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Artist Portrait

Ricky Ford

ts, sax, *1954 US, Boston
Musician of Jazz

Born 4 March 1954, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Ford started to play drums, then changed to tenor saxophone at the age of 15, inspired by Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Ran Blake heard him playing in a Boston Club and persuaded him to study music at the New England Conservatory. (Blake later invited him to play on several albums too, including Rapport, Short Life Of Barbara Monk and That Certain Feeling). In 1974 Ford joined the Duke Ellington Orchestra under the leadership of Mercer Ellington and in 1976 he replaced George Adams in the Charles Mingus group, recording on Three Or Four Shades of Blue and Me Myself An Eye. In the late 70s and early 80s he played with Dannie Richmond, Mingus Dynasty, George Russell, Beaver Harris, Lionel Hampton and Adbullah Ibrahim's Ekaya group. However, following the release of his debut album in 1977 he has worked increasingly as a leader, often recording with Jimmy Cobb and ex-Ellington colleague James Spaulding. His latest releases also feature one of his New England Conservatory teachers, Jaki Byard. A strong, authoritative tenor player, Ford's fluency in most idioms of modern jazz has perhaps hindered the development of an individual voice. Ricky is from 2000 Professor at the Bilgi University in Istambul.

     
Instruments
  • Tenor sax
  • Saxophone
  • Alto sax
Genres
  • Jazz
  • Blues
  • Pop
Popular Tracks   
Manenberg Revisited on Water from an Ancient Well by Various Artists
Blues for Later on Very Saxy by Rhoda Scott, Ricky Ford & Houston Person
Chelsea Bridge on Jazz For A Lazy Day by Various Artists
The Wedding on Water from an Ancient Well by Various Artists
The Mountain on Water from an Ancient Well by Various Artists
Mandela on Water from an Ancient Well by Various Artists
Duke Ellington's Sound of Love on Lionel Hampton Presents the Music of Charles Mingus by Charles Mingus
Song For Sathima on Water from an Ancient Well by Various Artists
Tuang Guru on Water from an Ancient Well by Various Artists
Sameeda on Water from an Ancient Well by Various Artists

Track list and 30sec audio provided by


Band Members
Discography


Title Artist Year Type
Ricky's ChoiceRicky Ford1999Compil.
Tenors OfYusef Lateef & Ricky Ford1996Album
American-African BluesRicky Ford1993Album
Hot BrassRicky Ford1992Album
Tenor Madness Too!Ricky Ford1992Album
Ebony RhapsodyRicky Ford1990Album
"Bern Concert '89"The Newport Jazz Festival All-Stars, George Wein, Ricky Ford, Scott Hamilton, Oliver Jackson, Eddie Jones, Gray Sargent, Norris Turney, Warren Vaché1990Album
Manhattan BluesRicky Ford1989Album
Hard Groovin'Ricky Ford1989Album
Saxotic StompRicky Ford1988Album
Looking AheadRicky Ford1987Album
Shorter IdeasRicky Ford1985Album
Future's GoldRicky Ford1983Album
The 3 R'sRed Rodney / Richie Cole / Ricky Ford1982Album
InterpretationsRicky Ford1982Album
Tenor For The TimesRicky Ford1981Album
Flying ColorsRicky Ford1980Album
Manhattan PlazaRicky Ford1979Album
Loxodonta AfricanaRicky Ford1977Album
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Acknowledgements
To all the music fans that are contributing on Discogs, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia. Thanks to Franz Flückiger for providing Storygram used to visualize band membership.
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