Larry Ridley

Laurence “Larry” Howard Ridley II (born September 3, 1937) is an American jazz bassist and music educator.^[1] He is a pioneer of music education, so much that he was eventually inducted into the Jazz Hall of Fame.

Early Life

Larry was born on September 3, 1937, in Indianapolis, Indiana.^[2] Music became an important of his life since he was five years old. Larry's mother would pay seventy-five cents for Ruth McArthur to give him violin lessons. McArthur had been renown in Indianapolis for helping push African Americans forward in the music community. She had opened a music school for those students who were being negatively impacted by segregation within the city's schools. This represented a chance to Larry to open his eyes to the world of music and build a classical music background. However, this was not the end of musicians taking him under their wing at a young age.

Ben Hollman, who was the father of Larry's uncle's wife, introduced him to jazz and blues. Because this was the early stages when jazz was gaining more popularity within the United States, it was more important to gain an understanding of blues as that genre was heavily influencing jazz's development. To become even more versatile as a young musician, Larry also met and asked bassist Monk Montgomery for lessons. Clearly, since he was young, it was apparent how important and valuable music education was to Larry.

After graduating from Shortridge High School in Indianapolis, he enrolled in 1955 in Indiana University. He was fortunate enough to earn a violin scholarship that would help cover his continued education at the school of music at the university. During his time there, Larry had the opportunity to be a part of jazz groups and to play with the David Baker Band. When Larry had enrolled in the university, it was rare for jazz to be a part of an institution's music program.^[3] In an interview, he stated that "the only thing that had been set up on sort of like a university type level was the Berklee College of Music, which was started in 1947."^[4] When he arrived at the university, he quickly realized that this institution could offer him countless opportunities to sharpen his skills. He was able to perform numerous times with the school's symphony orchestra and opera orchestra. Larry was able to gain knowledge on different styles of music, but he still honed in on jazz. Along with a group of students, they would gather in the rehearsal halls to practice jazz. Larry also met many musicians who came from the European classical tradition that played all around the world, and they would come to the university to teach classes.

Career - Musician

In 1957, Larry organized a jazz band that was called the Jazz Contemporaries. His fellow members were Freddie Hubbard, James Spaulding, Paul Parker, and Walter Miller. The group of musicians was underaged, but they were still able to perform six nights a week at George's Bar. In the early 1960s, Larry relocated to New York to pursue a musical career in jazz. He became extremely involved in the New York jazz scene in an attempt to help it grow. During that decade, he appeared on records with Hubbard, Roy Haynes, Horace Silver, Hank Mobley, Lee Morgan, Jackie McLean, and Dexter Gordon. During the 1970s, he was able to record his first album where he was the bandleader this time. In addition, Larry was a part of meaningful collaborations as a sideman for James Moody and Duke Ellington. He became the bassist for Thelonious Monk as well.

During his career as a musician, the performances he has held closest to his heart were his yearly concerts at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York City. These concerts were tributes to three pianists he played with throughout his career: Duke Pearson, Sonny Clark, and Kenny Drew. Because all three had already passed away, he felt that it was the least he could do for them since they had no presence in the commercial scene anymore. He credits "the creator"^[5] with having given him the opportunity to get to know these people and learn from all of them about he could grow both as a person and a musician. As a result, Larry felt that holding these tribute concerts was something that he was moved to do to make sure they never fade away and become anonymous musicians.

Furthermore, the Schomburg Center was a special institution for Larry. He held it in very high regard as it was one of "the world's leading institutions as far as the type of information they have that relates to African or black culture." ^[6] To him, it is one of the best displays of "intellectual and artistic artifacts".^[7] As a way of showing respect to the invaluable institution that the Schomburg Center had become, Larry would try to mix education with his performances. When he would design the programs for his concerts, he would make notes giving overviews of the musicians he would be honoring throughout his performance.

