Ronald “Khalis” Bell
They started as an instrumental jazz band on the New York scene in the sixties. And it was that instrumental training that gave Kool and the Gang a sound that was simultaneously tight and loose. Ronald Bell was at the heart of that sound. A self-taught player with a golden ear, he was the writer, producer and arranger behind many of the group’s timeless tunes: Jungle Boogie, Celebration, Cherish, and of course, Hollywood Swinging.