Ron Dewar

Who is Ron Dewar?

Ron Dewar is a jazz tenor saxophone player in the Chicago area. He has toured and recorded with many well-known musicians, including Elvis Presley, Clark Terry, Sarah Vaughan, and Louis Bellson. In the 1970s, Dewar was the leader of the traditional jazz band The Memphis Nighthawks. Memphis Nighthawks recordings include the albums Jazz Lips on Delmark Records and Live at the Stabilizer.

Dewar began his career at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Ron was a featured soloist the U of I Big Band led by John Garvey which travelled to the USSR on a State Department sponsored tour. Musical associations from that time include trumpeter/composer Jim Knaap, drummers Charlie Brougham and Joel Spencer, bassist Kelly Sill, pianist/composer Jim McNeely, the Bridgewater family, pianists Denny Zeitlin and Donny Heitler, trumpeter Art Davis, drummer George Marsh, saxophonist Ed Petersen and many more.

In the 1970s, while playing with traditional jazz players in Chicago such as Doc Kittrell and Roy Rubenstein, Ron developed a passion for the music of New Orleans.