Career - Educator

As previously mentioned, music education was of utmost importance during his development. In 1971 he became a professor of music at Rutgers. He became extremely involved with the Rutgers Institute for Jazz Studies to help make it as important of a repository for intellect and history like the Schomburg Center. He was one of the first active, African American musicians who became involved in the education aspect of the industry. Larry, in addition, was a founding member of the jazz faculty at Rutgers. He brought in to the program a multitude of jazz musicians: Ted Dunbar, Kenny Barron, Don Friedman, Jimmy Giuffre, Freddie Waits, Michael Carvin, Frank Foster, and more. Again, his source of inspiration behind aiding in establishing this institution at the university was that jazz programs were not popular back when he was in school. In addition, Larry had seen ads for institutions with "jazz degrees" that said you had the opportunity to study with the greatest jazz musicians, but he said he would never recognize any of the names on there. As a result, he ensured to bring to Rutgers established and known musicians who could share professional and personal insight with all aspiring musicians. Another shortcoming of other attempts to establish a jazz degree was that they failed to incorporate the spiritual aesthetic of jazz, which Larry viewed as "the feeling of the music that comes from Mother Africa through the whole African American experience."^[8] To him, a critical part of true jazz was having soul and spirituality in every song you performed. He viewed jazz as a platform to showcase to the world what life was like as an African American trying to live out the American dream, an idea that many musicians could relate to.

Larry had the credentials to undertake the formation of the undergraduate and graduate jazz performance programs at Rutgers. Even though he had enrolled initially at Indiana University, he transferred to New York University to obtain his Bachelor's in Music Education.^[9] He also earned his Master's in Cultural Policy at Empire State College and a Doctor of Performing Arts degree at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. What inspired him though to get his Bachelor's in music education was that he felt that jazz needed a program similar to the general music education. He believed that the music academy "was not going to ever accept jazz a legitimate art form or music because there was always this thing about, 'Oh do you play legit?' or 'Do you play serious music?'".^[10]

One of the key lessons that Lester attempted to incorporate in the curriculum he developed was that you have to stay humble. He would tell his students, "Take your ego and put it in your back pocket and sit on it and just keep your humbleness so you really understand and that you keep learning."^[11] He believed that an ego was the biggest thing that could hinder a musician as it could lead them to blocking out everyone. Humility opens the eyes and ears to feedback and lessons that can transform a musician's perspective. Another key teaching Larry instilled in the programs is the importance of using music to tell a story. The technique may be impressive, but the life experiences that influence the songs themselves are the true substance. Again, that spiritual aspect is what will show the audience who you are as a musician.

Influence - African American Jazz Caucus

Larry was the primary founder in 1977 for the Black Jazz Music Caucus of the National Association of Jazz Educators, which now operates under the African American Jazz Caucus (AAJC), where he later served as the executive director.^[12] The purpose of having established this caucus was to increase the "representation of African American Jazz artists and educators within the larger body of the Jazz Educators Association."^[13] One of Larry's personal motivations for being so involved was because he loves music, and he had the opportunity during his come-up to be mentored by Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, and Horace Silver. He wanted to utilize this additional platform to help provide the support that he received during his development. The lessons he learned impacted positively his career as a musician and as an educator.

One of the early goals of the African American Jazz Caucus was to give support and resources to both African American artists and educators at elementary, secondary, and higher educational institutions. In addition, Larry would help organize workshops and performances at conferences for the National Association of Jazz Educators. Like he did when he established the jazz faculty at Rutgers, he would invite renowned African American artists in an attempt to provide reliable mentorship opportunities for aspiring musicians and educators. The AAJC constantly tried to tackle any challenges that members can face when it comes to educating students. Some of these challenges included the "creation of employment opportunities, the sustenance and protection of employment and programming, the allocation of adequate resources, and, the creation and monitoring of curricula that rightfully acknowledge and position the history and contributions of African Americans as the progenitors of the Jazz art form."^[14]

Furthermore, Larry and the AAJC ensured that jazz educators across the country recognized and acknowledged, to this day, the African American cultural influences upon which jazz was built around. He wanted educators to understand all ways that African Americans contributed to jazz's development in the United States: spirituality, individuality, diversity, improvisation, and theory, to name a few.