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CAB JIVERS

See CALLOWAY, CABELL “CAB” (1907–1994).

CABLES, GEORGE ANDREW (1944–)

An American jazz pianist, George Cables was born in New York City and initially instructed by his mother, who was an amateur classical pianist. He attended the High School of Performing Arts and began to play jazz. At the age of 18, Cables formed a group with Steve Grossman and Billy Cobham called the Jazz Samaritans. In 1969 he played with Art Blakey, Sonny Rollins, and Joe Henderson (with whom he stayed until 1971). He then played with Freddie Hubbard from 1971 to 1976 and recorded with Woody Shaw, Joe Chambers, and Billy Harper during the same period. He played with Dexter Gordon during his return to the United States (1976–1978) and was pianist for saxophonist Art Pepper (1979–1982). He joined the group Bebop and Beyond in 1984 and would rejoin the renamed Bebop and Beyond 2000 in 1998.

CACHAO (ISRAEL LÓPEZ VALDÉS) (1918–2008)

Cachao was a Cuban bass player and composer. He is widely known as cocreator of the mambo. Throughout his career, he performed and recorded in a variety of musical styles. In the 1950s, Cachao became famous for popularizing improvised jam sessions known as descargas. He emigrated to Spain in 1961 and moved to the United States in 1963, where he started playing in New York City as a session and live musician for a variety of bands. Cachao fell into obscurity during the 1970s, releasing albums sporadically as a bandleader. He had a resurgence in his career after being rediscovered by movie actor Andy Garcia, who produced two documentaries and several Cachao albums. Cachao won numerous awards, included induction into the Billboard Latin Music Hall of Fame and the International Latin Music Hall of Fame. Cachao received four Grammy Awards, including one posthumously. He received an honorary doctorate in music from the Berklee College of Music in 2006. See also AFRO-CUBAN JAZZ.

CADET

Created in 1965, renamed from the record label Argo. See also RECORD LABEL.

CADILLAC

English record label and company founded in London in 1973.

CAFÉ BOHEMIA

Nightclub in New York opened in 1955 by Jimmy Garofalo. It was the location of performances and recordings by Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Art Blakey, and others. See also JONES, JOSEPH “PHILLY JOE” (1923–1985).

CAFÉ SOCIETY

Opened in 1938, it was the first racially integrated club in New York. Many careers in jazz were launched here through the support of John Hammond, a regular visitor to the club, and many of the great figures in jazz performed here. It was here that Billie Holiday debuted “Strange Fruit” to great acclaim. A second location was opened in 1940 on 58th Street.

CALIFORNIA RAMBLERS

A White dance band formed by banjo player Ray Kitchingman in 1921 and active until 1937. Notable members of the band included Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey, Stan King, Red Nichols, and Bill Moore, a trumpet player who was the first African American to work with an all-White band. The band recorded many albums under different pseudonyms and was briefly re-formed in the 1970s and 1980s.

CALL AND RESPONSE

Alternating musical phrases in which a musical statement is followed by a musical answer. It can occur in jazz between instrumental sections in an ensemble, between instrumentalists (as in the practice of trading fours), or between a vocalist and instrumentalist. Some forms, such as the blues, are said to be structured as call and response.

CALLENDER, RED (1916–1992)

A bassist who made his recording debut with Louis Armstrong in 1937, he spent three years in the Lester and Lee Young band before forming his own trio. He played with Erroll Garner, Charlie Parker, Wardell Gray, Dexter Gordon, and eventually Art Tatum (1955–1956). In later years Callender switched to playing tuba. His autobiography, Unfinished Dream, was published in 1985.

CALLOWAY, CABELL “CAB” (1907–1994)

Bandleader, singer, and entertainer. Cab Calloway attended law school briefly before quitting to pursue a career in music. In 1931, his group the Missourians recorded one of his biggest hits, “Minnie the Moocher” (which contained his famous phrase “Hi-de-hi”), and replaced the band of Duke Ellington at the Cotton Club, where they performed until 1940. The group, renamed Cab Calloway and His Orchestra, appeared in several films (The Big Broadcast, 1933; The Singing Kid, 1936; Stormy Weather 1943) and made many recordings before finally dissolving in 1948. Calloway’s band contained several members who would go on to great fame, including Dizzy Gillespie, Ben Webster, Chu Berry, and Mario Bauza. After disbanding his big band in 1948, Calloway still appeared with the Cab Jivers, a small group. Later in his life, Calloway appeared in Porgy and Bess (1950s), Hello, Dolly! (1960s), and the movie The Blues Brothers (1980).

CALYPSO

A style of dance and song that originated on slave plantations in the Caribbean; it is most associated with the island of Trinidad. Calypsos are duple meter; modern calypsos are in a major mode, while earlier examples were in a minor mode and slower tempo.

CAMELIA BRASS BAND

A New Orleans brass band established around 1917 by Wooden Joe Nicholas and named after the steamer S.S. Camelia.

CAMEO

A record label of the Cameo Record Corporation, it sold records in Macy’s department stores during the 1920s. The company joined Plaza in 1929 to form the American Record Corporation. The Cameo label name was dropped in the 1930s.

CANDID

Its catalog contained nearly 40 albums, including ones by Don Ellis, Charles Mingus, Cecil Taylor, and Booker Little. Purchased by the label Barnaby in the 1970s and then later purchased and reactivated by Black Lion, many recordings have been reissued in CD format, and more recent recordings have been issued by artists including Dave Liebman and Lee Konitz.

CANDOLI, CONTE (1927–2001)

An American trumpet player, Conte Candoli got his start at the age of 16 when he joined Woody Herman’s First Herd in 1944. He would go on to play with Chubby Jackson (1947–1948), Stan Kenton (1948), Charlie Ventura (1949), Herman again (1949–1950), Charlie Barnet (1951), and Kenton again (1951–1953). He moved to Chicago and started his own group in 1954 before moving to California where he played with Howard Rumsey’s Lighthouse All-Stars (1955). He recorded with Stan Levey (1954–1957) and played and recorded with his brother Pete Candoli (1957–1962) and Terry Gibbs (1959–1962). He played with Woody Herman at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1960, toured Europe with Gerry Mulligan (1960–1961), played with drummer Shelly Manne, and then played with Kenton’s Los Angeles Neophonic Orchestra (1965–1969). He performed with the group Supersax from 1972 throughout the 1980s and performed in the Doc Severinsen–led Tonight Show band from 1972 to 1992. Candoli continued to tour extensively through the late 1990s before passing away from prostate cancer in 2001.

CANDOLI, PETE (1923–2008)

Brother of Conte Candoli, he was known as a lead trumpet player. He played with many big bands during the 1940s, including Sonny Dunham, Will Bradley, Ray McKinley, Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Teddy Powell, Woody Herman, Boyd Raeburn, Tex Beneke, and Jerry Gray. He moved to Los Angeles and became noted for his studio work and performed with the bands of Les Brown and Stan Kenton. He later led a group (1957–1962) with his brother Conte and started a nightclub act with his wife, Edie Adams, in 1972. He continued to perform with his brother into the 1990s.

