Roger Ball (musician)

Roger Ball (born 4 June 1944, Broughty Ferry, Scotland) is a Scottish saxophonist, keyboardist, songwriter and arranger.

The three of them relocated to London separately, but joined forces again in 1971 to form the nucleus of the Average White Band (AWB).

[1] These six Scots were an unlikely group to be successful playing American styled funk, but went on to be nominated for three Grammy Awards in the Rhythm & Blues category.

Before forming AWB in 1971, Ball was a session musician in London, arranging and playing for Vinegar Joe, Badfinger, Kiki Dee and Elton John, Mama Cass, Bryan Ferry, Roxy Music and others.

He cites his influences on saxophone as Johnny Hodges, John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley and, as an arranger, Oliver Nelson.