Romano Aldo Romano (born 16 January 1941) is an Italian jazz drummer. He also founded a rock group in 1971. Biography He was born in Belluno, Italy. Romano moved to France as a child and by the 1950s he was playing guitar and drums professionally in P ...

* ''McJolt'' (

SteepleChase Steeplechase may refer to: * Steeplechase (horse racing), a type of horse race in which participants are required to jump over obstacles * Steeplechase (athletics), an event in athletics that derives its name from the steeplechase in horse racing ...

, 1990) with John Abercrombie * ''Never Forget'' (

, 1990) with Eddie Henderson,

Vincent Herring Vincent Dwayne Herring (born November 19, 1964) is an American jazz saxophonist, flautist, composer, and educator. Known for his fiery and soulful playing in the bands of Horace Silver, Freddie Hubbard, and Nat Adderley in the earlier stages of h ...

* ''Inspiration'' (Ken Music

1991) * ''Tonite Only'' (

, 1991) with John Abercrombie * ''Sunburst'' (

, 1992) * ''Inner Account'' (

, 1993) * ''Never Always'' (

, 1995) * ''Concrete Canyon'' (

, 1996) * ''Pink Cloud'' ( Naxos Jazz, 1997) * ''Closer to Your Tears'' (SteepleChase, 1997) * ''Dream Team'' (

, 1998) * ''Double Triangle'' (Naxos Jazz, 1999) * ''Match Point'' (

, 2002) * ''Age of Peace'' (

, 2003) * '' Soft Hands'' (

, 2007) * ''Wonderland'' (

, 2008) with

Harold Danko Harold Danko (born June 13, 1947 in Ohio) is an American jazz pianist. Danko attended Youngstown State University. Among his credits are work in the big bands of Woody Herman and Thad Jones/Mel Lewis, as well as smaller ensembles with Gerry Mul ...

* ''New Moon'' (

, 2009) * ''Dedication'' (

, 2011) * ''Crunch Time'' (

, 2012) * ''Ready or Not'' (

, 2013) * ''Hello Stars'' (McJolt Records, 2016) * ''Hope & Knowledge'' (McJolt Records, 2018) * ''Lucky Sunday'' (

, 2019) * ''NightQuest'' (

, 2022)

As sideman

With

Johnny Alegre Juan Bautista H. Alegre III (born June 4, 1955), known professionally as Johnny Alegre, is a jazz guitarist and composer from Manila, Philippines. He leads the jazz group Johnny Alegre Affinity and the world music group Humanfolk. Biography Ca ...

* ''Johnny Alegre 3'' (MCA Music hilippines 2009) With

Burak Bedikyan Burak Bedikyan is a jazz pianist and composer. Life and career Bedikyan is "a Turk of Armenian ancestry".Margasak, Peter (February 2014) "Burak Bedikyan – Circle of Life". ''Down Beat''. p. 90. Early in his life, he was interested in contempo ...

* ''Leap of Faith'' (SteepleChase, 2015) With

*'' Escalator over the Hill'' ( JCOA, 1971) With

*''

The Nearness of You "The Nearness of You" is a popular song written in 1938 by Hoagy Carmichael with lyrics by Ned Washington. The song debuted in the 1938 movie Romance in the Dark. It is also heard in the 1940 recording In the Mood by Glenn Miller and His Orche ...

'' (SteepleChase, 1989) With

George Cables George Andrew Cables (born November 14, 1944) is an American jazz pianist and composer. Early life Cables was born in New York City, United States. He was initially taught piano by his mother. He then studied at the High School of Performing Ar ...

*'' Quiet Fire'' (SteepleChase, 1994) With

Stanley Cowell Stanley Cowell (May 5, 1941 – December 17, 2020) was an American jazz pianist and co-founder of the Strata-East Records label. Early life Cowell was born in Toledo, Ohio. He began playing the piano around the age of four, and became interest ...

*''

Sienna Sienna (from it, terra di Siena, meaning "Siena earth") is an earth pigment containing iron oxide and manganese oxide. In its natural state, it is yellowish brown and is called raw sienna. When heated, it becomes a reddish brown and is call ...

'' (SteepleChase, 1989) ;With

Don Friedman Donald Ernest Friedman (May 4, 1935 – June 30, 2016) was an American jazz pianist. He began playing in Los Angeles and moved to New York in 1958. In the 1960s, he played with both modern stylists and more traditional musicians. Early life Fr ...

*''

Almost Everything ''Almost Everything'' is an album by American jazz pianist Don Friedman recorded in Denmark in 1995 and released on the Danish SteepleChase Records, SteepleChase label.Joe Henderson Joe Henderson (April 24, 1937 – June 30, 2001) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. In a career spanning more than four decades, Henderson played with many of the leading American players of his day and recorded for several prominent l ...

