Cecil McBee (born May 19, 1935) is an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

bassist. He has recorded as a leader only a handful of times since the 1970s, but has contributed as a

sideman A sideman is a professional musician who is hired to perform live with a solo artist, or with a group in which they are not a regular band member. The term is usually used to describe musicians that play with jazz or rock artists, whether solo o ...

to a number of classic jazz albums.

Biography

Early life and career

McBee was born in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa ( ) is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, second-most-populous city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the List of United States cities by population, 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The po ...

, United States. 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, McBee spent two years in the U.S. Army, during which time he conducted the band at

Fort Knox Fort Knox is a United States Army installation in Kentucky, south of Louisville and north of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Elizabethtown. It is adjacent to the United States Bullion Depository (also known as Fort Knox), which is used to house a larg ...

. In 1959, he played with

Dinah Washington Dinah Washington (; born Ruth Lee Jones; August 29, 1924 – December 14, 1963) was an American singer and pianist, one of the most popular black female recording artists of the 1950s. Primarily a jazz vocalist, she performed and recorded in a ...

, and in 1962 he moved to

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, where he worked with

Paul Winter Paul Winter (born August 31, 1939) is an American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. He is a pioneer of world music and earth music, which interweaves the voices of the wild with instrumental voices from classical, jazz and world music. The ...

's folk-rock ensemble between 1963 and 1964.

New York

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 Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

, Andrew Hill, Sam Rivers, Jackie McLean (1964), Wayne Shorter (1965–66), Charles Lloyd (1966),

Yusef Lateef Yusef Abdul Lateef (born William Emanuel Huddleston; October 9, 1920 – December 23, 2013) was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, and prominent figure among the Ahmadiyya Community in the United States. Although Lateef's main i ...

(1967–69),

Keith Jarrett Keith Jarrett (born May 8, 1945) is an American pianist and composer. Jarrett started his career with Art Blakey and later moved on to play with Charles Lloyd (jazz musician), Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis. Since the early 1970s, he has also be ...

, Freddie Hubbard and

Woody Shaw Woody Herman Shaw Jr. (December 24, 1944 – May 10, 1989) was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer, arranger, band leader, and educator. Shaw is widely known as one of the 20th century's most important and influentia ...

(1986), and Alice Coltrane (1969–72).

Later career

In the 2000s, McBee unsuccessfully sued a Japanese company that opened a chain of stores under his name. He was an artist in residence at

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

from 2010 to 2011. He teaches at the

New England Conservatory The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a Private college, private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. The conservatory is located on Huntington Avenue along Avenue of the Arts (Boston), the Avenue of the Arts near Boston Symphony Ha ...

in Boston, Massachusetts.

Awards

*1991 he was inducted into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame.

Grammys

*'' Blues for Coltrane: A Tribute to John Coltrane'' (MCA, 1987),

Pharoah Sanders Pharoah Sanders (born Ferrell Lee Sanders; October 13, 1940 – September 24, 2022) was an American jazz saxophonist. Known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as his use of "sheets of sound", San ...

/ David Murray/

McCoy Tyner Alfred McCoy Tyner (December 11, 1938March 6, 2020) was an American jazz piano, jazz pianist and composer known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet from 1960 to 1965, and his long solo career afterwards. He was an NEA Jazz Masters, NEA J ...

/Cecil McBee/ Roy Haynes – Winner, Best instrumental performance, individual or group, Grammy Awards, 1988.

Discography

As leader/co-leader

* '' Mutima'' ( Strata-East, 1974) * '' Alternate Spaces'' (Bomba, 1977) * '' Music from the Source'' ( Enja, 1977 978 * ''

Compassion Compassion is a social feeling that motivates people to go out of their way to relieve the physical, mental, or emotional pains of others and themselves. Compassion is sensitivity to the emotional aspects of the suffering of others. When based ...