CAPITOL

American record label founded in 1942 by Johnny Mercer, Glenn Wallichs, and B. G. Desylva specializing in popular music. Early artists included Nat “King” Cole, Peggy Lee, Country singer Tex Williams, and Stan Kenton. During the 1950s the label grew as artists such as Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, and guitarist Les Paul were added. In 1956 the label broke into the rock-and-roll market by signing Gene Vincent; later it would sign the Beach Boys and begin a distribution arrangement with the Beatles. After the breakup of the Beatles, its catalog included artists such as Pink Floyd, Merle Haggard, Glen Campbell, Bob Seeger, and Anne Murray. During the 1980s and 1990s, its artists included Duran Duran, Bonnie Raitt, Garth Brooks, the Beastie Boys, and Radiohead. Recent popular artists on Capitol Records include Coldplay and Katy Perry.

CAPP-PIERCE JUGGERNAUT

A big band formed in 1975 as the Capp-Pierce Orchestra by Frank Capp and Nat Pierce. The band performed and recorded Basie-style big band material and included members such as Bill Berry, Bobby Shew, Marshal Royal, Blue Mitchell, and Herb Ellis.

CARDINAL

Record label established in 1920 and notable for issuing Ethel Waters’s first recording in 1921.

CARISI, JOHNNY (1922–1992)

A trumpet player, then later a composer/arranger, Johnny Carisi played with Glenn Miller from late 1942 until Miller’s death and then wrote for various big bands including Ray McKinley, Charlie Barnet, and Claude Thornhill. He wrote “Israel” while studying with composer Stefan Wolpe, which would appear on Miles Davis’s landmark album Birth of the Cool. During the late 1950s and 1960s, Carisi wrote many small ensemble and chamber pieces, including arrangements for Gil Evans and trumpeter Marvin Stamm. He became a faculty member of the Manhattan School of Music and Queens College CUNY in 1969 and continued to compose and perform until his passing in 1992.

CARLTON, LARRY EUGENE (1948–)

Carlton was raised in Southern California and began playing the guitar at the age of six. He was introduced to jazz while in junior high school after hearing a recording of guitarist Joe Pass. Carlton recorded his first album in 1968, With a Little Help from My Friends (Uni). He joined the jazz-rock group the Crusaders in 1971, continuing to perform and record with the group until 1976. Additional credits from the 1970s and 1980s include Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan, Michael Jackson, Dolly Parton, Quincy Jones, and many others. Carlton became one of the most in-demand studio musicians, performing on more than 3,000 studio sessions for film soundtracks, television themes, and more than 100 gold records. He was awarded a Grammy in 1981 for composing the theme song for the TV show Hill Street Blues. After a long period of rehabilitation due to a gunshot wound he received outside his studio in 1988, Carlton joined the GRP record label in 1991 and eventually replaced Lee Ritenour in the smooth jazz group Fourplay. Carlton has received 19 Grammy Award nominations, winning four times, most recently in the category of Best Pop Instrumental Album for the recording Take Your Pick (Vermillion) in 2010.

CARMICHAEL, HOAGLAND HOWARD “HOAGY” (1899–1981)

A composer, songwriter, and singer. An early friendship with cornetist Bix Beiderbecke led him to compose one of his first works, “Riverboat Shuffle,” which was recorded by the Wolverines in 1924. He completed a law degree in 1926 but returned to music after he heard a Red Nichols recording of his “Washboard Blues.” Thereafter he moved to New York and began his career as a songwriter, collaborating with many lyricists including Johnny Mercer. His most famous compositions include “Stardust,” “Skylark,” “Georgia on My Mind,” “The Nearness of You,” and “Heart and Soul.” He won an Academy Award in 1951 for “In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening.”

CARNEGIE HALL JAZZ ORCHESTRA

Founded in 1991 by George Wein and led by musical director Jon Faddis, the group presented concerts paying tribute to classic jazz musicians as well works by living composers including Toshiko Akiyoshi, Maria Schneider, John Clayton, Slide Hampton, and others. The band did worldwide tours from 1994 to 1996 and recorded several albums. The group disbanded in 2002 when support from Carnegie Hall was discontinued.

CARNEY, HARRY HOWELL (1910–1974)

Carney was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and began his musical life playing piano at age 7, the clarinet at 14, and the saxophone one year later. His major instrument was baritone saxophone, and he was considered the first baritone saxophone soloist in jazz. In 1927, Carney joined Duke Ellington’s orchestra when he was 17 and remained with the band for over 46 years. He recorded with Ellington that same year, and at the end of the year, the band began its residency at the Cotton Club in New York City. His rich sonority became an essential element in Ellington’s tonal palette, and in a band brimming with individualists, his playing had a character all its own. Carney played with a massive tone and direct style and would frequently play clarinet with the band as well. Carney additionally collaborated with other artists, including Benny Goodman and pianist Billy Taylor among others.

CAROLINA COTTON PICKERS

A band formed in Florida in 1933 from members of the Jenkins orphanage bands.

CARR, IAN (1933–2009)

Trumpet player, writer, and teacher. He taught himself to play the trumpet in 1950 and played in many bands throughout the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, most notably the band Nucleus, an important and popular jazz-rock group. His biography of Miles Davis, Miles Davis: A Critical Biography, is recognized as one of the seminal works on Miles Davis, and he cowrote Jazz: A Rough Guide, which is a standard reference text. See also ENGLAND.

CARRINGTON, TERRI LYNE (1965–)

A jazz drummer and composer, Carrington began playing drums at the age of seven and was awarded a full scholarship to the Berklee College of Music at the age of 11. She moved to New York in 1983 and began performing with jazz musicians including Lester Bowie, Stan Getz, Pharoah Sanders, and others. She gained national recognition on late-night television as the house drummer for The Arsenio Hall Show. An advocate for social justice, Carrington founded the Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice at the Berklee College of Music. Carrington has won three Grammy Awards, including for The Mosaic Project in 2012, which featured an all-star, all-female ensemble. She received a Doris Duke Award in 2019.

CARRUTHERS, EARL “JOCK” (1910–1971)

A baritone saxophone player, Carruthers played with Bennie Moten’s band in 1928 in Kansas City before moving to St. Louis to play with Dewey Jackson and Fate Marable, followed by a long membership in the band of Jimmie Lunceford. After Lunceford’s passing in 1947, Carruthers continued to play in the band before moving back to Kansas City, where he performed with local groups throughout the 1960s.

