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Cleveland Eaton

 
Artist: Cleveland Eaton
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Pop Artists

Worked With:

Count Basie, Ramsey Lewis, Bill Hughes, John Williams, Maurice White, Danny Turner, Kenny Hing, Morris Jennings
  • Active: '70s, '80s
  • Genres: Jazz
  • Instrument: Bass

Biography

Legendary jazz bassist Cleveland Eaton was born in 1940 in Birmingham, AL. He began the study of music when he was only five years old. Ten years later he had mastered the piano, trumpet, and saxophone. When a teacher allowed him to take a bass home for practice, Eaton spent nearly every waking hour learning the instrument. He became what many call one of the best jazz bassists in the business. He has also made a name for himself as a composer, producer, and arranger. Some people are born with natural talent, and maybe Eaton had more than his reasonable share, but nothing was handed to him. He worked hard, long hours, keeping his dreams clearly in his line of vision. The hard work paid off early, and before he completed the ninth grade in high school, the young musician was earning significant enough paychecks to afford a brand new car.

In time, Eaton left his birthplace behind and moved to Chicago, IL. He kept working relentlessly, to the point of performing with over a dozen bands in one single day. He soon began recording with the Ramsey Lewis Trio. During a decade of service, Eaton performed on 30 recordings with the trio. Four of those albums went gold, and so did just as many singles, including "Wade in the Water" and "Hang on Sloopy." In 1979, Eaton was inducted into the Jazz Hall of Fame. The same year, he became a member of the Count Basie Orchestra. While in the orchestra he added another ten albums to his resume. All together he has lent his talents on somewhere over a 100 albums and composed about three times as many songs. Eaton, as a nominee for the Alabama Music Hall of Fame, finally went home to Birmingham in 1985. There he put together a band of his own, Cleve Eaton & Co. The ensemble has recorded tunes like "Corner Pocket," and "The B'ham Shuffle." Most of the group's numbers mix R&B and pop in with jazz.

During his long career, Cleveland Eaton has performed with many great artists, including Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespy, the Temptations, John Klemmer, Miles Davis, Smokey Robinson, Sarah Vaughn, Walter Jackson, and many others. ~ Charlotte Dillon, All Music Guide
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Wikipedia: Cleveland Eaton
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Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
Cleveland "Cleve" Eaton

Cleve Eaton
Background information
Born August 31, 1939 (1939-08-31) (age 70)
Fairfield, Alabama
United States
Genres Jazz, swing, funk, R&B, pop
Occupations Musician, bandleader, producer, composer, publisher, arranger, businessman
Instruments Double Bass, saxophone, trumpet, tuba
Years active 1960 to Present

Cleveland Eaton (born August 31, 1939) is an American jazz double bassist from Fairfield, Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama. His most famous accomplishments are substantial playing stints with the Ramsey Lewis Trio and later with the Count Basie Orchestra. His entertaining style and deep knowledge of jazz tradition have earned him great respect in the jazz community. His 1975 recording Plenty Good Eaton is also considered a classic in the funk music genre.[1]

Contents

Biography

Cleveland Josephus "Cleve" Eaton II was raised with an intense comprehensive musical background. He was playing his mother’s piano at the age of five, and turned his efforts toward the saxophone by the time he was eight. Eaton took up the trumpet two years later, and when he reached the age of fifteen, music teacher John Springer introduced him to the tuba and bass.

Eaton played in a jazz group in college at Tennessee A & I State University (now Tennessee State University), where he earned his bachelor’s degree in music in 1960. He then moved to Chicago and toured with the Ike Cole Trio. He later performed memorable concert tours with top-notch jazz bands led by Larry Novak, Ramsey Lewis, and the legendary Count Basie.

Over the years, Cleveland Eaton became a consummate bassist, producer, composer, publisher, arranger, and head of his own Birmingham-based record company. As a recording artist, Eaton’s version of Bama Boogie Woogie became a phenomenal best seller in the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, France, and Australia.

Cleveland Eaton was nominated to the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 1993, has a Bronze Star in the Walk of Fame, and was inducted on February 22, 2008. Eaton’s other numerous honors include his induction into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame 1979, the Playboy Jazz Poll, Canada’s Cultural Enhancement Award and the Achievement Award at the Count Basie Tribute Concert. He received the Governor’s Arts Award in 1995 Alabama and the Don Redman Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004.

