It's been a bad week for bassists, as legendary jazz bassist Ray Brown died in his sleep at the age of 75. Brown, who was married to Ella Fitzgerald for four years, was on tour with his trio at the time.

A college buddy I lived with for a summer introduced me to Ray Brown via the excellent CD Soular Energy, which featured a lovely arrangement of Take the A Train and the rip-snorting Mistreated but Undefeated Blues, which is on my short list of Greatest Song Titles Ever. Take a moment and check it out.

Vaya con Dios, Ray Brown.