Representative Albums: "Flying Out," "Music from the Source," "Compassion"
Biography
One of post-bop's most advanced and versatile bassists, Cecil McBee has played with an enormous variety of artists, and is just as capable in a solo or group improvisational context as he is at offering thoughtfully advanced background support. McBee was born May 19, 1935, in Tulsa, and played clarinet as a high schooler before switching to bass at age 17. He studied to be a music teacher and spent two years conducting a military band; he played with Dinah Washington in 1959, and, in 1962, he moved to Detroit to make inroads into the city's burgeoning jazz scene. He joined Paul Winter's folk-jazz ensemble in 1963, and moved to New York with them the following year. McBee found numerous opportunities there, recording and playing with artists like Andrew Hill, Sam Rivers, Jackie McLean, Wayne Shorter, and Keith Jarrett. He worked with Charles Lloyd during the saxophonist's breakthrough year of 1966, and later in the decade recorded with Pharoah Sanders, Yusef Lateef, Alice Coltrane, and Charles Tolliver. The '70s found McBee maintaining many of those connections, while also playing with Abdullah Ibrahim, Lonnie Liston Smith, Joanne Brackeen, Art Pepper, and Chico Freeman, plus leading his first session for Strata East in 1974 (titled Mutima). Two live dates from 1977 featuring Freeman, Music From the Source and Alternate Spaces, followed on small labels. McBee branched out into string-driven chamber jazz on his next effort, 1982's Flying Out. After 1983's Compassion, though, McBee remained largely silent as a leader for quite some time, returning to his familiar sideman role. In 1996, he formed his own quintet and began touring Europe; their music was documented on 1997's Unspoken. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide
Cecil McBee (born May 19, 1935) is an Americanpost bopjazzbassist, described by the Guinness Who's Who of Jazz (Second Edition, ed. Colin Larkin, 1995) as "a full-toned bassist who creates rich, singing phrases in a wide range of contemporary jazz contexts." Allmusic called him "One of post-bop's most advanced and versatile bassists".[1]
McBee was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on 19 May 1935. He studied clarinet at school, but switched to bass at the age of 17, and began playing in local nightclubs. After gaining a music degree from Ohio Central State University, he spent two years in the army, during which time he conducted the band at Fort Knox. In 1959 he played with Dinah Washington, and in 1962 he moved to Detroit, where he worked with Paul Winter's folk-rock ensemble from 1963-1964. His jazz career began in earnest 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 (1969-1972).
He established his own group in 1975, and has made a number of recordings under his own name, but is best known for his work as a sideman; he continues to be in high demand, and has gone on to work with many jazz musicians.
Pharoah Sanders/David Murray/McCoy Tyner/Cecil McBee/Roy Haynes, Blues for Coltrane: A Tribute to John Coltrane (MCA, 1987) Winner, Best instrumental performance, individual or group, Grammy Awards, 1988.
Pharoah Sanders, Thembi (Impulse Records, 1970) Includes a five-minute McBee bass solo, 'Love'.
Alice Coltrane, Journey in Satchidanda (Impulse Records, 1970)
Sam Rivers, Hues (1970)
Pharoah Sanders, Black Unity (Impulse Records, 1971)
Pharoah Sanders, Live at the East (1972) McBee performs on these two records a part of a two-bass team with Stanley Clarke and Calvin Hall respectively.
Dollar Brand (Abdullah Ibrahim), African Space Program (Enja, 1973)
