Ronnie Laws

Ronnie Laws
Birth name	Ronald Wayne Laws
Born	(1950-10-03) October 3, 1950
Origin	Houston, Texas, United States
Genres	Jazz, blues, funk
Instruments	Saxophone, flute
Years active	1972–present
Labels	Blue Note, Liberty, Columbia
Associated acts	Hubert Laws, Debra Laws, Earth, Wind & Fire
Website	www.myspace.com/ronnielaws

Ronald Wayne "Ronnie" Laws (born October 3, 1950, Houston, Texas) is an American jazz, rhythm and blues and funk saxophonist. He is the younger brother of jazz flautist Hubert Laws and the older brother of Debra Laws.

Biography

Laws is the fifth of eight children born to Hubert Laws, Sr. and Miola Luverta Donahue.

Laws attended Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, for two years. In 1972, Laws joined the fledgling group Earth, Wind & Fire, playing saxophone and flute on their album Last Days and Time. He left the band soon afterwards, long before they achieved their commercial success.

In 1975, he began his solo career with the album Pressure Sensitive, which yielded his most famous instrumental song, "Always There." The song became an instant jazz-funk classic, covered by numerous artists.

In 1978 he released the album titled Flame under United Artists Records and from it a 12" single was released called "All for You," as well as additional tracks (from previous albums) entitled "Let's Keep it Together" and "Nuthin' 'bout Nuthin." The 12" single was his first issued in the UK as well as the US, and paved the way for this format to be used for promoting artists' work at the time without the need to obtain the full LP.

Apart from playing saxophone, Laws also sings. Notable vocals include "Every Generation" (1980), "Stay Awake" (1981, included on the album Solid Ground) and "Mr. Nice Guy" (1982).

Laws has also recorded with numerous other artists, including Arthur Adams, Howard Hewett, Brian Culbertson, Ramsey Lewis, Jeff Lorber, Hugh Masekela, Alphonse Mouzon, David Sea, and Sister Sledge.

A tribute to Ronnie Laws' aforementioned hit, "Always There," was performed in 1999 by a group of musicians including Boney James, Rick Braun, Kirk Whalum, Kenny Garrett and Larry Carlton at the Montreux Jazz Festival. The performance can be seen on the Casino Lights '99' DVD.

In June 2005, Laws' 1980 LP Every Generation was issued on CD format for the first time. The original tracks are "Young Child," "Never Get Back to Houston," "Every Generation," "Tomorrow," "O.T.B.A.," "Love's Victory," "Thoughts and Memories" and "As One."

Whilst never gaining the popularity in the UK that he has in the US, his music continues to be played by jazz funk and soul stations. Many have argued that Laws has been underrated as a musician in the UK but the die hard fans continue to recognize his ability to play the saxophone, employing the instrument to its full potential.

Discography

Year	Album title	Label
1975	Pressure Sensitive	Blue Note
1976	Fever	Blue Note
1977	Friends & Strangers	Blue Note, United Artists
1978	Flame	United Artists
1980	Every Generation	Liberty, United Artists
1981	Solid Ground	Liberty
1982	Mr. Nice Guy	Liberty, United Artists
1984	Classic Masters	Liberty, United Artists
1986	Mirror Town	Columbia
1987	All Day Rhythm	Columbia
1989	True Spirit	Par
1990	Identity	ARD
1992	Deep Soul	Par
1995	Brotherhood	Intuition
1995	Pressure	ARG
1995	Natural Laws	Right Stuff
1996	Tribute to Legendary Eddie Harris	Blue Note
1998	Portrait of The Isley Brothers: Harvest for...	Blue Note
2000	Dream A Little	HDH
2001	Ronnie Laws Live	Scepterstein
2004	Everlasting	HDH
2009	Voices In The Water	Century 22 Productions

As sideman

With Hubert Laws

• In the Beginning (CTI, 1974)

External links

• Ronnie Laws Page by sceptersteinrecords.com
• Ronnie Laws Page by soulwalking.co.uk
• Ronnie Laws interview for the WGBH series, Say Brother