Ronnie Greb is an East Coast-based jazz drummer best known on records for his work with Jack Teagarden's band over nearly three years, from 1957 through 1960. Born Ronnie Graboski in Duryea, PA, in 1938, he showed an interest in music as a boy and became a member of his school marching band in the second grade, circa 1945, and began studying the drums in earnest six years later. By the time he graduated from high school, he'd been a member of a band that managed a win on #Ted Mack's Original Amateur Hour, and had studied drums in New York at the Gene Krupa-Cozy Cole school, as well as taking up composition and arranging.

Greb played with a local orchestra in Pennsylvania before moving to Brooklyn with his family, and was able to land gigs with various local bands in the mid-'50s, playing restaurants and clubs. He became a member of Teagarden's band in late 1956, and participated on the Big T's Dixieland Band album in April 1958 as well as Teagarden's early releases on Roulette. He toured steadily with Teagarden for three years, and shows up on several live recordings by the trombone legend from that era, but was let go abruptly in September of 1960 -- replaced by Barrett Deems -- but immediately jumped to Muggsy Spanier's band. He stayed with Spanier into the following year before joining the Navy for a four-year hitch. He turned to the camera repair business after resuming civilian life, but as of 2005 had never given up playing drums in his off-hours. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi