Ron Small

Ron Small, born and raised in Chicago, began his professional singing career in the US Air Force with the vocal group, The Fabulous Pearls. They performed their hit song, "My Heart's Desire," on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1958.

After discharge from the military Ron first traveled north with The Fabulous Pearls for a Vancouver engagement. The rest of The Fabulous Pearls headed south but Ron stayed and soon established himself as a regular on the city’s club circuit. After some time, Ron owned the coffee house “Ronnie’s Riverqueen” on Davie Street.

Ron became a producer as well as a performer of some of the best jazz Vancouver had to offer in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. What was intended to be a one-year Toronto visit turned into twenty years. Ron began to add stage, film and television to his singing career. Dramatic highlights include One More Stop on the Freedom Train, written and directed by Leon Bibb, and his first film, Fields of Endless Day, one of the first substantive films about Black History in Canada.

Performing as an original cast member in Garth Drabinsky’s revival of Show Boat kept Ron on the road from Toronto to Vancouver and on to California, Missouri, Minnesota, Florida and points in between. After six months in England in 1998, Ron returned to Vancouver to live. In 2001 Ron received a nomination for the Gemini Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Guest Role, Dramatic Series, as a result of his work in the CBC Television series, These Arms Of Mine.

Aside from having sold out performances at The Cellar Jazz Club in Vancouver, Ron sings with the awesome gospel trio, The Sojourners. This was the group that backed Jim Byrnes on his Juno Award wining CD, House of Refuge. They recently released their own CD, Hold On, and continue to sell out their performances wherever they go.

Mr. Small is a member of and soloist with The Good Noise Vancouver Gospel Choir. Ron recently recorded his latest solo jazz CD at The Cellar Jazz Club in Vancouver; target release date is July, 2008. Ron Small is a part of Vancouver’s black history.