Ray Brown & Christian McBride—”Now’s The Time” ·1994)

Earlier this week one of our oldest as well as eldest members, Dutch double bass player and composer Frans Ronday died at the age of 90. Frans always responded to our posts and was active himself on Facebook from time to time, sharing interesting music videos. One of those he especially liked was this bass duet by Ray Brown and Christian McBride in Charlie Parker’s 1945 composition “Now’s The Time.”

During this April 6, 1994 Verve 50th Anniversary Concert at Carnegie Hall, the 67-year old double bass player Ray Brown (1926-2002) welcomed a younger version of himself in the talented 21-year old Christian McBride. The other musicians were Roy Hargrove-trumpet; J.J. Johnson-trombone; Jackie McLean-alto saxophone; Joe Henderson-tenor saxophone; Herbie Hancock and Hank Jones-pianos; Kenny Burrell-guitar; and Kenny Washington-drums. The scat vocalists were Dee Dee Bridgewater, Vanessa Williams, and Betty Carter.

I took this photo of Frans Ronday during an 80s rehearsal in Amsterdam, the city where Frans lived and died. It was not so long ago that he stopped the weekly jazz concerts he had been giving there for decades. He compared playing his bass to life itself, "it's like breathing."

Initially 10 year old Frans started on a brass bass that was given to him by an upstairs neighbour. He recalled that playing it wasn't easy. "The technique is quite difficult ... during the Summer the sun burned your lips." After a year he switched to the double bass and he soon became interested in jazz.

We shall miss Frans’ wise comments, humorous anecdotes and knowledgeable input.

A few years back, in response to a comment that a bassist is often looked upon as “just a background musician,” Frans analyzed bass-playing thus:

“When playing a four-beat piece of music,

1 piece=32 bars, 32x4=128 beats.

Theme 2x plus 5x solo parts=7x128=896 beats.

20 Pieces a night=20x896=17,920 notes.

Oh well, bass playing ….”