Roger Ball (musician)
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Roger Ball (born 4 June 1944, Broughty Ferry, Scotland) is a Scottish saxophonist, keyboardist, songwriter and arranger. He is a former original member of the Average White Band (AWB).
Biography
Ball attended the Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee from 1962, studying architecture. While there he met Malcolm "Molly" Duncan and Alan Gorrie. The three of them relocated to London separately, but joined forces again in 1971 to form the nucleus of the Average White Band (AWB).
They were later joined by Onnie McIntyre, Hamish Stuart and Robbie McIntosh, completing the original line-up.[1] These six Scots were an unlikely group to be successful playing American styled funk, but went on to be nominated for three Grammy Awards in the Rhythm & Blues category. Ball was the principal composer of "Pick Up the Pieces" which topped the US Billboard chart[2] on 22 February 1975. It was written from a rehearsal "jam" over which he superimposed the melody line and the bridge. Since then it has been covered by many musicians and used in television programmes, films and commercials. He co-wrote a total of forty three songs for the Average White Band.
Before forming AWB in 1971, Ball was a session musician in London, arranging and playing for Vinegar Joe, Badfinger, Kiki Dee and Elton John, Mama Cass, Bryan Ferry, Roxy Music and others. He has played on stage with Chaka Khan and Marvin Gaye. As an arranger with AWB he wrote and played with Michael and Randy Brecker.
In 1995, he released his first solo album, Street Struttin' and, in 2005, his second CD, Childsplay. He cites his influences on saxophone as Johnny Hodges, John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley and, as an arranger, Oliver Nelson.
References
- ^ "Roger Ball". Gazetteer for Scotland. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
- ^ Ankeny, Jason. "The Average White Band". Allmusic. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
External links
| International | |
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| Artists | |
- 1944 births
- Living people
- Alumni of the University of Dundee
- People from Broughty Ferry
- Scottish rock musicians
- Scottish keyboardists
- Scottish saxophonists
- British male saxophonists
- Scottish male songwriters
- Scottish session musicians
- British music arrangers
- Average White Band members
- Musicians from Dundee
- 21st-century saxophonists
- 21st-century British male musicians
- The Bunch members
- British male songwriters
- Alumni of Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design