Cleve Eaton is a recognized name in the jazz world, as a producer, composer, arranger, and for his incredible performances with the Ike Cole Trio, Donald Byrd-Pepper Adams Quintet, the Larry Novak Trio, and over thirty recordings in his ten years with the Ramsey Lewis Trio, which included four gold singles, including "Hang on Sloopy" and "Wade in the Water". There were four gold albums, including Solar Wind' and Sun Goddess.

Eaton has played on notable recording sessions with nearly all genres – jazz with John Klemmer and Bunky Green, R&B with The Dells and Bobby Rush, pop with Minnie Riperton, Jerry Butler and Rotary Connection, big band music with George Benson, Henry Mancini, Frank Sinatra, Joe Williams, Billy Eckstein, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald. Eaton was dubbed “the Count’s Bassist” during his six-year stint and over ten recordings with the Count Basie Orchestra. Eaton has also performed with Nancy Wilson, Peggy Lee, Meme Hines, Sammy Davis, Jr., Julie London, Bobby Troupe, Brook Benton, Lou Rawls, Nipsey Russell, Morgana King, Gloria Lynne, Herbie Hancock, the Magic City Jazz Orchestra, The Platters(original), The Temptations, and The Miracles. In 1974, he began performing and touring with his own group, Cleve Eaton and Co., and in 2004 his group became Cleve Eaton and the Alabama All Stars. Several other well-known Alabama jazz musicians, including pianist Ray Reach, drummer John Nuckols, trumpeter Tommy Stewart and saxophonist Sam Williams, are frequent players with Cleve Eaton and the Alabama All Stars.

According to the May 7th-14th 2009 issue of the Birmingham Weekly, a free weekly paper, Eaton has been diagnosed with oral cancer.

Discography

Cleve Eaton, rehearsing with the Ray Reach Quartet, for a performance with Lew Soloff at the 2008 Taste of 4th Avenue Jazz Festival in Birmingham, Alabama.

As leader

  • 1973: Half and Half (Gamble)
  • 1975: The Eaton Menu
  • 1975: Plenty Good Eaton (Black Jazz Records)
  • 1976: Instant Hip (Ovation)
  • 1979: Bama Boogie Woogie (Miracle)
  • 1980: Keep Love Alive (Miracle)
  • 1983: Love and Dance (TBA Records)
  • 1983: Raw "Live Jazz" Featuring Miss Funky Lu (TBA Records)
  • I Promise Jesus (TBA Records)
  • 1984: A Classic (Cleveland Eaton Enterprises)
  • 1985: Vol. 1 Live (TBA Records)
  • 1997: Cleve Eaton Orchestra

As sidmean

With the Ramsey Lewis

  • Wade in the Water (1966)
  • Dancing in the Street (1967)
  • Goin' Latin (1967)
  • Maiden Voyage (1968)
  • Another Voyage (1969)
  • Upendo Ni Pamoja (1972)
  • Funky Serenity (1973)
  • Sun Goddess (1974)
  • Solar Wind (1974)

With the Count Basie Orchestra

  • Strollin' with the Count (1980). Ovation
  • Kansas City Shout (1980). Pablo
  • Warm Breeze (1981).
  • 88 Basie Street (1983). Fantasy. (Winner 1984 Grammy Awards Best Jazz Instrumental Performance - Big Band)
  • Me and You (1983).
  • Fancy Pants (1983).
  • The Legend, the Legacy (1989)
  • George Benson/Count Basie Orchestra Big Boss Band (1990).
  • Best of the Count Basie Big Band (1991)
  • Live at El Morocco (1992).
  • Joe Williams/Count Basie Orchestra "I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water" (1992)
  • Joe Williams/Count Basie Orchestra "Orchestra Hall, Detroit, November 20, 1992" (1992)

With Bunky Green

  • Playing for Keeps (1966)

With Gene Ammons

  • w/Dexter Gordon The Chase (1970)
  • w/James Moody Chicago Concert (1971)

With the Soulful Strings

  • Groovin' with the Soulful Strings (1967)
  • The Magic of Christmas (1968)

With Robert Moore

  • Serve You Ma'am (2000)
  • Wildcat (2005)

Compilations

  • Santa's Bag: An All-Star Jazz Christmas "Christmas Blues" (1994) Telarc

References

  1. ^ Allmusic biography

External links


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 
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Artist. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
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