'' (Enja, 1977 979 * '' Flying Out'' (India Navigation, 1982) * '' Roots of Blue'' (RPR, 1986) – duets with Muhal Richard Abrams * '' Unspoken'' ( Palmetto, 1996 997 * '' Tribal Ghost'' ( NoBusiness, 2007 013 with John Tchicai, Charlie Kohlhase, Garrison Fewell, and

Billy Hart Billy Hart (born November 29, 1940) is an American jazz drumming, jazz drummer and educator. He is known internationally for his work with Herbie Hancock's "Mwandishi" band in the early 1970s, as well as with Shirley Horn, Stan Getz, and Quest (b ...

With

Almanac An almanac (also spelled almanack and almanach) is a regularly published listing of a set of current information about one or multiple subjects. It includes information like weather forecasting, weather forecasts, farmers' sowing, planting dates ...

(

Mike Nock Michael Anthony Nock (born 27 September 1940) is a New Zealand jazz pianist, who lives and works in Australia. Biography Nock was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, but spent his childhood in Ngāruawāhia. Nock began studying piano at 11. H ...

Bennie Maupin Bennie Maupin (born August 29, 1940) is an American jazz multireedist who performs on various saxophones, flute, and bass clarinet. Biography Maupin was born in Detroit, Michigan. He is known for his participation in Herbie Hancock's Mwandish ...

, McBee, Eddie Marshall) * ''

'' ( Improvising Artists, 1967 977

As sideman

With George Adams *''

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

'' (Blue Note, 1990) With Ray Anderson *'' Old Bottles - New Wine'' (Enja, 1985) With

Chet Baker Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool". Baker earned much attention and ...

* '' Blues for a Reason'' (Criss Cross Jazz, 1985) With Bill Barron *'' Live at Cobi's 2'' (SteepleChase, 1985

006 Alec Trevelyan is a fictional character who is the main antagonist in the 1995 James Bond film ''GoldenEye,'' portrayed by actor Sean Bean. Bean's likeness was also used as the model for Alec Trevelyan in the 1997 video game '' GoldenEye 007' ...

With

Kenny Barron Kenneth Barron (born June 9, 1943) is an American jazz pianist and composer who has appeared on hundreds of recordings as leader and sideman and is considered one of the most influential mainstream jazz pianists since the bebop era. Early life ...

*''

Landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes th ...

'' (Baystate, 1984) * '' What If?'' (Enja, 1986) *'' Live at Fat Tuesdays'' (Enja, 1988) With the Bob Thiele Collective * ''Sunrise Sunset'' (Red Baron, 1990) With Joanne Brackeen * '' Snooze'' (Choice, 1975) *'' Tring-a-Ling'' (Choice, 1977) *'' Havin' Fun'' (Concord Jazz, 1985) *'' Fi-Fi Goes to Heaven'' (Concord Jazz, 1986) *'' Turnaround'' (Evidence, 1992) With

Dollar Brand Abdullah Ibrahim (born Adolph Johannes Brand on 9 October 1934), previously known as Dollar Brand, is a South African pianist and composer. His music reflects many of the musical influences of his childhood in the multicultural port areas of Cap ...

* ''African Space Program'' (Enja, 1973) With

Anthony Braxton Anthony Braxton (born June 4, 1945) is an American experimental composer, educator, music theorist, improviser and multi-instrumentalist who is best known for playing saxophones, particularly the alto. Braxton grew up on the South Side of Chi ...

* '' Eight (+3) Tristano Compositions, 1989: For Warne Marsh'' (hatArt, 1989) With

Roy Brooks Roy Brooks (March 9, 1938 – November 15, 2005) was an American Jazz drumming, jazz drummer. Biography Early life Brooks was born in Detroit and drummed since childhood, his earliest experiences of music coming through his mother, who sang in c ...

* '' The Free Slave'' (

Muse In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...

, 1970 972 With

Joe Chambers Joe Chambers (born June 25, 1942) is an American jazz drummer, pianist, vibraphonist and composer. In the 1960s and 1970s, Chambers gigged with many high-profile artists such as Eric Dolphy, Charles Mingus, Wayne Shorter, and Chick Corea an ...