CARSTENSEN, STIAN (1971–)

Carstensen is an accordion and banjo player born in Eidsvoll, Norway. He began playing accordion at the age of nine. While still a teenager, Carstensen performed at festivals and for radio and television, and he toured the United States. He studied jazz at the Trondheim Musikkonseratorium, with guitar as his main focus. During his two years of study, he formed the group Farmers Market—a group he would work with for many years. Following a trip to Bulgaria, Carstensen became fascinated with the local folk music and began to incorporate music of Bulgaria and Romania into his repertoire. He learned to play banjo and began playing with various bebop and avant-garde jazz groups. His work as a multi-genre instrumentalist continues to receive great attention.

CARTER, BENNY (1907–2003)

Known primarily for his alto saxophone playing and also for the ease with which he switched between alto and many other instruments, Benny Carter originally started on the trumpet and took a few lessons on C-melody saxophone before settling on the alto saxophone. After brief stints in the bands of Duke Ellington and Billy Fowler, he worked with Fletcher Henderson from 1930 to 1931. Following that, he was briefly musical director of McKinney’s Cotton Pickers, during which time he also wrote arrangements for the bands of Chick Webb and Benny Goodman, among others. In 1932 he started his own band, which was dissolved in 1934. He moved to Europe and worked in several countries before settling in London as the staff arranger for the BBC Dance Orchestra from 1936 to 1938.

Carter returned to the United States in 1938 to lead his own band at the Savoy Ballroom until 1940. He then toured with the band before permanently settling in Los Angeles in 1942. He began to write music for films, including portions of Panic in the Streets (1950) and An American in Paris (1951), and later for television productions. During the 1950s and 1960s he continued to compose, arrange, and perform, and by the 1970s he was appearing at festivals and nightclubs and making annual tours of Europe and Japan. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from Princeton University in 1974 and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1987, and his composition “Harlem Renaissance Suite” won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Composition in 1992. Widely regarded during the swing era as second only to Johnny Hodges, Carter was influential in the creation of the alto saxophone style before the emergence of Charlie Parker. Among his many notable compositions is the jazz standard “When Lights Are Low.”

CARTER, BETTY (1929–1998)

Born Lillie Mae Jones, Carter was an American jazz singer who grew up in Detroit and got her start singing with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie during their tours through the city. She eventually landed a spot in Lionel Hampton’s band in 1948 and earned the nickname “Bebop.” In 1951 she moved to New York, where she worked with artists including Muddy Waters and later headlined tours with Ray Charles. In 1971 she founded Bet-Car Productions, her own record label. She continued to perform with her own trio through the 1980s and 1990s, and in 1988 she signed with Verve, winning a Grammy the following year.

CARTER, JAMES (1950–)

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Carter has been a prominent jazz performer and recording artist since the late 1980s, playing saxophone, flute, and clarinet. He relocated to New York City in 1990. His performances include collaborations with Lester Bowie, Wynton Marsalis, Cyrus Chestnut, Dee Dee Bridgewater, and the Mingus Big Band, among others. In 1996, Carter was featured in the Robert Altman film Kansas City, portraying the role of tenor saxophonist Ben Webster. He is adept at playing all saxophones—soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, and bass. Carter has won DownBeat magazine’s Critics and Readers Choice award in the category of baritone saxophone numerous times.

CARTER, RON (1937–)

Initially studying cello at age 10 and working toward a career in classical music, Ron Carter would switch to the bass in 1954 and eventually became one of the most recorded jazz bassists of all time, with more than 2,200 albums to his credit. After graduating from the Eastman School of Music in 1959 with a B.M., he joined the Chico Hamilton Quintet with Eric Dolphy and received an M.M. degree from the Manhattan School of Music. From there he played with many famous musicians including Cannonball Adderley, Randy Weston, Thelonious Monk, Don Ellis, and many others before replacing Paul Chambers in Miles Davis’s group in 1963. He remained in Davis’s group until 1968, during which time he, along with Herbie Hancock and Tony Williams, formed one of the most noted rhythm sections in jazz history. In addition to his work with Davis, he played with artists including Sonny Rollins, Freddie Hubbard, Wayne Shorter, McCoy Tyner, Cedar Walton, and many others. He also worked with vocalists including Lena Horne, Aretha Franklin, and Helen Merrill, as well as the rap group A Tribe Called Quest. He was awarded the medallion and title of Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters, France’s premier cultural award, by the French minister of culture in 2014. In 2017, Carter expanded his reach, utilizing his considerable following on Facebook, where he regularly posts helpful information and backstories for bass players and fans. Carter has composed music for film and is a best-selling author of jazz texts. He has been awarded five honorary doctorate degrees.

CASTRO-NEVES, (CARLOS) OSCAR (DE) (1940–2017)

A Brazilian guitarist who helped to popularize the bossa nova style, Castro-Neves was praised for his sophisticated harmonies and complex rhythmic approach. He performed in the first concert of bossa nova music presented at Carnegie Hall in 1962 and then went on to play with artists including Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, and Lalo Schifrin. He moved to Los Angeles in 1967 and wrote, arranged, and toured with the Paul Winter Consort until 1970. From 1971 through 1981, he was guitarist and musical director for the popular musician Sérgio Mendes and also played with Quincy Jones, Lee Ritenour, Dave Grusin, and Ella Fitzgerald, among others. He has also participated as an arranger or producer in projects for artists including Toots Thielemans, Joe Henderson, and Terence Blanchard. He died from cancer at the age of 73.

CATALYST

A record label and company established in 1975 that recorded until 1977. Artists include Sonny Stitt, Frank Foster, and Ahmad Jamal. The label reissued albums from other countries by artists including Paul Gonsalves, Carmen McRae, and Helen Merrill.

CATLETT, SID(NEY) (1910–1951)

An American jazz drummer, Catlett was known primarily for his work in swing music. His first gig was with Darnell Howard in 1928, after which he moved to New York and worked first with Benny Carter’s band, then McKinney’s Cotton Pickers, Fletcher Henderson, and Don Redman. He was the featured drummer in a big band led by Louis Armstrong from 1938 to 1941 before playing briefly as a member of Benny Goodman’s band. He led his own groups during the 1940s and also played with Duke Ellington, Ben Webster (who played in Catlett’s quartet), and Dizzy Gillespie (recording “Salt Peanuts” in 1945) before returning to Armstrong’s All Stars from 1947 to 1949. In 1951, Catlett collapsed backstage and died of a heart attack at the Chicago Opera House during a benefit for “Hot Lips” Page.

