Born 1943 in Winnipeg, Ron has lived and worked here most of his life. He began his musical life at the age of seven as a student of the steel guitar and was playing professionally at the tender age of 11. In his mid-teens, he became a close friend and colleague of jazz legend Lenny Breau, with whom he worked for about 10 years until Breau left Winnipeg. Ron played electric bass on Breau’s first recordings (for RCA Victor) – Guitar Sounds From Lenny Breau and The Velvet Touch – the latter recorded at Shelley’s Manne Hole in Hollywood. He has been a sideman on scores of other recordings with a diverse array of artists including The Guess Who.
In addition to his work with Breau, Ron has had a busy career as a studio musician at the CBC and various private studios. He was a regular in the pit at Rainbow Stage and has performed in many other professional musical theatre productions.
Ron has worked in the film medium as an arranger/composer for several National Film Board projects as well as feature length movie scores for private production companies. He has performed as a casual player with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra throughout his career and continues to do so.
In November of 2001, Ron was honoured to receive the CanWest Global Jazz Award for lifetime achievement in Jazz.
Ron joined the Music to My Ears program in April 2005 and continues with the program at the present time.
