Big Black (2)

American percussionist from Savannah Georgia. Born on the 24th of February of 1937 (though other sources state 1934) as William "Fish" Ray's younger brother who was a vaudeville performer. He started playing percussion in Miami in the 1950's and performed with various salsa and calypso bands until he moved to New York in the 1960's. He got connected with various bebop artists and bands there and soon was a regular percussionist for [a=Dizzy Gillespie], [a=Freddie Hubbard] and [a=Randy Weston]. He was dubbed King Of The Congas and is a highly regarded part the African culture in Harlem. Over the years he has worked with [a=Sun Ra], [a=Pharoah Sanders], [a=B.B. King], [a=Hugh Masekela], [A=Harvey Mandel] and [a=Thelonious Monk] to name a few. Currently resides in Cathedral City, California (USA).

His family name is sometimes misspelt as Rey instead of Ray.