CELESTIN, OSCAR PHILLIP “PAPA” (1884–1954)

Celestin played cornet and was the leader of the Original Tuxedo Orchestra, one of the most popular of the early jazz bands based in New Orleans, Louisiana. From 1910, Celestin led the house band at the Tuxedo Dance Hall in the French Quarter of New Orleans, and later he founded the Tuxedo Brass Band. A shooting at the Tuxedo in 1913 closed the dance hall, but Celestin kept the band going. He established a network of Papa Celestin bands that played constant jobs throughout the city, and almost all of the best-known New Orleans jazz pioneers played with Celestin at one time or another, including Louis Armstrong, Jimmie Noone, and Clarence Williams. The Original Tuxedo Orchestra recorded a remarkable number of recordings, making 17 records between 1925 and 1928. Celestin disbanded his ensemble in 1932 due to the Great Depression, but he resumed his role as a bandleader again after World War II. The new Tuxedo Orchestra proved very popular and became a key New Orleans attraction. After his death in 1953, the band continued to record.

CHALLIS, WILLIAM “BILL” (1904–1994)

An American arranger, he got his start as the staff arranger for the Jean Goldkette band. After meeting cornetist Bix Beiderbecke, both would move to Paul Whiteman’s band in 1927 where Challis wrote much of Whiteman’s most jazz-oriented music. His association with Beiderbecke would also lead to writing for Frankie Trumbauer’s small group. Challis left Whiteman’s band in 1930 and went on to write arrangements for Fletcher Henderson, the Dorsey brothers, and Artie Shaw, among others. He remained active as an arranger into the 1960s.

CHALOFF, SERGE (1923–1957)

Baritone sax player and one of the first important soloists on the instrument. He played with Boyd Raeburn (1945), Georgie Auld (1945–1946), and Jimmy Dorsey (1946–1947) before joining Woody Herman’s Second Herd and becoming one of the famous “Four Brothers” (1947–1949). His playing was influenced by Charlie Parker. He kicked a drug habit in 1950, but the last portion of his life was marred by spinal paralysis, causing him to play his last recording session, a reunion of the Four Brothers in 1957, in a wheelchair.

CHAMBERS, PAUL (1935–1969)

One of the most well-known jazz bassists of the 1950s and 1960s, Paul Chambers grew up in Detroit, starting on the tuba before switching to the bass. He toured with Paul Quinichette in 1954 before moving to New York, where he played with the J. J. Johnson–Kai Winding Quintet (1955), Bennie Green (1955), and George Wallington (1955). Thereafter he joined Miles Davis, with whom he played from 1955 to 1963. After his time with Davis, he played with pianist Wynton Kelly until 1966. An alcoholic and heroin addict, he was nevertheless a popular sideman who recorded with artists including Sonny Rollins, Cannonball Adderley, Freddie Hubbard, Bill Evans, and John Coltrane (who titled his composition “Mr. P.C.” in honor of Chambers), among others. Also known for his bowed solos, Chambers contracted tuberculosis in 1968 and died early in 1969.

CHANGES

Musician’s term for the harmonic progression to a song, as in “chord changes.” See also IMPROVISATION.

CHANNEL

A term for the B section within the form of American popular song (AABA), usually a contrasting harmonic and melodic section. See also BRIDGE.

CHARLAP, WILLIAM MORRISON “BILL” (1966–)

A piano player, Charlap was born in New York City into a musical family. His father was a composer and his mother a successful singer. Charlap was thrust into the jazz world in the late 1980s when he joined baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan’s quintet. In 1994, he joined the Phil Woods Quintet, and in the same year he began his solo recording career. In 1997 Charlap formed the Bill Charlap Trio with bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington, which is now recognized as one of the leading groups in jazz. He was named jazz pianist of the year by the Jazz Journalists Association in 2003 and has received two Grammy Award nominations. Charlap has been serving as director of jazz studies at William Patterson University in Wayne, New Jersey, since 2005 and is married to jazz pianist Renee Rosnes.

CHARLES, RAY (1930–2004)

An American pianist and songwriter, he was also instrumental in the development of soul music and was a prolific force in American popular music. Born in Florida in poverty, Charles contracted glaucoma at the age of five and was blind one year later. He studied music and composition at the St. Augustine School for the Deaf and the Blind and later formed a group and toured around the state of Florida before moving to Seattle in 1947. He signed with Atlantic in 1952 and recorded several albums, his first trademark performance coming with “I’ve Got a Woman” in 1955. His unique inflection and interpretation was further realized with successive albums including What’d I Say (1959). During his time with Atlantic he also recorded jazz albums with artists including Milt Jackson and David “Fathead” Newman.

Charles moved to the ABC label in order to gain more creative control over his music, recording hits including “Georgia on My Mind” (1960) and “Hit the Road Jack” (1961), followed by a foray into country music with “Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music” (1962). His momentum was slowed somewhat by a 1965 arrest for heroin possession, after which he took a year off from performing. He would record several other albums of varying styles before returning to jazz in 2000 with an appearance on Steve Turre’s In the Spur of the Moment. After his death from liver disease in 2004, his album Genius Loves Company was posthumously released and was awarded eight Grammy Awards, and a biopic, Ray, was released in 2005 starring Jamie Foxx as the title character, a role for which Foxx won the Academy Award for Best Actor. See also BLUES; RHYTHM AND BLUES (R&B).

CHARLESTON

A popular dance style of the 1920s, its popularity was aided by a dance song of the same name by James P. Johnson and Cecil Mack in 1923. The dance, named after the city of Charleston, South Carolina, where it possibly originated, symbolized the reckless abandon of the Roaring Twenties but eventually fell out of favor, and its movements were combined into a newer dance, the Lindy.

CHARLESTON CHASERS

The name given to several different studio dance bands led by Red Nichols, Dick Johnson, Phil Napoleon, and Benny Goodman that recorded on the Columbia record label between 1925 and 1931. At various times the groups included Tommy Dorsey, Jack Teagarden, Glenn Miller, and Gene Krupa, among others.

CHARLIE PARKER RECORDS

A record label and company founded in New York in 1961 by Charlie Parker’s widow, Doris Parker, and Aubrey Mayhew. The company was active for about two years, during which time a few of Parker’s previously unissued albums were released, in addition to new material recorded by artists including Cecil Taylor, Duke Jordan, Teddy Wilson, and Slide Hampton.

CHART

A jazz musician’s term for a printed piece of music.

CHASE

A competition between two or more soloists, where each tries to outplay or outperform the other. Similar in concept to trading, but instead of trading a set amount of measures, the soloists would first trade choruses, then half choruses, then phrases, and so on. See also CUTTING CONTEST.

CHASE, WILLIAM “BILL” (1934–1974)

American trumpet player, known for his upper register. After studying at the Berklee College of Music, Bill Chase played lead trumpet in Maynard Ferguson’s big band in 1958, recorded an album with Stan Kenton in 1959, and performed at the Monterey Jazz Festival with Woody Herman. Chase would stay in Herman’s band until 1967, after which he started the jazz-rock group Chase, containing four trumpets, a rhythm section, and a singer. After another brief European tour with Herman’s band in 1969, he recorded his band’s first album in 1971, the self-titled Chase, which contained the hit song “Get It On.” Successive albums were not as well received. Chase and three other members of his band died in a plane crash in 1974 during a tour.

