OSCAR PETTIFORD

Oscar Pettiford (30 September 1922 in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, – 8 September 1960 in Copenhagen, Denmark) was an American jazz double bassist, cellist and composer known particularly for his pioneering work in bebop.
Biography

Pettiford's mother was Choctaw and his father was half Cherokee and half African American. Like many people with African American and Native American ancestry, his Native heritage was not generally known except to a few close friends (which included David Amram).

He grew up playing in the family band in which he sang and danced before switching to piano at the age of 12 then to double bass when he was 14. He is quoted as say he did not like the way people were playing the bass so he developed his own way of doing it. Despite being admired by the likes of Milt Hinton at the age of 14 he gave up in 1941 as he did not believe he could make a living. He met Milt again after 5 months and he talked him back into music.

In 1942 he joined the Charlie Barnet band and in 1943 gained wider public attention after recording with Coleman Hawkins on his "The Man I Love." He also recorded with Earl Hines and Ben Webster around this time. He and Dizzy Gillespie led a bop group in 1943. In 1945 Pettiford went with Hawkins to California, where he appeared in The Crimson Canary, a mystery movie known for its jazz soundtrack. He then worked with Duke Ellington from 1945 to 1948 and for Woody Herman in 1949 before working mainly as a leader in the 1950s.

As a leader he inadvertently discovered Cannonball Adderley. After one of his musicians had tricked him into letting Adderley, an unknown music teacher, onto the stand, he had Adderley solo on a demanding piece, on which Adderley performed impressively.

Pettiford is considered the pioneer of the cello as a solo instrument in jazz music. He first played the cello as a practical joke on his band leader [Woody Herman] when he walked off stage during his solo spot and came back, unexpectedly with a cello and played on that. In 1949, after suffering a broken arm, Pettiford found it impossible to play his bass, so he experimented with a cello a friend had lent him. Tuning it in fourths, like a double bass, but one octave higher, Pettiford found it possible to perform during his rehabilitation (during which time his arm was in a sling) and made his first recordings with the instrument in 1950. The cello thus became his secondary instrument, and he continued to perform and record with it throughout the remainder of his career.

He recorded extensively during the 1950s for the Debut, Bethlehem and ABC Paramount labels among others, and for European companies after he moved to Copenhagen in 1958. Along with his contemporary, Charles Mingus, Pettiford stands out as one of the most-recorded bass-playing bandleader/composers in jazz.

His best known compositions include "Tricrotism" (frequently misspelled "Tricotism"), "Laverne Walk," "Blues in the Closet", "Bohemia After Dark," and "Swingin' Till the Girls Come Home."

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[b. Okmulgee, OK, 30 Sept 1922; d. Copenhagen, 8 Sept 1960). Double bass player, Cellist, and bandleader. Of mixed black and American Indian descent, Pettiford was born into a large musical family and consequently learned many instruments in the cource of participating in the band's travels. Recorded with many prominent jazz musicians of the day including, Dizzy Gillespie, Roy Eldridge, Duke Ellington, Woody Herman, and later, Thelonius Monk. Pettiford was renouned for his ill temperment and personnel problems with his recording endeavors. Most influential for his innovations in the bass theory of the bop sound. Considered one of the learning standards of Bop bass playing. Also helped bring the double bass to the foreground as a solo instrument.

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One of the giants of the double bass, Oscar Pettiford was known for his fine tone, the clarity of his attack, and the melody of his line. A successor to Jimmy Blanton and a contemporary of Red Callender and Charles Mingus, Pettiford was among the most sought-after musicians in jazz. During his short life, Pettiford distinguished himself as a performer, composer, and bandleader.

Born in 1922 on an Indian reservation in Okmulgee, Okla., Pettiford grew up around music — his father headed the family band, and his mother played the piano and taught music. Even at a young age, "OP," as he was called by friends, was a talent to be reckoned with. By age 10, Pettiford was singing in front of the family band. By 14, he was playing the bass, and his burgeoning skill would soon change the way the bass was heard and played.

During the early '40s, Jimmy Blanton, Duke Ellington's nimble bassist, was redefining the role of the bass in jazz. Blanton and fellow bassist Milt Hinton were both major influences on Pettiford. Once, while living in Minneapolis, Pettiford quit the bass for a steady job, but Hinton convinced him to stay with it. Just months later, he was hired by saxophone-playing bandleader Charlie Barnet.

In 1943, Blanton left Minneapolis and headed to New York, a city which intimidated many young musicians. Pettiford soon made a name for himself and became a frequent performer in the city's jazz clubs, jamming with bebop pioneers. He landed gigs with the likes of Thelonious Monk, Coleman Hawkins, Roy Eldridge, Erroll Garner, and Max Roach. Pianist Billy Taylor recalls seeing the young Pettiford in performance: "OP had the strength and the rhythmic capacity to do things that were on the same level as Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker," Taylor says.

In 1945, Pettiford joined Ellington's band, where he stayed for three years. In Woody Herman's band, Pettiford often played the cello — he was one of the first to incorporate the instrument into jazz performances. "He got the same tone on the cello as he did on the bass; it's amazing," bassist Christian McBride says. "Just pure, clean notes." 

A prolific performer, Pettiford also composed and recorded some two dozen tunes. A few, such as "Tricotism" and "Bohemia After Dark," have become minor standards. Jazz fans and musicians still marvel at the intricacy of Pettiford's compositions.

