Artist: Larry Ridley

Larry Ridley is an American jazz bassist and  music educator. 

Ridley was born and reared in Indianapolis, Indiana.  He began performing professionally while still in high school in the 1950s. He studied at the Indiana University School of Music, and later at the Lenox School of Jazz. Ridley has been involved in jazz education, heading the jazz program at Rutgers University. David Baker, another Indianapolis native and notable jazz musician, was one of his prime mentors. Ridley was bassist for David Baker's Big band during his studies at Indiana University. 

Ridley served as chairman of the Jazz Panel of the  National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and was the organization's National Coordinator of the "Jazz Artists in Schools" Program for five years (1978–1982). Ridley is a recipient of the MidAtlantic Arts Foundation's "Living Legacy Jazz Award", a 1998 inductee the International Association for Jazz Education Hall of Fame (IAJE), an inductee of the Downbeat Magazine Jazz Education Hall of Fame, a recipient of the Benny Golson Jazz Award from Howard University, and was honored by a Juneteenth 2006 Proclamation Award from the New York City Council.