CHEATHAM, ALDOLPHUS ANTHONY “DOC” (1905–1997)

Known more for his playing later in life, Doc Cheatham started playing trumpet at the age of 14. He worked in various local bands before moving to Chicago around 1925, where he played with Albert Wynn and subbed for Louis Armstrong. He then moved to Philadelphia and played with Wilbur De Paris (1927–1928), then to New York, where he performed briefly with Chick Webb. After touring Europe with Sam Wooding from 1928 to 1930, he became known more as a lead trumpet player than a soloist and spent time playing in many different bands, including McKinney’s Cotton Pickers in 1931 and 1932, seven years with the Cab Calloway Orchestra from 1932 to 1939, and brief stints with Teddy Wilson and then Benny Carter. In the 1950s and 1960s, Cheatham worked with various Latin bands and also toured with De Paris, Sammy Price, and Herbie Mann before settling down to lead his own band in New York from 1960 to 1965. After a brief stint with Benny Goodman in 1966, Cheatham settled in as a freelance musician, and his soloing became more recognized. He continued to perform at jazz festivals and clubs into the 1990s. In 1991 he appeared with Wynton Marsalis at a tribute to Louis Armstrong, and in 1996 he recorded an album with trumpeter Nicholas Payton. A few days after a performance with Payton in 1997, Cheatham died in his sleep due to a stroke.

CHERRY, DON (1936–1995)

Generally associated with playing the pocket trumpet or cornet, Cherry joined Ornette Coleman’s group in 1957 and appeared on Coleman’s first seven albums. Those albums, in addition to the group’s celebrated stint at the Five Spot Café in New York (starting in 1959), established Cherry at the forefront of the avant-garde movement. During this time he also recorded with John Coltrane (The Avant-Garde) in 1960. After leaving Coleman’s group, Cherry went on to play with Sonny Rollins, Archie Shepp, Steve Lacy, and Albert Ayler. In Europe between 1964 and 1966, Cherry recorded his two most critically successful albums, Complete Communion (1965) and Symphony for Improvisers (1966). Thereafter, he toured Europe, Africa, and Asia and became known for incorporating non-Western musical elements into his music, writing for and performing with wood flutes, gamelan, and other non-Western instruments. Throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and into the 1990s, he would play with several groups, including Codona, Old and New Dreams (a group dedicated to playing Coleman’s music), Nu, and the Multikulti orchestra and quintet. While in Spain in 1995, Cherry died from liver failure caused by hepatitis. See also POCKET TRUMPET.

CHESTNUT, CYRUS (1963–)

Chestnut was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and began learning piano at the age of seven. By the age of nine, he was studying classical music at the Peabody Institute. He earned a degree in jazz composition and arranging from the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. From 1986 through 1993, Chestnut toured with a number of artists, including vocalist Jon Hendricks, trumpeter Terence Blanchard, Donald Harrison, and Wynton Marsalis, and as a member of the Betty Carter Trio. In 1993 he signed with Atlantic Records and released four albums over the next five years. Chestnut collaborated with opera legend Kathlee Battle on the album So Many Stars (1995, Sony Masterworks), which then led to a fall 1996 U.S. tour together. He continues to tour with his trio, performing at jazz festivals throughout the world as well as at clubs and concert halls. He regularly performs with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and the Carnegie Hall Jazz Orchestra.

CHIAROSCURO

A record label and company established in New York in 1970. During the 1970s, Chiaroscuro issued albums by artists including Earl Hines, Mary Lou Williams, and Teddy Wilson and also by some free jazz musicians. The label was active into the 1990s.

CHICAGO FOOTWARMERS

A recording group formed in Chicago in 1927, it also went by the names the Dixieland Thumpers and the State Street Ramblers.

CHICAGO JAZZ

A variation of the New Orleans early jazz style created by White musicians in and around Chicago during the 1920s. Famous musicians associated with the style include Benny Goodman, Gene Krupa, Bix Beiderbecke, and Frankie Trumbauer. The Chicago style was characterized by more frenetic rhythms, better instrumental technique, and a focus on the soloist. In contrast with the earlier New Orleans style, piano was typically used in place of banjo, and the upright bass in place of tuba.

CHILDERS, MARION “BUDDY” (1926–2007)

A lead trumpet player, Buddy Childers got his start at age 16 playing in Stan Kenton’s band in 1942. He played with Kenton until 1954, also appearing with numerous other bands, including those of Woody Herman (1949) and Tommy Dorsey (1951–1952). In the 1950s and 1960s, Childers worked as a freelance musician in Los Angeles and spent seven years in Las Vegas (1959–1966). In the 1970s and 1980s, Childers performed with many big bands, notably the Toshiko Akiyoshi–Lew Tabackin Big Band and Bob Florence’s big band. He served as Frank Sinatra Jr.’s musical director starting in 1983 and died from cancer in 2007.

CHILTON, JOHN (1932–2106)

British jazz trumpet player and jazz scholar. Chilton formed his own band in 1954, joined Bruce Turner’s Jump Band in 1958, and played in a few other groups before becoming musical director for George Melly in 1971. He was noted mainly for his jazz texts, including Who’s Who of Jazz: Storyville to Swing Street, Louis: The Louis Armstrong Story, and biographies of Sidney Bechet and Coleman Hawkins. His autobiography, Hot Jazz, Warm Feet, was published in 2007 by Northway Publications. See also ENGLAND.

CHIRILLO, JAMES (1953–)

A guitarist, banjoist, composer, and arranger, Chirillo studied music at the University of North Texas, playing guitar for the school’s One O’Clock Lab Band. After his studies, he began performing with popular singers before joining the U.S. Army Jazz Knights big band in 1979. Following the completion of his enlistment, he moved to New York City in 1982. He was a member of Benny Goodman’s last band from 1985 to 1986 and was a member of the Buck Clayton Orchestra from 1987 to 1991. He has performed with the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. During his career he has appeared on more than 70 albums with artists such as Joe Wilder, Bob Mintzer, pianist Marcus Roberts, and Kenny Davern. From 1992 to 1999 he was a member of the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, directed by Gunther Schuller and David Baker.

CHISHOLM, GEORGE (1915–1997)

Scottish trombonist. He was inspired to play the trombone by hearing recordings of Jack Teagarden. In 1937 he played in a jam session in London with Fats Waller, Coleman Hawkins, and Benny Carter that helped to start his career. He recorded albums with both Carter and Waller in the late 1930s. He joined the Squadronaires in 1939 and in 1950 was a member of the BBC Radio Show Band. In the late 1950s and 1960s he appeared on the television show The Black and White Minstrel Show as a musician and a comic. In the 1960s and 1970s he was a guest soloist with Alex Welsh’s orchestra, and in the 1970s and 1980s he appeared with Keith Smith’s Hefty Jazz and his own band, the Gentlemen of Jazz. He was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1984 and retired from playing in the 1990s before dying in 1997.

