James Rudolph Cheatham (June 18, 1924 – January 12, 2007) was 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 ...

trombonist and teacher, who played with

Chico Hamilton Foreststorn "Chico" Hamilton (September 20, 1921 – November 25, 2013) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He came to prominence as sideman for Lester Young, Gerry Mulligan, Count Basie, and Lena Horne. Hamilton became a bandleader, f ...

Ornette Coleman Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman (March 9, 1930 – June 11, 2015) was an American jazz saxophonist, trumpeter, violinist, and composer. He is best known as a principal founder of the free jazz genre, a term derived from his 1960 album '' Free Ja ...

Thad Jones Thaddeus Joseph Jones (March 28, 1923 – August 20, 1986) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer and bandleader who has been called "one of the all-time greatest jazz trumpet soloists". Early life, family and education Thad Jones was born i ...

Mel Lewis Melvin Sokoloff (May 10, 1929 – February 2, 1990), known professionally as Mel Lewis, was an American jazz drummer, session musician, professor, and author. He received fourteen Grammy Award nominations. Biography Early years Lewis was ...

Lionel Hampton Lionel Leo Hampton (April 20, 1908 – August 31, 2002) was an American jazz vibraphonist, percussionist, and bandleader. He worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich, to Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, an ...

, Frank Foster, and

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...

. In 1978, Cheatham was invited to lead the jazz program at

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...

. In 1979 he began to direct the school's African American and jazz performance programs. He retired in 2005.

Biography

Cheatham was born in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

on June 18, 1924, the son of Isabelle (''née'' Steen) and Andrew Cheatham, who was a conductor on the

Louisville and Nashville Railroad The Louisville and Nashville Railroad , commonly called the L&N, was a Class I railroad that operated freight and passenger services in the southeast United States. Chartered by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1850, the road grew into one of ...

. After his parents separated when he was a small child, he grew up with his mother and sister, Arlene, in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

. In February 1943, he enlisted in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

, and was a member of the 173rd Army Ground Force Band from 1944 to 1946, when he was

demobilized Demobilization or demobilisation (see spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and militar ...

following the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. At various times, his colleagues in the band included Eddie Chamblee,

Jo Jones Jonathan David Samuel Jones (October 7, 1911 – September 3, 1985) was an American jazz drummer. A band leader and pioneer in jazz percussion, Jones anchored the Count Basie Orchestra rhythm section from 1934 to 1948. He was sometimes k ...

Lester Young Lester Willis Young (August 27, 1909 – March 15, 1959), nicknamed "Pres" or "Prez", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and occasional clarinetist. Coming to prominence while a member of Count Basie's orchestra, Young was one of the most i ...

, and also Harry White, whom Cheatham said had been "like a mentor" to him. Taking advantage of the

G.I. Bill The G.I. Bill, formally the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I. (military), G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in ...

, Cheatham was able to attend the New York Conservatory of Modern Music in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

from 1948 to 1950, then from 1950 to 1953 studied at the Westlake College of Music in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, where he developed a lifelong friendship with one of his instructors, Russell Garcia. While at Westlake, a piece he wrote for

string quartet The term string quartet refers to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two Violin, violini ...

was performed at a concert with

Paul Robeson Paul Leroy Robeson ( ; April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an American bass-baritone concert artist, actor, professional American football, football player, and activist who became famous both for his cultural accomplishments and for h ...

, and he also received a scholarship to the nearby American Operatic Laboratory. Amongst the visitors to the flat he shared with saxophonist Buddy Collette in Los Angeles were

Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz Saxophone, saxophonist, bandleader, and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of beb ...

, and the first

Gerry Mulligan Gerald Joseph Mulligan (April 6, 1927 – January 20, 1996), also known as Jeru, was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, pianist, composer and arranger. Though primarily known as one of the leading jazz baritone saxophonists—playing t ...

quartet (including Chico Hamilton) who went there to rehearse. Cheatham met his wife, Jean Evans, in 1956 in

, when the local musicians' union chief called them separately to replace two musicians who could not make a job at the local Elks Ballroom. They married in 1959, and their son, Jonathan, was born the same year His wife also had a daughter from a previous relationship, Shirley, who was born in 1951. During the 1970s, Cheatham taught jazz at

Bennington College Bennington College is a private liberal arts college in Bennington, Vermont, United States. Founded as a women’s college in 1932,

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

, and also at the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...

. In 1984, Cheatham and his wife won a bronze medal at the

New York Festivals New York Festivals are a collection of related annual arts and media awards based in New York City. The awards include the New York Festivals Advertising Awards, "Advertising and Marketing Effectiveness" AME Awards, Bowery Awards, Global Awards, ...

