Ram Ramirez

{{short description|Puerto Rican born jazz pianist and composer}} '''Roger''' "'''Ram'''" '''Ramirez''' (September 15, 1913 – 11 January 1994) was a Puerto Rican [[jazz]] pianist and composer. He was a co-composer of the song "[[Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?)]]"

==Early life== Ramirez was born in [[San Juan, Puerto Rico]] on September 15, 1913.<ref name="Grove">{{Citation |last=Vollmer |first=Albert |date=2003 |title=Ramirez, Ram (Roger) |publisher=Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.J369300 }}</ref> He grew up in New York and started playing the piano at a young age.<ref name="Grove" />

==Later life and career== Ramirez's first professional performances were in the early 1930s.<ref name="Grove" /> In 1933 he played with [[Monette Moore]], then with [[Rex Stewart]] and [[Sid Catlett]] in New York.<ref name="Grove" /> He joined [[Willie Bryant]] in 1935, and toured Europe with [[Bobby Martin (musician)|Bobby Martin]] in 1937.<ref name="Grove" /> During the first half of the 1940s Ramirez played with [[Ella Fitzgerald]], [[Frankie Newton]], [[Charlie Barnet]], [[John Kirby (musician)|John Kirby]], and Catlett, in addition to leading his own band.<ref name="Grove" />

Ramirez wrote "[[Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?)]]" in 1942,<ref name="NYT" /> which became a jazz standard following [[Billie Holiday]]'s recording of it two years later.<ref name="Grove" /> He was a freelance into the mid-1950s, when he added electronic organ to his instruments.<ref name="Grove" /> In 1953 he was in one of [[Duke Ellington|Duke Ellington's]] small groups, as a substitute.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://jazzdelapena.com/puerto-rico-project/boricua-jazz-pioneer-rogelio-ram-ramirez-1913-1994/|title=Boricua Jazz Pioneer, Rogelio "Ram" Ramirez (1913-1994) - JazzDeLaPena|first=Tomas|last=Peña}}</ref>

Ramirez again toured Europe in 1968, this time with [[T-Bone Walker]].<ref name="Grove" /> In 1979 and 1980 he was part of the [[Harlem Blues and Jazz Band]], including for appearances in Germany.<ref name="Grove" /> He also freelanced after this,<ref name="Grove" /> and retired for health reasons in 1987.<ref name="NYT" /> Ramirez was married to Marcy and had a daughter.<ref name="NYT" /> He died of kidney failure in [[Queens]], New York City<ref name="NYT">{{cite news |date=January 17, 1994 |title=Roger Ramirez, 80; Wrote 'Lover Man' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/17/obituaries/roger-ramirez-80-wrote-lover-man.html |work=The New York Times }}</ref> on January 11, 1994.<ref name="Grove" />

==Discography (selection)== * Ram Ramirez: ''Live in Harlem'' (Black & Blue) * Ram Ramirez: "Fine and Mellow" (RCA) (as "Roger Ram") * Ram Ramirez: "I'll Remember April" (RCA) (as "Roger Ram") * [[Putney Dandridge]]: 1935–1936 (Classics) * ''The Duke's Men – Small Groups, Vol. 1'' (Columbia, 1934–38) * [[Ella Fitzgerald]]: 1939–1940 (Classics) * [[Helen Humes]]: 1945–1946 (Classics) * [[John Kirby (musician)|John Kirby]]: 1945–1946 (Classics) * [[Ike Quebec]]: 1944–1946 (Classics), ''The Blue Note Swingtets'' (Blue Note, 1944) * [[Rex Stewart]]: 1934–1946 (Classics) * [[Annie Ross]] & [[King Pleasure]]: ''Sings'' (OJC, 1952, 1953)

==References== {{Reflist}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramirez, Ram}} [[Category:1913 births]] [[Category:1994 deaths]] [[Category:American musicians of Puerto Rican descent]] [[Category:American male songwriters]] [[Category:American jazz pianists]] [[Category:American male jazz pianists]] [[Category:American male jazz composers]] [[Category:American jazz composers]] [[Category:Jazz-blues pianists]] [[Category:Musicians from San Juan, Puerto Rico]] [[Category:20th-century American pianists]] [[Category:20th-century American composers]] [[Category:20th-century American male composers]] [[Category:Harlem Blues and Jazz Band members]] [[Category:Black & Blue Records artists]] [[Category:20th-century jazz composers]] [[Category:20th-century American male pianists]]