CHIZHIK, LEONID (1947–)

A Russian pianist, Leonid Chizhik graduated from the M.I. Glinka State Conservatory in Gorky in 1970. Appearing in various trios and orchestras from the mid-1960s through the 1970s, he was the first pianist in the former Soviet Union to program complete recitals of improvised music. The founder of the Chizhik Jazz Center in Moscow in 1989, he was also director general of the Moscow Art Center beginning in 1990. He moved to Germany in 1991 to teach piano at the Richard Strauss Konservatorium in Munich and at the Franz Liszt Music Academy in Weimar.

CHOCOLATE DANDIES

Named after a stage show by Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake, the Chocolate Dandies were various recording groups who recorded from the late 1920s through the mid-1940s. The most well-known group contained the combination of Benny Carter and Coleman Hawkins and produced some of the most important examples of the swing style.

CHOICE

Record label and company founded in New York in 1972 that issued many recordings by solos, duos, and small groups in the swing and bop styles.

CHOPS

A term referring to either the actual embouchure used on a brass or woodwind instrument or the facial muscles used to create that embouchure. It may also be used to refer to a musician’s technical proficiency, as in “He has great chops.”

CHORD PROGRESSION

The harmonic movement from one chord to another or, more generally speaking, a series of chords within a song. Some chord progressions in jazz have become standard, as in the blues or in a turnaround. See also CHANGES.

CHORD SYMBOL

The specific notation used to denote the root and quality of a chord in a song. See also CHANGES; CHORD PROGRESSION.

CHORUS

In jazz, this refers to performing the harmonic progression to a song once through, either with the melody being performed or with an improvised solo. It is often repeated to allow for more statements of the melody or more improvised solos.

CHRISTENSEN, JON (1943–2020)

A Norwegian jazz percussionist who, early in his career, was the main drummer of choice for American jazz musicians visiting Norway. In the late 1960s, he played alongside Jan Garbarek on several recordings by the composer George Russell. He went on to perform at festivals with Dexter Gordon, Phil Woods, Sonny Stitt, and Sonny Rollins, among others. In the 1970s, Jon Christensen would record a number of albums on the ECM label, and he was central to developing the style that characterized ECM throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, drumming in Keith Jarrett’s European Quartet and many other groups. See also EUROPE.

CHRISTIAN, CHARLIE (1916–1942)

An American guitarist in the early bebop style, Christian grew up poor in Oklahoma City. By 1937 he was experimenting with amplifying his acoustic guitar, and in 1939 he was discovered by talent scout John Hammond, who convinced Christian to travel to Los Angeles and audition for Benny Goodman. That evening at the Victor Hugo Restaurant in Beverly Hills, Goodman, initially unimpressed with Christian, called for the tune “Rose Room.” When it was Christian’s turn to solo, he played 25 choruses that electrified the audience and convinced Goodman to put him in the group. From 1939 to 1941 he played with Goodman and became an important fixture at the famous jam sessions held at Minton’s Playhouse, which included Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, and Kenny Clarke. One of the most influential guitarists in the history of jazz and popular music, Christian’s style and lines were incorporated and imitated by guitarists and bop musicians for years afterward. Christian contracted tuberculosis in 1941 and died in 1942.

CHRISTLIEB, PETER (1945–)

Born into a music family, Christlieb started playing saxophone professionally just out of high school. He occasionally substituted for his teacher, Bob Cooper, at the Lighthouse Café in Hermosa Beach, California. Pianist Jimmy Rowles heard Christlieb and became a big influence on Christlieb’s concept of playing. Just out of high school, Christlieb joined the Si Zentner band. Christlieb briefly played with Woody Herman in 1966 before joining Louie Bellson in 1967, with whom he would continue to perform for the next 20 years. He was also a member of Doc Severinsen’s Tonight Show band through 1992, in addition to playing with the bands of Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Mel Lewis, and Bob Florence, among others. He played as a member of other television show bands including the Glen Campbell Show, The Bill Cosby Show, and Sonny & Cher. He co-led a group with saxophonist Warne Marsh, and in 1978 their album Apogee (Warner Bros.) was a critical success. Christlieb has been nominated for three Grammy Awards in the category of Best Jazz Soloist.

CIRCLE

A free jazz group founded in 1970 by Chick Corea, Anthony Braxton, Dave Holland, and Barry Altschul.

CIRCLE

A record label and company founded in 1946 with the goal of recording the cultural transition from African music to jazz. Several different ensembles and artists were recorded, and in addition several records by Jelly Roll Morton were reissued.

CIRCLE

A record label and company founded in Germany in 1976 that issued mainly free jazz and bop records.

CIRCULAR BREATHING

A method used by wind players to continuously play without interrupting the tone to breathe. It is accomplished by breathing through the nose while using the cheeks to continue to push air through the instrument.

CLAMBAKE SEVEN

An octet formed by Tommy Dorsey in 1935 that served as a smaller ensemble within his big band. The group would perform interludes during the big band’s performances and also at jam sessions in addition to making several recordings. Founded to contrast with the relatively rigid style of big band music of the time, it was an excellent solo vehicle for many of its members until it was disbanded in 1952.

CLARINET

A single-reed woodwind instrument, popular in early jazz and played by Benny Goodman, Woody Herman, and Artie Shaw, among others. See also BASS CLARINET; BATISTE, ALVIN (1932–2007); DANIELS, EDDIE (1941–); DAVERN, KENNY (1935–2006); DODDS, WARREN “BABY” (1898–1959); HUCKO, MICHAEL ANDREW “PEANUTS” (1918–2003); NOONE, JIMMIE (1895–1944); PROCOPE, RUSSELL (1908–1981); RUSSELL, CHARLES ELLSWORTH “PEE WEE” (1906–1969); SWEATMAN, WILBUR (1882–1961).

CLARKE, KENNY (1914–1985)

American drummer who was instrumental in the bebop movement. Clarke got his start playing with Roy Eldridge in Philadelphia, then moved to New York by way of St. Louis. While in New York he played in the house band at Minton’s Playhouse and, along with Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Christian, and Bud Powell, helped lay the foundation for the bebop style. Central to his playing were moving the timekeeping role on the drum set from the bass drum to the ride cymbal, which freed up the snare and bass drum to be used in his trademark “dropping bombs,” or adding offbeat accents. After a brief stint in the military, Clarke became a founding member of the Milt Jackson Quartet (the forerunner to the Modern Jazz Quartet) in 1951 and also made many recordings with Miles Davis, including the seminal recording Birth of the Cool. After his association with the Modern Jazz Quartet ended in 1955, he moved to Paris and performed with Bud Powell’s trio, among many other groups. He continued to live and work in Europe until his death in 1985.