*'' If You're Not Part of the Solution, You're Part of the Problem'' (

Milestone A milestone is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway line, canal or boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks; or they can give their position on the route relative to so ...

, 1970) With

Trio * ''

Full View ''Full View'' is an album by jazz pianist Wynton Kelly, recorded in 1966 and released on the Milestone label, featuring performances by Kelly with Ron McClure and Jimmy Cobb.

'' (Milestone, 1968) With

*''

Zounds Zounds are an England, English anarcho punk/post-punk band from Reading, Berkshire, Reading, Berkshire, England, formed in 1977. Originally they were part of the cassette culture movement, releasing material on the Fuck Off Records label, and ...

'' (

Soul Note Black Saint and Soul Note are two affiliated Italian independent record labels. Since their conception in the 1970s, they have released albums from a variety of influential jazz musicians, particularly in the genre of free jazz. History Black S ...

, 1990) *'' It's You'' (SteepleChase, 1996) *'' Dig-It'' (SteepleChase, 1999) with Ted Brown With

David Liebman David Liebman (born September 4, 1946) is an American saxophonist, flautist and jazz educator. He is known for his innovative lines and use of atonality. He was a frequent collaborator with pianist Richie Beirach. In June 2010, he received a N ...

*'' The Opal Heart'' (44 Records, 1979) *''

Doin' It Again ''Doin' It Again'' is the third studio album by English grime artist Skepta. It features artists N-Dubz, Preeya Kalidas, Charlee Drew, Boy Better Know and Chip and was released on 31 January 2011 on Boy Better Know and All Around the World ...

'' ( Timeless, 1979) *'' If They Only Knew'' (Timeless, 1980) With Charles Lloyd *''

Love-In A love-in is a peaceful public gathering focused on meditation, love, music, sex and/or use of recreational drugs. The term was coined by Los Angeles radio comedian Peter Bergman, who also hosted the first such event on Easter, 26 March 1967 in ...

'' (

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

, 1967) *'' Journey Within'' (Atlantic, 1967) *'' Charles Lloyd in the Soviet Union'' (Atlantic, 1970) *''

Soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

'' (Atlantic, 1969) With Karlheinz Miklin *''Next Page'' (SOS Music ustria 1991) *''Decisions'' (1993) *''Last Waltz'' (Acoustic Music, 1997) *''From Here to There'' (TCB Records, 2002) *''In Between'' (2004) With

*'' Cold Blues'' (OWL, 1985) With

The Pointer Sisters The Pointer Sisters are an American pop and R&B singing group from Oakland, California, that achieved mainstream success during the 1970s and 1980s. Their repertoire has included such diverse genres as pop, jazz, electronic music, bebop, b ...

*''

'' (

Blue Thumb Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when obse ...

, 1973) With

Julian Priester Julian Priester (born June 29, 1935) is an American jazz trombonist and occasional euphoniumist. He is sometimes credited "Julian Priester Pepo Mtoto". He has played with Sun Ra, Max Roach, Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, and Herbie Hancock. Bio ...

*''

Love, Love ''Love, Love'' is an album by American jazz trombonist and composer Julian Priester Pepo Mtoto recorded in 1973 and released on the ECM label.ECM, 1973) With George Russell *''

Live in an American Time Spiral ''Live in an American Time Spiral'' is a live album by George Russell released on the Italian Soul Note label in 1983, featuring performances by Russell with his New York Band recorded in 1982. Reception The Allmusic review awarded the album ...

'' (Soul Note, 1983) With Jarmo Savolainen *''First Sight'' (Timeless, 1992) *''True Image'' ( A-Records, 1995) With

James Spaulding James Ralph Spaulding Jr. (born July 30, 1937) is an American jazz saxophonist and flutist. Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, United states, Spaulding attended the Chicago Cosmopolitan School of Music. Between 1957 and 1961, he was a member of Sun ...

*'' The Smile of the Snake'' (

HighNote HighNote Records is a jazz record company and label founded by Joe Fields with his son, Barney Fields, in 1997. Joe Fields worked for Prestige Records in the 1960s, and in the 1970s founded Muse Records. After he sold Muse, he started the Highn ...

, 1997) With

Dave Stryker Dave Stryker (born March 30, 1957) is an American jazz guitarist. He has recorded over twenty-five albums as a leader and has been a featured sideman with Stanley Turrentine, Jack McDuff, and Kevin Mahogany. Career Stryker grew up in Omaha, Nebr ...

*''Strike Zone'' (SteepleChase, 1991)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McClure, Ron 1941 births Living people Musicians from New Haven, Connecticut American jazz double-bassists Male double-bassists Blood, Sweat & Tears members University of Hartford Hartt School alumni Jazz musicians from Connecticut 21st-century double-bassists 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians The Fourth Way (band) members Quest (band) members