Ray Crawford

Ray Crawford played tenor and clarinet with Fletcher Henderson during 1941-1943 but tuberculosis forced him to give them up. He switched to guitar and was an important part of Ahmad Jamal's early groups (1949-1955); his ability to make his guitar sound like bongos by hitting it was soon adopted by Herb Ellis. Crawford also recorded with Gil Evans (1959-1960), played off and on with Jimmy Smith ...more