CLARKE, STANLEY (1951–)

Settling on the bass guitar only after learning the accordion, violin, cello, and bass, Stanley Clarke got his first notable jazz gigs working first with Horace Silver, Pharoah Sanders, and Joe Henderson during the early 1970s. During a tour with Stan Getz, he founded the group Return to Forever with pianist Chick Corea. It was as a member of this group that Clarke’s amazing technique on the bass guitar was recognized, and Clarke was influential in the years before the discovery of bassist Jaco Pastorius. After his time in Return to Forever, Clarke moved mostly away from jazz and into the realm of commercial music. In the early 1980s, Clarke and his longtime friend and colleague, keyboardist George Duke, teamed up to form the Clarke/Duke Project. The duo scored a Top 20 pop hit with “Sweet Baby,” recorded three albums, and toured internationally. As a composer, orchestrator, and conductor and performer, Clarke has over 70 film and television credits to his name and provided the orchestral scoring for such films as Boyz ’N the Hood, What’s Love Got to Do with It?, and Romeo Must Die, among others. He was honored as Rolling Stone magazine’s first Jazzman of the Year and has been voted Best Electric Bass Player numerous times in DownBeat magazine’s reader and critic polls. Clarke and his wife, Sofia, established the Stanley Clarke Foundation, a charitable organization that awards scholarships to talented young musicians each year. Clarke is a four-time Grammy Award winner.

CLARKE, TERRY (1944–)

A Canadian drum set player, Terry Clarke worked with various local groups and visiting American musicians until he toured the United States with alto saxophonist John Handy from 1965 to 1967. He spent 1967 to 1969 as a member of the pop group the Fifth Dimension before settling in Toronto in 1970. While in Toronto he freelanced and recorded with many musicians, including Ted Moses, Frank Rosolino, Chet Baker, Blue Mitchell, Herb Ellis, and Art Pepper. Clarke was a regular member of Rob McConnell’s Boss Brass and toured internationally with Oscar Peterson. In 1985 Clarke moved to New York, where he continued to work with Hall, the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra, and Helen Merrill, among many others. He returned to Toronto in 1999 where he joined the Rob McConnell Tentet. Clarke’s 2009 debut album, It’s About Time (Blue Music Group), won a Juno Award for Traditional Jazz Album of the Year and featured guitarist Jim Hall, alto saxophonist Greg Osby, and tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano.

CLARKE-BOLAND BIG BAND

Big band formed by Kenny Clarke and Francy Boland. The band was based mostly in Europe, recording its first album in 1961 and disbanding in 1973.

CLAVE

A rhythmic concept underpinning salsa and other related jazz styles, the clave holds the rhythm together in Afro-Cuban music. See also AFRO-CUBAN JAZZ.

CLAXTONOLA RECORDS

A record label and company founded in Iowa City, Iowa, in 1918 and active until 1925.

CLAYTON, JEFF (1954–)

A multi-reed instrumentalist, Clayton studio oboe and English horn while a student at California State University, Northridge. He was asked to join the band of Stevie Wonder while still in college and spent three years recording and touring as an alto saxophonist with the group. He formed the Clayton-Hamilton Big Band along with his brother, bassist John Clayton, in 1986. During his career, Clayton served as a jazz faculty member at institutions including the University of Southern California, UCLA, and California State University, Long Beach.

CLAYTON, JOHN (1952–)

Clayton is a composer, arranger, conductor, educator, and bassist. After playing in string programs during his early school years, Clayton began studying bass with Ray Brown at the age of 16. He graduated from Indiana University with a degree in bass performance in 1975. Clayton then toured with the Monty Alexander Trio and the Count Basie Orchestra before accepting the position as principal bassist with the Amsterdam Philharmonic Orchestra in 1980. After returning to the United States, he cofounded the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra in 1986 along with his brother Jeff Clayton and drummer Jeff Hamilton. In 1988, he joined the faculty of the University of Southern California, where he taught until 2009. He has performed with a large number of jazz artists, including Milt Jackson and vocalist Diana Krall, among others. He has served as artistic director for numerous jazz festivals, including the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival, the Sarasota Jazz Festival, and the Santa Fe Jazz Party, and he served as president of the International Society of Bassists. He has garnered one Grammy Award and eight additional nominations. See also BIG BAND.

CLAYTON, WILBUR DORSEY “BUCK” (1911–1991)

A trumpet player, Buck Clayton got his start in California in 1934 when he formed a big band and played in Shanghai, China, for two years. Upon returning to California in 1936, he was invited to join the Count Basie Orchestra to replace “Hot Lips” Page and was a member of Count Basie’s band until he was drafted into military service in 1943. During his time with the Basie band, he achieved notoriety for his solo work and also participated in sessions with Lester Young, Teddy Wilson, and Billie Holiday. While with Basie he also became an arranger; after his return from military service in 1946, he wrote arrangements for Basie, Benny Goodman, and Harry James. In the late 1940s Clayton led his own sextet on a tour through Europe, and in the mid-1950s he recorded some memorable jam sessions organized by John Hammond for Columbia, in addition to touring with Mezz Mezzrow and Eddie Condon and appearing at festivals with Sidney Bechet, Coleman Hawkins, and J. J. Johnson. Clayton continued to tour with Condon into the early 1960s, but by the late 1960s, lip problems interfered with his career, and despite surgery he was forced to abandon playing in favor of arranging. He briefly played again during a U.S. State Department tour from 1977 to 1979 but did not play again afterward. In 1987 he formed his own big band that performed his compositions and arrangements and remained active with the band until a week before his death.

CLEVELAND, JIMMY (1926–2008)

A trombonist, he played with his family band until he joined Lionel Hampton’s in 1950. After working with Hampton, he went on to play with numerous other leaders, including Dizzy Gillespie, Donald Byrd, Miles Davis, Gil Evans, James Moody, Gerry Mulligan, Oliver Nelson, and Wes Montgomery, among others. After moving to Los Angeles around 1969, Cleveland worked in the band for The Merv Griffin Show until 1977 and recorded for Quincy Jones. He was one of the most recorded jazz trombonists of the 1950s and 1960s.

CLIMAX

Record label. It issued five Bill Russell/George Lewis recordings in 1943.

CLOONEY, ROSEMARY (1928–2002)

A vocalist and actress, Rosemary Clooney started singing with her sister Betty, eventually landing a spot alongside Tony Pastor, touring and doing one-night shows. Eventually Rosemary would sign with Columbia Records in 1950 and go on to make several hits, including “Tenderly,” which would later become her theme song. She also began her career as an actress in 1953. She semiretired in the 1960s but in the 1970s restarted her career and made many popular records on the Concord label, many of which were tributes to songwriters including Cole Porter, Harold Arlen, Irving Berlin, and several others. She continued to perform late in her life and was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammys in 2002 before passing away from lung cancer later that same year.

