I had a lovely phone chat with pianist Ronnell Bright last week. As is the case whenever we talk, the conversation turned to Sarah Vaughan. Ronnell accompanied the singer in the late 1950s and early '60s before working with Nancy Wilson. As readers of this blog know, Ronnell is my favorite accompanist. I love his chord voicings and how he lushly supported singers without getting in their way. In the case of Vaughan, their choreography is remarkable. Ronnell is there in a big way, but he never steals the show. And no one provided singers with song intros and outros like Ronnell (dig what he does on the following clip's September in the Rain). Ronnell and Vaughan were perfect together, and he looks back on those years fondly.
Here's Ronnell with Vaughan singing September in the Rain in 1958 (dig the intro and chord voicings!)...
Here's Ronnell with Nancy Wilson (dig the outro)...
A special thanks to reader Neal Horwitz for reminding me of this YouTube clip.