* '' The Almoravid'' (Muse, 1974) With Alice Coltrane * '' Journey in Satchidananda'' ( Impulse!, 1970) * '' Carnegie Hall '71'' (Hi Hat, 2018) * '' The Carnegie Hall Concert'' (Impulse!, 2024) With Junior Cook *'' Pressure Cooker'' (Catalyst, 1977) With Stanley Cowell * '' Equipoise'' (

Galaxy A galaxy is a Physical system, system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar medium, interstellar gas, cosmic dust, dust, and dark matter bound together by gravity. The word is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek ' (), literally 'milky', ...

, 1979) * '' Close to You Alone'' ( DIW, 1990) With Ted Curson * '' Blue Piccolo'' (

Whynot Whynot may refer to: Media * WHYNOT, an affiliate of Radio Free Asia Place * Whynot, Mississippi, U.S. * Whynot, North Carolina, U.S. Jazz * Whynot Records, a Japanese jazz record label * WhyNot Jazz Room, a jazz club in New York City Pe ...

, 1976) With Ricky Ford *'' Looking Ahead'' (Muse. 1986) With Chico Freeman * '' Morning Prayer'' (India Navigation, 1976) * '' Chico'' (India Navigation, 1977) * '' The Outside Within'' (India Navigation, 1978) * '' Kings of Mali'' (India Navigation, 1978) * '' Spirit Sensitive'' (India Navigation, 1979) * '' Destiny's Dance'' ( Contemporary, 1981) With Hal Galper *'' Now Hear This'' (Enja, 1977) With

Johnny Griffin John Arnold Griffin III (April 24, 1928 – July 25, 2008) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Nicknamed "the Little Giant" for his short stature and forceful playing, Griffin's career began in the mid-1940s and continued until the month of ...

* '' Birds and Ballads'' (1978) With Louis Hayes *'' Variety Is the Spice'' (Gryphon, 1978) With Roy Haynes *'' Thank You Thank You'' (Galaxy, 1977) *'' Vistalite'' (Galaxy, 1977 979 With Andrew Hill * '' Compulsion!'' (Blue Note, 1965) With Freddie Hubbard and

* '' Double Take'' (Blue Note, 1986) With

Elvin Jones Elvin Ray Jones (September 9, 1927 – May 18, 2004) was an American jazz drummer of the post-bop era. Most famously a member of John Coltrane's quartet, with whom he recorded from late 1960 to late 1965, Jones appeared on such albums as ''My Fa ...

* ''

Power Trio A power trio is a rock band format having a lineup of electric guitar, bass guitar and drum kit, leaving out a dedicated vocalist or an additional rhythm guitar or keyboard instrument that are often used in other rock music bands that are quart ...

'' ( Novus, 1990) – with

John Hicks Sir John Richard Hicks (8 April 1904 – 20 May 1989) was a British economist. He is considered one of the most important and influential economists of the twentieth century. The most familiar of his many contributions in the field of economics ...

* ''

When I Was at Aso-Mountain ''When I Was at Aso-Mountain'' is an album by jazz drummer Elvin Jones introducing Japanese pianist Takehisa Tanaka recorded in 1990 and released on the Enja Records, Enja label in 1993.

'' (Enja, 1990) * '' Elvin Jones Jazz Machine'' (Trio, 1997) * ''

It Don't Mean a Thing It or IT may refer to: * It (pronoun), in English * Information technology Arts and media Film and television * It (1927 film), ''It'' (1927 film), a film starring Clara Bow * ''It! The Terror from Beyond Space'', a 1958 science fiction film * I ...

'' (Enja, 1993) With

Clifford Jordan Clifford Laconia Jordan (September 2, 1931 – March 27, 1993) was an American jazz tenor saxophone player and composer. Originally from Chicago, Jordan later moved to New York City, where he recorded extensively in addition to touring across ...

