Ron McClure

Ron McClure
Ron McClure at Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society, Half Moon Bay, California, June 21, 1987
Background information
Born	(1941-11-22) November 22, 1941 New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.
Genres	Jazz, jazz rock
Occupation(s)	Musician, educator
Instrument	Bass
Years active	1965–present
Labels	Bellaphon, Ken, Steeplechase
Website	www.ronmcclure.com

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

Early life

McClure was born in New Haven, Connecticut. He started on accordion at age five, and later switched to piano and acoustic and electric bass. McClure studied privately with Joseph Iadone from age 15 through 4 years of music school at Hartt College in Hartford Connecticut and, later,studied privately with Hall Overton and took Don Sebesky’s 30 week arranging course. McClure came to New York after graduating from Hartt in 1963. Piano giant a colleague,Richie Beirach said: “Ron’s played with everybody who’s anybody”!

Later life and career

McClure worked in the Buddy Rich Sextet in 1963. He then joined Maynard Ferguson's big band and, afterwards, Herbie Mann in 1964; and then assumed the bass chair in the Wynton Kelly Trio vacated by Paul Chambers in 1965 (playing behind guitarist Wes Montgomery).

From 1966 to 1969 he was a member of Charles Lloyd's "classic quartet" with pianist Keith Jarrett and drummer Jack DeJohnette, which was voted "Group of the Year" in 1967 by Downbeat magazine.

In 1970, with pianist-composer Mike Nock, drummer Eddie Marshall and violinist Michael White, he co-founded the jazz-rock group The Fourth Way. He also participated in Carla Bley's album Escalator over the Hill and worked with saxophonist Joe Henderson.

In 1974, McClure joined Blood, Sweat & Tears, staying through 1975 and performing on three albums: Mirror Image, New City and In Concert.

In the 1980s, he joined Quest, led by saxophonist Dave Liebman, which also included drummer Billy Hart and pianist Richie Beirach. He also recorded a duo album with pianist Michel Petrucciani. McClure's major engagements in the 1990s through the early 2000s were with Lee Konitz, and then with the reassembled Quest.

His solo output include the contributions of John Scofield, John Abercrombie, Vic Juris, Paul Bley, Michael Eckroth, Richie Beirach, and Randy Brecker.

Discography

Ron McClure (left) with guitarist Johnny Alegre (center) and drummer Billy Hart (right) in Midtown, Manhattan, at 151 West 46th Street, between Sixth and Seventh Avenues. The photo was taken in 2009, when they recorded Johnny Alegre 3 for MCA.

As leader

• McJolt (SteepleChase, 1990)
• Never Forget (SteepleChase, 1991)
• Tonite Only (SteepleChase, 1991)
• Yesterday's Tomorrow (European Music Productions, 1991) with John Abercrombie, Aldo Romano
• Sunburst (SteepleChase, 1992)
• Inner Account (SteepleChase, 1993)
• Never Always (SteepleChase, 1995)
• Concrete Canyon (SteepleChase, 1996)
• Closer to Your Tears (SteepleChase, 1997)
• Pink Cloud (Naxos Jazz, 1997)
• Dream Team (SteepleChase, 1998)
• Double Triangle (Naxos Jazz, 1999)
• Soft Hands (SteepleChase, 2006)
• New Moon (SteepleChase, 2009)
• Mac Straight Ahead (American Showplace, 2010)
• Dedication (Steeplechase, 2011)
• Crunch Time (Steeplechase, 2012)
• Hello Stars (Audio & Video Labs, 2016)
• ‘’Lucky Sunday’’ (Steeplechase, 2019)

As sideman

With Burak Bedikyan

• Leap of Faith (SteepleChase)

With Carla Bley

• Escalator over the Hill (JCOA, 1971)

With Paul Bley

• The Nearness of You (SteepleChase, 1989)

With George Cables

• Quiet Fire (SteepleChase, 1994)

With Stanley Cowell

• Sienna (SteepleChase, 1989)

With Don Friedman

• Almost Everything (SteepleChase, 1995)

With Joe Henderson

• If You're Not Part of the Solution, You're Part of the Problem (Milestone, 1970)

With Lee Konitz

• Zounds (Soul Note, 1990)
• It's You (SteepleChase, 1996)
• Dig-It (SteepleChase, 1999) with Ted Brown

With David Liebman

• The Opal Heart (44, 1979)
• Doin' It Again (Timeless, 1979)
• If They Only Knew (Timeless, 1980)

With Charles Lloyd

• Love-In (Atlantic, 1967)
• Journey Within (Atlantic, 1967)
• Charles Lloyd in the Soviet Union (Atlantic, 1967)
• Soundtrack (Atlantic, 1968)
• Charles Lloyd Quartet 1967 (TCB Records, 2019)

With Michel Petrucciani

• Cold Blues (OWL, 1985)

With The Pointer Sisters

• The Pointer Sisters (album) (Blue Thumb, 1973)

With Julian Priester

• Love, Love (ECM, 1973)

With George Russell

• Live in an American Time Spiral (Soul Note, 1983)

With Jarmo Savolainen

• First Sight (Timeless, 1992)
• True Image (A-Records, 1995)

With James Spaulding

• The Smile of the Snake (HighNote, 1997)

With Wynton Kelly

• Full View (Milestone, 1967)