Ronnie Boykins

Boykins is best known for his work with pianist/bandleader <a href="spotify:artist:0tIODqvzGUoEaK26rK4pvX">Sun Ra</a>, although he had played with such disparate musicians as <a href="spotify:artist:4y6J8jwRAwO4dssiSmN91R">Muddy Waters</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:52cM6vrM4MJ8g4H7Ibo5fZ">Johnny Griffin</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:6vth8u6Wp7k2bbzDQMCmrb">Jimmy Witherspoon</a> prior to joining <a href="spotify:artist:5V5vvh5MgM7vDuPp4lJYkh">Sun Ra's Arkestra</a>. He was a regular member of <a href="spotify:artist:0tIODqvzGUoEaK26rK4pvX">Sun Ra</a>'s band from 1958 until 1966, and occasionally thereafter. His percussive bass style inspired and formed the foundation of many Ra compositions. Like his fellow <a href="spotify:artist:0tIODqvzGUoEaK26rK4pvX">Sun Ra</a> bandmates, <a href="spotify:artist:65A4foeosCkf3zaigZJuzF">John Gilmore</a> and Pat Patrick, Boykins attended Chicago's DuSable High School and studied under its famed music teacher "Captain" Walter Dyett. He also studied with Ernie Shepard, who would later work with <a href="spotify:artist:4F7Q5NV6h5TSwCainz8S5A">Duke Ellington</a>. Before joining <a href="spotify:artist:0tIODqvzGUoEaK26rK4pvX">Ra</a>, Boykins had joined with a trombonist friend to open a private club -- The House of Culture -- with the intent of promoting Black culture. Boykins' arco solo on <a href="spotify:artist:0tIODqvzGUoEaK26rK4pvX">Sun Ra</a>'s "Rocket No. 9 Take Off for Planet Venus" from 1959 may be the first recorded example of the bass being played in a horn-like manner within a relatively free context, predating similar work by Alan Silva and David Izenzon. Boykins worked with both free and straight-ahead musicians. In 1962, he recorded with the hard bop tenor saxophonist <a href="spotify:artist:3odCvforNrM210iWxhbxIc">Bill Barron</a> and, the next year, with pianist <a href="spotify:artist:04cRG6y8vsZNbbCqfoopz6">Elmo Hope</a>. Boykins worked with tenor saxophonist <a href="spotify:artist:7C2DSqaNkh0w77O5Jz1FKh">Archie Shepp</a>'s New York Contemporary Five in 1964. Boykins left <a href="spotify:artist:0tIODqvzGUoEaK26rK4pvX">Ra</a> in 1966, ostensibly to pursue more lucrative opportunities; <a href="spotify:artist:0tIODqvzGUoEaK26rK4pvX">Ra</a> had a difficult time finding a replacement, at times settling for playing his own bass lines on keyboard. In 1967, Boykins played on <a href="spotify:artist:7De2eIqeHTw091YeAkkYXV">Rahsaan Roland Kirk</a>'s Rip, Rig and Panic LP. In the late '60s, he formed his own group, the Free Jazz Society, which included the pianist <a href="spotify:artist:2JzTVgQ5vs7k1gGXbC5DWG">John Hicks</a>. In the '70s, Boykins played with the Melodic Art-tet, a cooperative free jazz ensemble that also included drummer Roger Blank, saxophonist <a href="spotify:artist:5khQcscXYRDYvMM804iomp">Charles Brackeen</a>, and trumpeter <a href="spotify:artist:3enn0ul3NUfpxVL8ckc3cC">Ahmed Abdullah</a>. In 1975, the bassist led a session for ESP Disk that produced the self-titled LP, Ronnie Boykins. In the course of his career, Boykins also worked with <a href="spotify:artist:6hrEc1XqVcGLK0Di6zVADR">Mary Lou Williams</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5OKhN5AURco1pBqba3CbnS">Marion Brown</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:1bgyxtWjZwA5PQlDsvs9b8">Sarah Vaughan</a>, among others. ~ Chris Kelsey, Rovi