In 1958, Pettiford traveled to Europe with the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band. He liked it there so much that he made it his home. He experienced stints with saxophonist Stan Getz, and with prominent European musicians such as Hans Koller and Attila Zoller, but never achieved the level of acclaim for which he had hoped. Oscar Pettiford died in 1960 in Copenhagen, at the age of 37.

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Oscar Pettiford was (along with Charles Mingus) the top bassist of the 1945-1960 period, and the successor to the late Jimmy Blanton. In addition, he was the first major jazz soloist on the cello. A bop pioneer, it would have been very interesting to hear what Pettiford would have done during the avant-garde '60s if he had not died unexpectedly in 1960. After starting on piano, Pettiford switched to bass when he was 14 and played in a family band. He played with Charlie Barnet's band in 1942 as one of two bassists (the other was Chubby Jackson) and then hit the big time in 1943, participating on Coleman Hawkins' famous "The Man I Love" session; he also recorded with Earl Hines and Ben Webster during this period. Pettiford co-led an early bop group with Dizzy Gillespie in 1944, and in 1945 went with Coleman Hawkins to the West Coast, appearing on one song in the film The Crimson Canary with Hawkins and Howard McGhee. Pettiford was part of Duke Ellington's orchestra during much of 1945-1948 (fulfilling his role as the next step beyond Jimmy Blanton), and worked with Woody Herman in 1949. Throughout the 1950s, he mostly worked as a leader (on bass and occasional cello), although he appeared on many records both as a sideman and a leader, including with Thelonious Monk in 1955-1956. After going to Europe in 1958, he settled in Copenhagen where he worked with local musicians, plus Stan Getz, Bud Powell, and Kenny Clarke. Among Pettiford's better-known compositions are "Tricotism," "Laverne Walk," "Bohemia After Dark," and "Swingin' Till the Girls Come Home." ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

Discography

As leader
Bass Hits (Topaz, 1943-46)
Discoveries (1952)
The New Oscar Pettiford Sextet (Debut, 1953) with Charles Mingus, Julius Watkins, Walter Bishop jr., Percy Bridge
First Bass (1953)
Oscar Pettiford Sextet (Vogue, 1954) with Kai Winding, Al Cohn, Tal Farlow, Henri Renaud, Max Roach
Basically Duke (1954)
O.P. Big Band: Deep Passion (GRP, 1956-57) with Tommy Flanagan, David Kurtzer, Jerome Richardson, Osie Johnson, Janet Putnam u.a.
The Oscar Pettiford Orchestra in Hi-Fi, Vol. 1 (1956) & Vol. 2 (1957)
Vienna Blues – The Complete Session (Black Lion, 1959) with Hans Koller, Attila Zoller, Jimmy Pratt
Montmartre Blues (Black Lion, 1959-60)
The Complete Essen Jazz Festival Concert, (Black Lion, 1960) with Coleman Hawkins, Bud Powell, Kenny Clarke
My Little Cello (1960)

As sideman
The Birdlanders: Vol. 2 (OJC, 1954) with Kai Winding, Al Cohn, Tal Farlow Duke Jordan, Max Roach, Denzil Best
Sid Catlett; 1944-1946 (Classics)
Chris Connor & John Lewis Quartet: Chris Connor (Atlantic)
Miles Davis: The Musings Of Miles (Prestige)
Miles Davis: Miles Davis Volume 1/Miles Davis Volume 2 (Blue Note, 1952-54)
Kenny Dorham: Jazz Contrasts (OJC, 1957) Afro-Cuban ((Blue Note, 1955)
Duke Ellington: Carnegie Hall Concert January 1946 (Prestige)
Duke Ellington: Carnegie Hall Concert December 1947 (Prestige) bzw. 1947-1948 (Classics), 1949-1950 (Classics), Great Times! (OJC, 1950) (enthält Perdido, Blues for Blanton)
Tal Farlow; Jazz Masters 41 (Verve 1955-58) bzw. Finest Hour (Verve, 1955-58)
Leonard Feather: 1937-1945 (Classics,1952-56)
Dizzy Gillespie: 1945 (Classics)
Urbie Green: East Coast Series Vol. 6 (Bethlehem, 1956)
Jimmy Hamilton & The New York Jazz Quintet (Fresh Sound Rec.)
Coleman Hawkins: Rainbow Mist (Delmark, 1944), The Hawk Flies High (OJC, 1957)
Ernie Henry: Last Chorus (OJC, 1956-57)
Woody Herman: Keeper Of the Flame (Capitol, 1948-49)
Johnny Hodges: Caravan (Prestige, 1947-51)
Helen Humes;: 1927-1945 (Classics)
Lee Konitz / Warne Marsh Quintet (Atlantic, 1955)
Helen Merrill: with Clifford Brown & Gil Evans (Emarcy, 1954-56)
Thelonious Monk: The Unique, Brilliant Corners, Plays the Music Of Duke Ellington (Riverside/OJC)
Phineas Newborn: Here Is Phineas (Koch, 19569)
Leo Parker: Prestige First Sessions: Volume 1 (Prestige, 1950)
Max Roach: Deeds, Not Words (OJC, 1958)
Sonny Rollins: Freedom Suite (1958) auf The Essentuial S.R. on Riverside (1956-58)
Charle Rouse: Jazz Modes (Biograph, 1956)
Billy Strayhorn: Great Times! (OJC, 1950)
Art Tatum: The Art Of Tatum (ASV, 32-44)
Lucky Thompson: Accent On Tenor Sax (FSR, 1954)
George Wallington: The George Wallington Trios (OJC, 1952-53)