Cecil McBee | |
Birth Date: | May 19, 1935 |
Birth Place: | Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S. |
Genre: | Jazz |
Occupation: | Musician |
Instrument: | Double bass |
Label: | Strata-East, Enja, India Navigation, Palmetto |
Associated Acts: | Dinah Washington, Paul Winter, Miles Davis, Andrew Hill, Sam Rivers, Jackie McLean, Wayne Shorter, Charles Lloyd, Yusef Lateef, Keith Jarrett, Freddie Hubbard, Woody Shaw, Alice Coltrane, The Cookers |
Cecil McBee (born May 19, 1935)[1] is an American jazz bassist. He has recorded as a leader only a handful of times since the 1970s, but has contributed as a sideman to a number of classic jazz albums.
McBee was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States.[1] He studied clarinet at school, but switched to bass at the age of 17, and began playing in local nightclubs.[1] After gaining a music degree from Ohio Central State University, McBee spent two years in the U.S. Army, during which time he conducted the band at Fort Knox.[1] In 1959, he played with Dinah Washington, and in 1962 he moved to Detroit, Michigan, where he worked with Paul Winter's folk-rock ensemble between 1963 and 1964.[1]
His jazz career began to take off in the mid-1960s, after he moved to New York, when he began playing and recording with a number of significant musicians including Miles Davis, Andrew Hill, Sam Rivers, Jackie McLean (1964), Wayne Shorter (1965–66), Charles Lloyd (1966), Yusef Lateef (1967–69), Keith Jarrett, Freddie Hubbard and Woody Shaw (1986), and Alice Coltrane (1969–72).[1]
In the 2000s, McBee unsuccessfully sued a Japanese company that opened a chain of stores under his name.[2]
He was an artist in residence at Harvard from 2010 to 2011.[3] He teaches at the New England Conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts.
With Almanac (Mike Nock, Bennie Maupin, McBee, Eddie Marshall)
With George Adams
With Ray Anderson
With Chet Baker
With Bill Barron
With Kenny Barron
With the Bob Thiele Collective
With Joanne Brackeen
With Dollar Brand
With Anthony Braxton
With Roy Brooks
With Joe Chambers
With Alice Coltrane
With Junior Cook
With Stanley Cowell
With Ted Curson
With Ricky Ford
With Chico Freeman
With Hal Galper
With Johnny Griffin
With Louis Hayes
With Roy Haynes
With Andrew Hill
With Freddie Hubbard and Woody Shaw
With Elvin Jones
With Clifford Jordan
With John Klemmer
With Prince Lasha
With Yusef Lateef
With The Leaders
With Dave Liebman
With Charles Lloyd
With Raphe Malik
With Joe Maneri
With Jackie McLean
With Lloyd McNeill
With Charles McPherson
With Grachan Moncur III
With Tisziji Munoz
With Amina Claudine Myers
With Art Pepper
With Dannie Richmond
With Sam Rivers
With Charlie Rouse
With Pharoah Sanders
With various artists
With Saxophone Summit
With Zbigniew Seifert
With Woody Shaw
With Archie Shepp
With Wayne Shorter
With Sonny Simmons
With Lonnie Liston Smith
With Buddy Tate and Dollar Brand
With Leon Thomas
With Horace Tapscott
With Charles Tolliver
With Mickey Tucker
With McCoy Tyner
With James "Blood" Ulmer
With Mal Waldron
With Michael White
With Paul Winter
With Yōsuke Yamashita
With Denny Zeitlin
With Norman Connors