Ronnie Ross

Albert Ronald "Ronnie" Ross (Calcutta, India, October 2, 1933 - London, England, December 12, 1991) was a jazz baritone saxophonist.

Born in Calcutta, Ross moved to England in 1946 and began playing tenor saxophone in the 1950s with Tony Kinsey, Ted Heath, and Don Rendell. During his tenure with Rendell he switched to baritone saxophone. He played at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1958 and formed a group called the Jazz Makers with Allan Ganley that same year. He toured the United States in 1959 and Europe later that year with the Modern Jazz Quartet. From 1961 to 1965 he played with Bill LeSage, and later with Woody Herman, John Dankworth, Friedrich Gulda, and Clark Terry. Ross was a saxophone tutor for a young David Bowie, and years later was the soloist on the Lou Reed song "Walk on the Wild Side", which was co-produced by Bowie.

References

*Leonard Feather and Ira Gitler, "The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz". Oxford, 1999, p. 571.