Ronnie Laws
Biography
The younger brother of Hubert Laws, Ronnie Laws has a nice soulful sound on tenor, but has never seriously pursued playing jazz. Throughout his career, which includes early-'70s gigs with Quincy Jones, his brother, Ramsey Lewis, and Earth, Wind & Fire, Laws has essentially been an R&B player. He has led his own albums since 1975, but recorded very little of interest to the jazz world, although he is often listed on Billboard's contemporary jazz chart. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide
Selected Discography
RONNIE LAW AND THEM WAS OUR NEXT-DOOR NEIGHBOR IN COMPTON HOW COOL IS THAT!!! LOVE THE LAW FAMILY!! (COMPTON HIGH SCHOOL NEIGHBOR)
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Wow, back in 1976 is when I was 1st introduced to this dynamic artist. My Mom gave my Dad the Album "Fever" that very year, I was 10 yrs. old @ the time. His music definitely spoke 2 my spirit then & my love 4 jazz in all it's colors has grown immensily. In 2002 while working as an airline CSR I had the pleasure of talking 2 him over the phone! Of course I let him know he was speaking 2 a dedicated fan. Wow! what a priceless moment in time :-)
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I was turned on to Ronnie Laws in The Army in 78. Flame was the album I have not looked back since.
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hey, the way i look at it is: jazz + funk + soul = A GREAT THING! i do like jazz, in fact, i have a jazz station, but like kirk said, its not the only REAL music out there. ronnie plays from his heart and it comes out wonderfully. nothing wrong w/ that!
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I agree with you whole heartedly Kirk........ . . . I ' m 43 and first became aware of Ronnie Laws because he playeed with EWF in the 70's. I have 5 or 6 of Ronnies albums that are among my favorite music,,,Flam e , S o l i d Ground and True Spirit are great albums. He has a very distincttive sound that I usually can pick up on easily. Also, his brother Hubert very smooth and I really like when I hear Ronnie playing with his brother and other people like Quincy, EWF and Ramsey Lewis.
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I don't know if the biographer meant to be negative in any way, but i will say this: as great as Jazz is, there's more to life than Jazz and i think Ronnie put plenty of Jazz into his music (listen to the vocabulary in his solos and you'll hear what i'm talking about-he's no Kenny G!). It's just mixed with Funk and Soul. Not only is he a great artist, but he is a great human being. I was fortunate enough to meet him and he and his family are class personified and musically, the real deal!
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Ronnie Laws is truly a one of a kind artist. He is a unique and special kind of musician who can skirt the fringes of contemporary / s m o o t h jazz, R&B, and pop with ease (like George Benson). His music helped me the explore more jazz categories from my early of listen to it. I'm surprised that more people haven't heard of him. Hopefully, he keeps coming out with new material.
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HIS FIRST TWO ALBUMS WERE GREAT ESPECIALY PRESSURE SENSATIVE.AN D THE NAME OF HIS GROUPE IS CALLED "PRESSURE" I THINK THAT IS A GREAT NAME FOR A GROUP,BUT THE FRIENDS AND STRANGERS ALBUM I JUST CAN'T STAND.IT'S WHAT MADE ME STOP BUYING HIS ALBUMS.YET HE HELPED ME GET INTO HARD CORE JAZZ.
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This guy is the reason that i'm a serious jazz lover today. Ronnie Laws was perhaps the first jazz artist that I really sat down and really listened to, that was over 30 years ago. He's in a class all his own, absolutely great. He combines different styles of music with a jazzy flavor as well as anyone ever has. I'm hoping to hear more of Ronnie Laws on pandora.
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Don't forget about his sister, Debra/Debora h ! ! She had it going on, too! Where is she and what's going on with her?
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3ronnie laws is one of my favorite jazz players of all time. I really wish that pandora would play his Friends & Strangers album. And play it on you tube too his whole family is great, and maybe he will come out with something new along this album and friends & strangers.
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Ronnie Laws is just dynamite,his music is so mellow and yet energetic
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WHOLE FAMILY HUBERT, RONNIE AND DEBORAH....T H E Y ' V E ALWAYS HAD MY ATTENTION... .
AS A MATTER OF FACT...WHERE ARE NOW....??? |
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i would like see the album solid ground. i was looking for this album i can not find it this is a great easy listen album.ronnie laws has a sound of his own so relaxing.
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I'm partial to Ronnie Laws' "Pressure Sensitive" and "Fever" albums, myself. I love the 1970s-era jazz/fusion/ f u n k that combines the best aspects of each in one cohesive whole. Ronnie Laws is one of the artists who does this effortlessly .
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I was in the Army, stationed in Germany when I first heard Ronnie Laws. I stll wish that I could find the album with the amazing cover of the bee tearing through the flower petal! "There Oughta Be A Law" was so relaxing back when I was in a high-stress, non-tradiona l l y female role, when women were first allowed to train with and work with the men.
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I REMEMBER WHEN I FIRST HEARD RONNIE LAWS AND FRIENDS @ STRANGERS CHANGE THE WAY I LISTEN TO JAZZ FUSION/SMOOT H JAZZ.REAL TALK IT WAS THA BOMB THA S**T!!!!!!!! ! . CRANSOM1 08
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keep on doing what you are diong. You csoug great, hope see you this summer.
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Ronnie Laws is the first artist that I took a liking to as a kid in the late 70's. I was 12 when I heard Friend and Strangers and was hooked on jazz ever since. I got my first chance to see him live at a jazz festival in Camden, NJ along with Boney James back in the mid 90's. It was sad that people didn't realize who he was because he didn't get much applause afterwards but for me it didn't matter because I knew!!
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Ronnie Laws is a great jazz artist, jazz is truly relaxing after a hard days of work with a cold glass of red wine, on my balcony outside. The life!
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This is Eleanor of the Bronx this song reminds me of how nice life was.
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