Ronald Bruner, Jr.

Virtuosic, Grammy-winning drummer Ronald Bruner, Jr. has moved skillfully across varying settings, whether supporting upper-tier jazz musicians like <a href="spotify:artist:0Vz0vgVrclNJlHBLrgjklY">Kenny Garrett</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1lGt9WgdYGpMnmwGkcCm05">Stanley Clarke</a>, playing with skatepunk pioneers <a href="spotify:artist:3WPKDlucMsXH6FC1XaclZC">Suicidal Tendencies</a>, or recording his own brand of modern fusion. The son of fellow drummer Ronald and the eldest brother of Stephen (aka <a href="spotify:artist:4frXpPxQQZwbCu3eTGnZEw">Thundercat</a>) and Jameel, the Compton, California native arrived around the turn of the 2000s and developed into one of his generation's most scholarly and creative players. As a teenager, Bruner attended the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, which kick-started his professional work. He went on to record and/or perform with the likes of <a href="spotify:artist:0Vz0vgVrclNJlHBLrgjklY">Garrett</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1lGt9WgdYGpMnmwGkcCm05">Clarke</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6fmq5mv6HnduZdlTOEYBC9">Marcus Miller</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3EB0uKE2lGw6BB1UFJrONl">George Duke</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:1nDqTUspmq8IXhcEZT93iq">Lee Ritenour</a>. Early on, he also took part in <a href="spotify:artist:402zRYqZqYDEycNEzH24Dl">Young Jazz Giants</a> with <a href="spotify:artist:4frXpPxQQZwbCu3eTGnZEw">Thundercat</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6ivVgdQ8qi5Tu2pc1zeVKP">Cameron Graves</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:6HQYnRM4OzToCYPpVBInuU">Kamasi Washington</a>. As a member of <a href="spotify:artist:6M9ohMNccb79LCYSCfzdOH">the Stanley Clarke Band</a>, he became a Grammy winner when that unit's self-titled album -- which featured a composition he wrote with the leader -- took the 2011 award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album. Bruner's momentum carried well into the latter half of the 2010s. Most notably, he contributed to several acclaimed, genre-spanning albums, all of which came out of Los Angeles -- <a href="spotify:artist:29XOeO6KIWxGthejQqn793">Flying Lotus</a>' You're Dead!, <a href="spotify:artist:6HQYnRM4OzToCYPpVBInuU">Washington</a>'s The Epic, and <a href="spotify:artist:7MNEVabc4cs19CbzAFZmXz">Terrace Martin</a>'s Grammy-nominated Velvet Portraits among them. In 2017, Bruner released his own album, Triumph, on the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22World+Galaxy%22">World Galaxy</a> label. ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi