Earl Theodore Dunbar (January 17, 1937 – May 29, 1998) was an American jazz guitarist, composer, and educator.

Career

Born in

Port Arthur, Texas Port Arthur is a city in the state of Texas, United States of America, located east of metro Houston. Part of the Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, the city lies primarily in Jefferson County, with a small extension in Orange County. ...

, Dunbar trained as a pharmacist at

Texas Southern University Texas Southern University (Texas Southern or TSU) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically Black university in Houston. The university is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund an ...

, but by the 1970s he only did pharmacy work part-time. He was also a trained numerologist and studied other aspects of mysticism. He became interested in jazz at the age of seven. During the 1950s, he joined several groups while studying pharmacy at

. During the 1960s, he worked as a substitute for

Wes Montgomery John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery (March 6, 1923 – June 15, 1968) was an American jazz guitarist. Montgomery was known for his unusual technique of plucking the strings with the side of his thumb and for his extensive use of octaves, which gave him a ...

. Dunbar collaborated with Gil Evans, Roy Haynes,

Jimmy Heath James Edward Heath (October 25, 1926 – January 19, 2020), nicknamed Little Bird, was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, arranger, and big band leader. He was the brother of bassist Percy Heath and drummer Albert Heath. Biography Heath w ...

Sonny Rollins Walter Theodore "Sonny" Rollins (born September 7, 1930) is an American retired jazz tenor saxophonist who is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. In a seven-decade career, Rollins recorded over sixt ...

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 ...

, and Tony Williams. In 1972 he became one of the first jazz professors at

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

and taught Kevin Eubanks, Vernon Reid, and Peter Bernstein. At one point he received accolades from '' Ebony'' and ''

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 ...

''. He wrote a series of books on tonal convergence that are inspired and related to the Lydian chromatic concept. The centerpiece of this series is entitled ''A System of Tonal Convergence for Improvisors Composers and Arrangers''. Dunbar died of a stroke in 1998.

Discography

As leader

* '' Opening Remarks'' ( Xanadu, 1978) * ''Secundum Artem'' (Xanadu, 1980) * ''In Tandem'' 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 ...

(Muse, 1980) * ''Music for Violin & Jazz Quartet'' with NY5 (Jam, 1981) * '' Jazz Guitarist'' (Xanadu, 1982) * ''Gentle Time Alone'' (SteepleChase, 1992) * ''A Tribute to Wes Montgomery Vol. I'' with Project G-7 (Evidence, 1993) * ''A Tribute to Wes Montgomery Vol. II'' with Project G-7 (Evidence, 1993)

As sideman

With Frank Foster * ''Bursting Out!'' (Challenge, 1978) * ''Chiquito Loco'' (Bingow, 1979) * ''Shiny Stockings'' (Challenge, 1979) * ''A Blues Ain't Nothing But a Trip'' (Bingow, 1981) * ''Swing!'' (Challenge, 1998) With others *

Gene Ammons Eugene "Jug" Ammons (April 14, 1925 – August 6, 1974), also known as "The Boss", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. The son of boogie-woogie pianist Albert Ammons, Gene Ammons is remembered for his accessible music, steeped in soul and R ...

, '' My Way'' (Prestige, 1971) *

, '' Peruvian Blue'' (Muse, 1974) * Hamiet Bluiett, ''Live at the Village Vanguard'' (Soul Note, 1997) * Zachary Breaux, ''Uptown Groove'' (Zebra, 1997) * Earl Coleman, ''There's Something About An Old Love'' with (Xanadu, 1983) * Norman Connors, ''Dark of Light'' (Cobblestone, 1973) * Nathan Davis, ''I'm A Fool to Want You'' (Tomorrow, 1995) * Richard Davis, ''

Harvest Harvesting is the process of collecting plants, animals, or fish (as well as fungi) as food, especially the process of gathering mature crops, and "the harvest" also refers to the collected crops. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulses fo ...

'' (Muse, 1979) *

Lou Donaldson Louis Andrew Donaldson Jr. (November 1, 1926 – November 9, 2024) was an American jazz Alto saxophone, alto saxophonist. He was best known for his soulful, bluesy approach to playing the alto saxophone, although in his formative years he was he ...

, '' Pretty Things'' (Blue Note, 1970) * Gil Evans, '' Svengali'' (Atlantic, 1973) * Albert Heath, '' Kwanza (The First)'' (Muse, 1974) * Willis Jackson, ''

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

'' (Muse, 1974) * J. J. Johnson, ''Vivian'' (Concord Jazz, 1992) * Galt MacDermot, ''The Nucleus'' (Kilmarnock, 1971) * Susannah McCorkle, ''As Time Goes by'' (CBS/Sony, 1987) * Charles Mingus, ''Me Myself An Eye'' (Atlantic, 1979) * Charles Mingus, '' Something Like a Bird'' (Atlantic, 1980) * Buddy Montgomery, '' Ties of Love'' (Landmark, 1987) * David "Fathead" Newman, '' House of David'' (Atlantic, 1967) * David "Fathead" Newman, '' Resurgence!'' (Muse, 1981) * Don Patterson, '' The Return of Don Patterson'' (Muse, 1974) *

Bernard Purdie Bernard Lee "Pretty" Purdie (born June 11, 1939) is an American drummer, and an influential R&B, soul, funk and jazz musician. He is known for his precise time-keeping and his signature use of Tuplet, triplets against a half-time backbeat: the P ...

, '' Purdie Good!'' (Prestige, 1971) * Sam Rivers, '' Sizzle'' (Impulse!, 1976) * Charlie Rouse, ''Cinnamon Flower'' (Douglas, 1977) * David Schnitter, ''Thundering'' (Muse, 1979) * David Schnitter, ''Glowing'' (Muse, 1981) * Janis Siegel, ''Experiment in White'' (Wounded Bird, 1982) *

Johnny "Hammond" Smith John Robert "Johnny Hammond" Smith (December 16, 1933 – June 4, 1997) was an American soul jazz and hard bop organist. Born in Louisville, Kentucky, he was a renowned player of the Hammond B-3 organ so earning "Hammond" as a nickname, wh ...

, '' What's Going On'' (Prestige, 1971) * Billy Taylor, ''The Jazzmobile Allstars'' (Taylor-Made, 1989) * Mel Torme, ''Night at the Concord Pavilion'' (Concord, 1990) * Mel Torme, ''Recorded Live at the Fujitsu-Concord Jazz Festival in Japan '90'' (Concord Jazz, 1991) * Mickey Tucker, ''Blues in Five Dimensions'' (SteepleChase, 1990) * Mickey Tucker, '' The Crawl'' (Muse, 1980) *

, '' Asante'' (Blue Note, 1974) *

Frank Wess Frank Wellington Wess (January 4, 1922 – October 30, 2013) was an American jazz saxophonist and flutist. He was renowned for his extensive solo work; however, he was also remembered for his time playing with Count Basie, Count Basie's band duri ...

, ''Dear Mr. Basie'' (Concord Jazz, 1990) * Frank Wess, ''Entre Nous'' (Concord Jazz, 1991) * Randy Weston, '' Volcano Blues'' (Verve, 1993) * Joe Williams, '' That Holiday Feelin''' (Verve, 1990) * Tony Williams, '' Ego'' (Polydor, 1971)

References

External links

Ted Dunbar discography
at JazzDiscography.com

at Jazzlists {{DEFAULTSORT:Dunbar, Ted 1937 births 1998 deaths American jazz guitarists Guitarists from Texas People from Port Arthur, Texas Texas Southern University alumni Rutgers University faculty Xanadu Records artists 20th-century American guitarists The Tony Williams Lifetime members Jazz musicians from Houston Jazz musicians from Texas African-American jazz guitarists