Ronnie Stephenson

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Ronnie Stephenson (January 26th 1937, Sunderland, United Kingdom - August 8th 2002) was a British jazz drummer.

[edit] Biography

Ronnie Stephenson was one of the most in-demand drummers on the British jazz scene in the 1960s.

As a boy, he wanted to become a tap dancer like his idol Gene Kelly, but he was persuaded by his father and his brother to take up the drums.

He already played his first gig in public in the same week as he took his first drum lesson at the age of 14 and was soon working with pianist elder brother Billy's band, and then with the Ray Chester’s Sextet.

When he was 16, he joined the singer Lita Roza, a national star who had left the Ted Heath band to tour the variety theatre circuit as a soloist. The 10 months he spent with her was to be of great experience in the music business.

He was conscripted into the Army and served in The Royal Signals Band. He was demobbed in 1957.

Ronnie Stephenson had a close association with Ronnie Scott and the Club, spent two years in Ronnie Scott's Quartet, and accompanied many visiting stars.

He toured Germany with Tom Jones in 1969 and then took up the resident drum chair with the Edelhagen Band after moving to Cologne with his wife Jean, daughter Kim, and son Carl. After three years with the Kurt Edelhagen band, he teamed up with pianist Paul Kuhn in Berlin and toured all over Europe with a variety of bands and artists.

He joined the Theater des Westens orchestra in Berlin in 1981, and remained there until his retirement on health grounds in 1995.

He also taught at the University of Berlin from 1990 to 1993.

He retired from music on medical advice, and settled in Scotland, where he turned to golf as a restorative, becoming a member of Strathmore Golf Club.

He performed or recorded with Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz, Wes Montgomery, Zoot Sims, Quincy Jones, Paul Gonsalves, Johnny Griffin, Roland Kirk, Gerry Mulligan, Sonny Stitt, Barney Kessel, Benny Golson, Benny Goodman, Nelson Riddle, Ella Fitzgerald, Mel Torme, Ronnie Ross, Stan Tracey, Ted Heath, Terry Smith, Jack Parnell, John Dankworth, Tubby Hayes, Cleo Laine, Kurt Edelhagen, Paul Kuhn, Rolf Kuhn, Kenny Clarke, Victor Feldman, Heinz von Hermann and Hans Rettenbacher, among many others.

In addition to his many jazz connections, he also played with pop stars such as Tom Jones, Matt Monroe, Tony Bennett, Engelbert Humperdinck, Cilla Black and Shirley Bassey.

He also played on the Bond themes Diamonds Are Forever and You Only Live Twice and on other film scores including Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

[edit] Selected discography

1958 Stan Getz and the Big Band of Europe
1960 Stan Getz with Kurt Edelhagen Orchestra
1964 Boom-Jackie-Boom-Chick - Paul Gonsalves
1964 Ronnie Scott and Sonny Stitt - The Night Has A Thousand Eyes - Live At Ronnie Scott's
1965 Just Friends - Paul Gonsalves
1965 Ronnie Scott Trio - Double Event
1965 Wes Montgomery - Live In Europe
1965 Wes Montgomery - Live at Ronnie Scott's
1965 The Stan Tracey Quartet with Benny Golson - Three Little Words
1965 Laughin' And Scratchin' - Stan Tracey
1966 Alice in Jazz Land - The Stan Tracey Big Band
1966 Kenny Clare & Ronnie Stephenson: Drum Spectacular
1966 The Stan Tracey Big Band
1967 With Love from Jazz - The Stan Tracey Quartet
1968 Cleopatra`s Needle - Ronnie Ross
1969 Fall Out - Terry Smith -
1978 Sincerely Ours - Rolf Ericson/Johnny Griffin