Ernest McCarty Jr. (born March 26, 1941) is an upright bass player, musical composer, and playwright. He is known for playing with

Erroll Garner Erroll Louis Garner (June 15, 1921 – January 2, 1977) was an American jazz pianist and composer known for his swing playing and ballads. His instrumental ballad "Misty", his best-known composition, has become a jazz standard. It was first re ...

from 1970 until Garner's death in 1977, as well as for plays he has written, scored and directed. McCarty was born in South Chicago to Samarie Hunter McCarty and Ernest McCarty Sr. His mother had some Native American ancestry and his father was part Scottish and insisted he use "Junior" after his name. He lived in New York for a long time, and moved to Pittsburgh in 1993. He played his bass on his front porch during the COVID era. McCarty learned piano as a child, then took violin lessons but stopped because his parents couldn't afford the lessons. He attended

DuSable High School Jean Baptiste Point DuSable High School is a public 4–year high school campus in the Bronzeville neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Chicago Public Schools and named after Chicago's first permanent no ...

, where the music instructor Captain Walter Dyett chose him to play bass and so he learned the instrument. He was in the Chicago Youth Orchestra and the Civic Orchestra. He was scheduled to audition for the

Chicago Symphony Orchestra The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891, the ensemble has been based in the Symphony Center since 1904 and plays a summer season at the Ravinia F ...

but wasn't allowed to audition because he was Black. He switched to Jazz after that experience. He attended

Roosevelt University Roosevelt University is a private university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1945, the university was named in honor of United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. The university enrolls arou ...

where he took his first formal lessons in string bass. He joined Oscar Brown Jr.'s band in 1962 and played string bass and acted as the musical director. He has performed with

Odetta Odetta Holmes (December 31, 1930 – December 2, 2008), known as Odetta, was an American singer, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement". Her musical repertoire consisted largely of American folk music, blues, jazz, and s ...

, Ike and Tina Turner, and

Gloria Gaynor Gloria Fowles (born September 7, 1943), known professionally as Gloria Gaynor, is an American singer, best known for the disco era hits "I Will Survive" (1978), "I Have a Right, Let Me Know (I Have a Right)" (1979), "I Am What I Am (Broadway mus ...

. McCarty directed and co-wrote and the musical ''Dinah! Queen of the Blues'' with Sasha Dalton, about the life of

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 ...

. He has written or co-written more than 25 plays and musicals and acted as artistic director for New Horizons Theater in Pittsburgh from 1994 through 2008. McCarty is married to Patricia Kearney McCarty.

Awards and honors

* 1977 Madame Hortense - Joseph Jefferson Award * 1987 Recollection Rag - Hoyt W. Fuller One-Act Play Festival Award - awarded by the African American Arts Alliance of Chicago * 1998 Prolific Playwright of 1998 - In Pittsburgh * 2004 African American Council of the Arts Onyx Award - Best Production ''Blue'' * 2006 African American Council of the Arts Onyx Award - Best Director ''Purlie Victorious'' * 2007 African American Council of the Arts Onyx Award - Best Production ''American Menu''

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCarty, Ernest Living people 1941 births African-American jazz musicians Jazz musicians from Chicago 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American musicians