Film and TV Awards for the 1983 KPBS television special ''Three Generations of the Blues'', which featured Sippie Wallace,

Big Mama Thornton Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton (December 11, 1926 – July 25, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter of blues and R&B. The ''Encyclopedia of Pop, Rock and Soul'' described Thornton by saying: "Her booming voice, sometimes 200-pound fra ...

, and Jennie Cheatham. Also in 1984, the Cheathams formed the Sweet Baby Blues Band, reviving

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

-style

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

. The first of the eight

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

s they released between 1985 and 1996, ''Sweet Baby Blues'', was the sole recording to receive a from the in 1985. Their fifth album, '' Luv in the Afternoon'' (1990), was also voted amongst the best blues albums of the year in ''

Down Beat ''DownBeat'' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm that it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1 ...

'' magazine's 39th annual poll of international music critics, as published in 1991. In 1998, the band was described as "an earthy jump blues combo that plays funky, hard-swinging, boogie-busting music". Cheatham's legacy is carried on by several students who went on to become, like him, prominent composer/performer/educators: flutist Nicole Mitchell, bassist Karl E. H. Seigfried, and drummer Vikas Srivastava. Cheatham died in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

on January 12, 2007, aged 82, having undergone heart surgery the previous month.

Discography

As co-leader

Studio albums

* ''Sweet Baby Blues'' (1985) – Note: includes the Cheatham's signature song, "Meet Me With Your Black Drawers On".
Jeannie Cheatham and Jimmy Cheatham
with Red Callender, John "Ironman" Harris, Charles McPherson, Jimmy Noone, Curtis Peagler,

Snooky Young Eugene Edward "Snooky" Young (February 3, 1919 – May 11, 2011) was an American jazz trumpeter. He was known for his mastery of the plunger mute, with which he was able to create a wide range of sounds. Biography Young was lead trumpeter of t ...

Concord Jazz Concord Jazz is a record company and label founded in 1973 by Carl Jefferson, the former owner of Jefferson Motors Lincoln Mercury dealership in Concord, California. The label was named after the city in the East San Francisco Bay area, and the ...

* ''Midnight Mama'' (1986)
Jeannie and Jimmy Cheatham and the Sweet Baby Blues Band
Concord Jazz
* ''Homeward Bound'' (1987)
Jeannie and Jimmy Cheatham and the Sweet Baby Blues Band
Concord Jazz
* ''Back to the Neighborhood'' (1989)
Jeannie & Jimmy Cheatham and the Sweet Baby Blues Band
Concord Jazz
* '' Luv in the Afternoon'' (1990)
Jeannie & Jimmy Cheatham and the Sweet Baby Blues Band
Concord Jazz
* ''Basket Full of Blues'' (1992)
Jeannie and Jimmy Cheatham and the Sweet Baby Blues Band
Concord Jazz
* ''Blues and the Boogie Masters'' (1993)
Jeannie & Jimmy Cheatham and the Sweet Baby Blues Band
Concord Jazz
* ''Gud Nuz Bluz'' (1996)
Jeannie & Jimmy Cheatham and the Sweet Baby Blues Band
Concord Jazz

Compilation albums

* ''The Concord Jazz Heritage Series: Jeannie and Jimmy Cheatham'' (1998)
Jeannie and Jimmy Cheatham
Concord Jazz

As sideman

With

Bill Dixon William Robert Dixon (October 5, 1925 – June 16, 2010) was an American composer and educator. Dixon was one of the seminal figures in free jazz and late twentieth-century contemporary music. He was also a prominent activist for artist's right ...

* ''

Intents and Purposes An intention is a mental state in which a person commits themselves to a course of action. Having the plan to visit the zoo tomorrow is an example of an intention. The action plan is the ''content'' of the intention while the commitment is the '' ...

'' (RCA Victor, 1967) With

* '' El Chico'' (Impulse!, 1965) * ''

The Further Adventures of El Chico ''The Further Adventures of El Chico'' is an album by American jazz drummer Chico Hamilton featuring performances recorded in 1966 for the Impulse! label.

'' (Impulse!, 1966) * '' The Dealer'' (Impulse!, 1966) * '' The Gamut'' (Solid State, 1968) * ''Juniflip'' (Joyous Shout, 2006) With Grover Mitchell * ''Meet Grover Mitchell'' (Jazz Chronicles, 1979) * ''The Devil's Waltz'' (Jazz Chronicles, 1981)

Notes

References

External links

Jeannie Cheatham official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheatham, Jimmy 1924 births 2007 deaths 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American trombonists American blues musicians American jazz trombonists American music educators Grand Prix du Disque winners American male jazz musicians American male trombonists University of California, San Diego faculty