* '' Two Tenor Winner'' ( Criss Cross, 1984) With John Klemmer * '' Magic and Movement'' (Impulse!, 1974) With Prince Lasha * '' Inside Story'' (Enja, 1965 981 With

* '' The Complete Yusef Lateef'' (Atlantic, 1967) * '' The Blue Yusef Lateef'' (Atlantic, 1968) * '' Yusef Lateef's Detroit'' (Atlantic, 1969) * '' The Diverse Yusef Lateef'' (Atlantic, 1970) With The Leaders * '' Mudfoot'' (Black Hawk, 1986) * '' Out Here Like This'' ( Black Saint, 1987) * '' Heaven Dance'' ( Sunnyside, 1988) – The Leaders Trio with pianist Kirk Lightsey and drummer Don Moye * '' Unforeseen Blessings'' (Black Saint, 1988) * '' Slipping and Sliding'' (Sound Hills, 1994) * '' Spirits Alike'' (Double Moon, 2006) With Dave Liebman * ''The Seasons'' ( Soul Note, 1992) * ''John Coltrane's Meditations'' ( Arkadia Jazz, 1998) With Charles Lloyd * '' Dream Weaver'' (1966,

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

) * '' Forest Flower'' (1966, Atlantic) * '' The Flowering'' (1966, Atlantic) * '' Charles Lloyd in Europe'' (1966, Atlantic) With Raphe Malik * '' Storyline'' (Boxholder, 1999) – with Cody Moffett With Joe Maneri * '' Dahabenzapple'' (hat ART, 1993 996 With Jackie McLean * '' It's Time!'' ( Blue Note, 1964) * '' Action Action Action'' (Blue Note, 1964) With Lloyd McNeill * ''Treasures'' (1976) With Charles McPherson * ''

New Horizons ''New Horizons'' is an Interplanetary spaceflight, interplanetary space probe launched as a part of NASA's New Frontiers program. Engineered by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and the Southwest Research Institut ...

'' ( Xanadu, 1977) With Grachan Moncur III * '' Some Other Stuff'' (Blue Note, 1964) * '' Echoes of Prayer'' (JCOA, 1975) with the Jazz Composer's Orchestra With Tisziji Munoz * ''Rendezvous With Now'' (India Navigation, 1978) * ''Visiting This Planet'' (Anami Music, 1988) * ''Presence of Joy'' (Anami Music, 1999) * '' Divine Radiance'' (Anami Music, 2003) With Amina Claudine Myers * '' Salutes Bessie Smith'' ( Leo, 1980) With

Art Pepper Arthur Edward Pepper Jr. (September 1, 1925 – June 15, 1982) was an American jazz musician, most known as an alto saxophonist. He occasionally performed and recorded on tenor saxophone, clarinet (his first instrument) and bass clarinet. Active ...

* '' Winter Moon'' (Galaxy, 1980) With Dannie Richmond * '' "In" Jazz for the Culture Set'' (Impulse!, 1965) With Sam Rivers * '' Dimensions & Extensions'' (Blue Note, 1967) * ''

Streams A stream is a continuous body of surface water flowing within the bed and banks of a channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to by a variety of local or regional names. Long, large stream ...

'' (Impulse!, 1973) * '' Hues'' (Impulse!, 1973) * '' Emanation'' ( NoBusiness, 2019) - Volume 1 of the Sam Rivers Archive Series; recorded in 1971 With Charlie Rouse * '' Social Call'' (Uptown, 1984) with

Red Rodney Robert Roland Chudnick (September 27, 1927 – May 27, 1994), known professionally as Red Rodney, was an American jazz trumpeter. Biography Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he became a professional musician at 15, working in the mid-1940 ...

With

* '' Izipho Zam (My Gifts)'' (Strata-East, 1969 973 * '' Jewels of Thought'' (Impulse!, 1969) * '' Thembi'' ( Impulse!, 1970) * '' Black Unity'' (Impulse!, 1971) * '' Live at the East'' (Impulse!, 1972) * '' Village of the Pharoahs'' (Impulse!, 1973) * '' Love in Us All'' (Impulse!, 1973) * '' Wisdom Through Music'' (Impulse!, 1973) With various artists * '' The New Wave in Jazz'' (Impulse!, 1965) With Saxophone Summit * ''Gathering of Spirits'' ( Telarch, 2004) With Zbigniew Seifert * ''Man of the Light'' (MPS Records, 1977) With

* '' The Moontrane'' (Muse, 1974) * '' Love Dance'' (Muse, 1975) * '' The Iron Men'' with

(Muse, 1977

980 Year 980 ( CMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Peace is concluded between Emperor Otto II (the Red) and King Lothair III (or Lothair IV) at Margut, ending the Franco-Germa ...

