Ford (Ricky) is born in Boston.

Ricky Ford grows up in Roxbury and Dorchester, attends the New England Conservatory, studies with Joe Allard and records with Gunther Schuller, and plays at the Jazz Workshop, Wally’s and other local venues. He joins the Duke Ellington Orchestra in 1974 and goes on to play with other bands led by Charlie Mingus, Lionel Hampton and others. He moves to Paris in the 1990s and continues to tour and perform all over the world.