Ernie Royal

Career

He began in Los Angeles as a member of Les Hite's Orchestra in 1937. In the following 20 years he would work with Lionel Hampton, Woody Herman, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Wardell Gray, Stan Kenton and recording as a member of the Charles Mingus Octet, with Teo Macero, John Lewis and Kenny Clarke, among others, in 1953. He led ten albums, most of them recorded in Paris. In 1957 he became a staff musician for the American Broadcasting Company. He went on to play in The Tonight Show Band and can be heard on the Miles Davis albums Miles Ahead (1957), Porgy and Bess (1958), and Sketches of Spain (1960).

Death

A resident of Teaneck, New Jersey, Royal died of cancer at age 61 at Mount Sinai Hospital on March 16, 1983.

Discography

1953: Portraits on Standards, The Kenton Era - Stan Kenton

1954: Afro, Dizzy and Strings - Dizzy Gillespie

1955: Jazz Recital - Dizzy Gillespie

1955: Accent on Tenor Sax - Coleman Hawkins

1955: Another One - Oscar Pettiford

1955: Introducing Jimmy Cleveland and His All Stars - Jimmy Cleveland

1955: Sonny Stitt Plays Arrangements from the Pen of Quincy Jones - Sonny Stitt

1955: Top Brass - Ernie Wilkins

1956: The Hawk in Hi Fi - Coleman Hawkins

1956: In the Land of Hi-Fi with Julian Cannonball Adderley - Cannonball Adderley

1956: The Oscar Pettiford Orchestra in Hi-Fi - Oscar Pettiford

1956: The Drum Suite (RCA Victor, 1956) - Manny Albam-Ernie Wilkins and their Orchestra

1956: Salute to Satch - Joe Newman

1957: Miles Ahead - Miles Davis

1957: Phineas Newborn, Jr. Plays Harold Arlen's Music from Jamaica - Phineas Newborn, Jr.

1957: My Fair Lady Loves Jazz - Billy Taylor

1958: New Bottle Old Wine - Gil Evans

1958: Porgy and Bess - Miles Davis

1958: A Map of Jimmy Cleveland - Jimmy Cleveland

1958: Brass & Trio - Sonny Rollins

1959: Brass Shout - Art Farmer

1959: Late Date with Ruth Brown - Ruth Brown

1959: The Genius of Ray Charles - Ray Charles

1959: The Birth of a Band!, The Great Wide World of Quincy Jones - Quincy Jones

1959: You and Lee - Lee Konitz

1959: Something to Swing About - Carmen McRae

1959: Portrait of the Artist - Bob Brookmeyer

1960: Gillespiana - Dizzy Gillespie

1960: Sister Salvation - Slide Hampton

1960: Sketches of Spain - Miles Davis

1961: Perceptions - Dizzy Gillespie

1961: Satan in High Heels (soundtrack) - Mundell Lowe

1961: White Gardenia - Johnny Griffin

1962: The Soul of Hollywood - Junior Mance

1962: Cabin in the Sky - Curtis Fuller

1962: Listen to Art Farmer and the Orchestra - Art Farmer

1962: Soul Street - Jimmy Forrest

1962: Big Bags - Milt Jackson

1962: The Complete Town Hall Concert - Charles Mingus

1962: On My Way & Shoutin' Again!- Count Basie

1963: For Members Only - Shirley Scott

1963: Latin Fever - Herbie Mann

1964: New Fantasy - Lalo Schifrin

1964: Rough House Blues - Lou Donaldson

1964: My Kinda Groove - Herbie Mann

1964: The Cat - Jimmy Smith

1964: J.J.! - J. J. Johnson

1964: Quincy Jones Explores the Music of Henry Mancini - Quincy Jones

1965: Once a Thief and Other Themes - Lalo Schifrin

1965: Ray Brown / Milt Jackson - Ray Brown and Milt Jackson

1965: Broadway Soul - Sonny Stitt

1965: With Respect to Nat - Oscar Peterson

1965: Latin Mann - Herbie Mann

1965: Broadway Express - J. J. Johnson

1966: Happenings - Hank Jones and Oliver Nelson

1966: Encyclopedia of Jazz - Oliver Nelson

1966: The Sound of Feeling - Oliver Nelson

1966: Got My Mojo Workin' and Hoochie Coochie Man - Jimmy Smith

1966: Brass on Fire and The Soul of the City - Manny Albam

1966: Our Mann Flute - Herbie Mann

1966: Spanish Rice - Clark Terry and Chico O'Farrill

1966: Blue Notes - Johnny Hodges

1967: Glory of Love - Herbie Mann

1967: Half a Sixpence - Count Basie

1967: Don't Sleep in the Subway - Johnny Hodges

1967: The Board of Directors - Count Basie with The Mills Brothers

1968: Blues - The Common Ground - Kenny Burrell

1968: Silver Cycles - Eddie Harris

1968: Blues - The Common Ground - Kenny Burrell

1969: Shirley Scott & the Soul Saxes - Shirley Scott

1969: The Many Facets of David Newman - David Newman

1969: The Soul Explosion - Illinois Jacquet

1969: Soul '69 - Aretha Franklin

1969: Mr. Blues Plays Lady Soul - Hank Crawford

1970: Houston Express - Houston Person

1970: 3 Shades of Blue - Johnny Hodges

1971: My Way - Gene Ammons

1971: Blues in Orbit - Gil Evans

1971: What's Going On - Johnny "Hammond" Smith

1972: Soul Is... Pretty Purdie - Bernard Purdie

1972: Guess Who - B. B. King

1972: Akilah! - Melvin Sparks

1972: Sweet Buns & Barbeque - Houston Person

1973: Tanjah - Randy Weston

1973: The Weapon - David Newman

1974: 10 Years Hence - Yusef Lateef

1974: Oliver Edward Nelson in London with Oily Rags - Oliver Nelson

1975: There Comes a Time - Gil Evans

1977: Color as a Way of Life - Lou Donaldson

1978: Gil Evans Live at the Royal Festival Hall London 1978 - Gil Evans