Artist:Ray Bryant
Song:The Madison Time Pt. 1
Album:The Madison Time with a Hollywood Jazz Beat
Jazz pianist Ray Bryant scored a top 30 pop hit with the 1960 single It's Madison Time. This was an attempt to create a dance craze similar to The Twist. Maybe you saw It's Madison Time danced in the film Hairspray. Bryant was born Dec. 24, 1931 in Philadelphia. His mother was a minister who also played piano. So Bryant played piano in church as a child. By the time he was a teen, he was already playing in clubs. After touring with guitarist Tiny Grimes, Bryant became an in demand sideman when guys like Miles Davis and Sonny Rollins played Philadelphia clubs. He was an accompanist for singer Carmen McRae and that led to the 1955 album Meet Betty Carter and Ray Bryant on Columbia. After moving to New York in 1959, Bryant returned to Columbia for the 1959 album Little Susie. When that reached #12 on the R&B Singles chart, Columbia thought they might have something. They asked him to record something they could turn into a dance craze. It's Madison Time reached #30 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #5 on the R&B Singles chart. The vocal was written and performed by Eddie Morrison. It was his only notable recorded appearance. Other musicians were Buddy Tate on tenor sax, Urbie Green on trombone, Harry Edison on trumpet, Tommy Bryant (Ray's brother) on bass and Bill English on drums. After a few albums for Columbia, Bryant recorded for Sue and Cadet in the 60s, Atlantic and Pablo in the 80s and EmArcy in the 90s. Collectables has released the Madison Time album as a twofer with the 1962 album Hollywood Jazz Beat which has Bryant performing movie themes with an orchestra. For many years, Bryant toured with his brother Tommy until his health grew worse and he died on June 2, 2011 at age 79. Here's a promotional video for It's Madison Time by Ray Bryant that is supposed to teach you how to do the dance.
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