With

Archie Shepp Archie Shepp (born May 24, 1937) is an American jazz saxophonist, educator and playwright who since the 1960s has played a central part in the development of avant-garde jazz. Biography Early life Shepp was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but ...

* '' Lady Bird'' (

Denon is a Japanese electronics company dealing with audio equipment. The Denon brand came from a merger of Denki Onkyo (not to be confused with the other Onkyo) and others in 1939. It originally started as Nippon Chikuonki Shoukai in 1910 by Freder ...

, 1978) With Wayne Shorter * '' Et Cetera'' (Blue Note, 1965) * '' Odyssey of Iska'' (Blue Note, 1970) With Sonny Simmons * '' Burning Spirits'' (Contemporary, 1971) With Lonnie Liston Smith *'' Astral Traveling'' (Flying Dutchman, 1973) * '' Expansions'' (Flying Dutchman, 1975) * '' Rejuvenation'' (Doctor Jazz, 1985) *'' Make Someone Happy'' (Doctor Jazz, 1986) With Buddy Tate and

*'' Buddy Tate Meets Dollar Brand'' (Chiaroscuro, 1977) With Leon Thomas * '' Spirits Known and Unknown'' (1969) With Horace Tapscott * '' The Dark Tree'', Vol. 1 & 2 (hatOLOGY, 1989) With Charles Tolliver * '' Live at Slugs''', Volume I & II (Strata-East, 1970) * '' Music Inc.'' (Strata-East, 1971) * '' Impact'' (Strata-East, 1975) * ''

With Love With Love may refer to: Music Albums * '' ...with Love'', by Mary Byrne * ''With Love'' (Amanda Lear album), 2006 * ''With Love'' (Bobby Vinton album), 1974 * ''With Love'' (Charles Tolliver album), 2006 * '' With Love, Chér'', 1967 * ''Wi ...

'' (Blue Note, 2006) With Mickey Tucker * '' Sojourn'' (Xanadu, 1977) * '' Mister Mysterious'' (Muse, 1978) With

* '' Quartets 4 X 4'' (

Milestone A milestone is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway, railway line, canal or border, boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks like Mileage sign, mileage signs; or they c ...

, 1980) * '' Blues for Coltrane'' (1987) With James "Blood" Ulmer * '' Revealing'' (1977) With

Mal Waldron Malcolm Earl "Mal" Waldron (August 16, 1925 – December 2, 2002) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. He started playing professionally in New York in 1950, after graduating from college. In the following dozen years or so Wa ...

* '' What It Is'' (Enja, 1981) With Michael White * '' The Land of Spirit and Light'' (Impulse!, 1973) With

* ''Jazz Meets the Folk-Song'' (1963) With Yōsuke Yamashita * ''Sakura'' (Verve, 1990) * ''Kurdish Dance'' (Verve, 1993) * ''Dazzling Days'' (Verve, 1993) * ''Fragments 1999'' (Verve, 1999) * ''Spider'' (Verve, 1996) * ''Delightful Contrast'' (Universal, 2011) With Denny Zeitlin * ''Cathexis'' (Columbia, 1963) With Norman Connors * ''Dance of Magic'' (Sony Music Entertainment, 1972)

References

External links

Allmusic biography AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

br>Cecil McBee Interview
NAMM Oral History Library (2020) {{DEFAULTSORT:McBee, Cecil 1935 births Living people Musicians from Tulsa, Oklahoma Post-bop jazz musicians American jazz double-bassists American male double-bassists Grammy Award winners New England Conservatory faculty Strata-East Records artists India Navigation artists Enja Records artists Inner City Records artists Palmetto Records artists Jazz musicians from Oklahoma 21st-century American double-bassists 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Almanac (band) members The Leaders members Improvising Artists Records artists NoBusiness Records artists