Ronnie Burrage

A versatile drummer who also has vibes and marimba, Ronnie Burrage forged a method as much aware of the bristling speed of really difficult bop and bebop much like the heavy backbeats of funk, spirit, and R&B. Burrage’s mom was a traditional pianist, and he sang within the St. Louis Cathedral children’ choir and performed drums with several funk rings. In the first ’80s, while dealing with the St. Louis Metropolitan Jazz Quintet, he followed Arthur Blythe, Jackie McLean, Andrew Hill, and McCoy Tyner throughout their trips to St. Louis. Burrage performed within the Woody Shaw quintet within the middle-’80s, then produced the avant-garde-meets-bop trio Third Sort of Blue with John Purcell and Anthony Cox in 1986; they documented that same calendar year. Through the ’90s, Burrage documented with Courtney Pine, Sonny Lot of money, Gunther Schuller, Hamiet Bluiett, the planet Saxophone Quartet, and Billy Bang, amongst others; he also led a 1993 program released as Shuttle, with help from Bluiett, Cyrus Chestnut, and Charnett Moffett. Through the 2000s, his function included two top-billed schedules, 2001’s Just Organic and 2004’s WITHIN IT. He stayed active through the 2010s, launching Blue Noise this year 2010 and Spirit Manuals in 2011.