CLOUDS OF JOY

Alternatively known as Dark Clouds of Joy or Twelve Clouds of Joy, it was a band started by Terrence Holder and later taken over by Andy Kirk. The group was active between 1929 and 1948.

CLUBS

Typically refers to a venue that can be a nightclub, bar, restaurant, or any other location that has music. Clubs were central to the evolution of jazz, whether as a performance space or a jam session location. See also BIRDLAND; FIVE SPOT; MINTON’S PLAYHOUSE; MONROE’S UPTOWN HOUSE; ONYX; ONYX.

C-MELODY SAXOPHONE

A saxophone pitched in C; notable performers include Frankie Trumbauer.

COBB, JIMMY (1929–2020)

Cobb started working locally in Washington, D.C., with Charlie Rouse, Benny Golson, Billie Holiday, and others before joining Earl Bostic in 1951. Later that year he joined Wynton Kelly in the trio that accompanied Dinah Washington, a group he would play with until 1956. In 1956 and 1957 he joined the Adderley brother’s quintet, and in 1958 he and Cannonball Adderley joined Miles Davis, during which time they recorded the landmark jazz album Kind of Blue (1959). Cobb recorded during this period with artists including John Coltrane, Kenny Dorham, Wayne Shorter, Donald Byrd, Wes Montgomery, and various others. In 1962 he formed a trio with Wynton Kelly and Paul Chambers that would last until Chambers’s death in 1969. Thereafter he accompanied Sarah Vaughan during the 1970s and appeared with Nat Adderley during the 1980s. During the late 1990s he formed his own group, Jimmy Cobb’s Mob, in New York. In June 2008, Cobb was the recipient of the Don Redman Heritage Award, and in 2009 he received a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Award.

COBBLESTONE

A record label established in New York in 1972, it included recordings by artists Sonny Stitt and Jimmy Heath, among others.

COBHAM, BILLY (1944–)

A percussionist born in Panama, Billy Cobham’s family moved to New York when he was three years old. By the late 1960s he was playing in sessions and performing with Horace Silver, among others. In 1969 he formed the jazz-rock group Dreams with Michael and Randy Brecker and stayed with the group until 1971, also recording with Miles Davis during this time. After Dreams, Cobham joined John McLaughlin and his Mahavishnu Orchestra, where he achieved notoriety as a jazz-rock and fusion drummer. He was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1987 and the Classic Drummer Hall of Fame in 2013.

CODONA

A free jazz/world music trio formed in 1978 by Collin Walcott, Don Cherry, and Naná Vasconcelos. It was active until Walcott’s death in 1984.

COKER, JERRY (1932–)

A saxophonist and educator, Jerry Coker left Indiana University to tour with Woody Herman from 1953 to 1954. He recorded briefly in Paris, in San Francisco, and also with Mel Lewis before moving to the West Coast and playing briefly with Stan Kenton. After 1960, he became known for his work as an educator and was appointed to several successive university positions, including the University of Tennessee, where he was a professor of music from the 1980s through the 2000s. He is also the author of numerous jazz education texts.

COLE, NAT “KING” (1919–1965)

American pianist and singer, Nat “King” Cole was born in Alabama, and in 1921 his family moved to Chicago, where he learned how to play piano by ear from his mother. In 1936 he and his brother joined the tour of the show Shuffle Along; he was later stranded in Los Angeles when the show folded. In Los Angeles he formed a trio with Oscar Moore and Wesley Prince; although the members would change, his trio would stay active until 1950. The instrumentation of the trio (piano/guitar/bass) would inspire other pianists including Oscar Peterson and Ahmad Jamal to form similar groups. Gradually adding his vocals to his performances, and after a series of hits including “The Christmas Song” (1946) and “Nature Boy” (1948), Cole completed the transformation from jazz pianist to pop vocalist with his recording of “Mona Lisa” in 1950. He would continue to release a number of successful pop albums before dying from lung cancer.

COLE, RICHIE (1948–2020)

An American alto saxophonist, Cole started playing when he was 10 years of age in his hometown of Trenton, New Jersey. Richie Cole studied with Phil Woods in high school and attended the Berklee College of Music. He joined Buddy Rich in 1969, and during the 1970s he played with several big bands including that of Lionel Hampton. From 1973 to 1979 he performed with vocalist Eddie Jefferson. During the 1980s and 1990s, Cole led his own band named Alto Madness. Cole has performed at the Village Vanguard and Carnegie Hall and has given a command performance for the Queen of England. He has recorded more than 50 albums and CDs and served on the boards of the National Jazz Service Organization and the National Endowment for the Arts, where he served as chair for one year.

COLE, WILLIAM RANDOLPH “COZY” (1909–1981)

An American percussionist, in 1930 he recorded with Jelly Roll Morton and afterward played in the big bands of Blanche Calloway, Benny Carter, and Willie Bryant. He spent 1936 to 1938 with the Onyx Club band led by Stuff Smith and achieved notoriety as a soloist during a four-year stint with Cab Calloway from 1938 to 1942. He studied at Juilliard in the mid-1940s and performed in various groups in the 1940s until replacing Sid Catlett in Louis Armstrong’s All Stars from 1949 to 1953. In 1954 he opened a drum school with Gene Krupa, and during the 1950s he appeared in a number of films. In the late 1950s his recording of “Topsy” with Jack Teagarden and Earl Hines was a surprise Top 40 hit. During the 1960s and 1970s, Cole toured and freelanced before passing away from cancer in 1981.

COLEMAN, EARL (1925–1995)

A singer, Earl Coleman started with Billy McShann and Earl Hines before he recorded his hit “This Is Always” with Charlie Parker in 1947. He would go on to record with notable jazz musicians including Fats Navarro, Max Roach, Art Farmer, and Sonny Rollins, among others, in addition to a few records later in his life as a leader.

COLEMAN, GEORGE (1935–)

Coleman taught himself to play alto saxophone in his teenage years. In the early 1950s he played with B. B. King, and by 1955 he had switched to playing tenor saxophone. In 1958 he joined Max Roach’s quintet, and in 1960 he joined Slide Hampton’s octet, recording with Lee Morgan, Booker Little, and others. From 1963 to 1964 he performed with Miles Davis; in 1964 he left the group to play with Elvin Jones. He also played with Herbie Hancock on his album Maiden Voyage in 1965. Since 1973, Coleman has focused primarily on his own groups, working in quartet, quintet, and octet settings, adding the soprano saxophone to his repertoire in 1990. He has recorded more than a dozen albums as leader and numerous recordings as a sideman. Coleman has conducted educational workshops at universities throughout the United States, and in 1997 he received the Jazz Foundation of America’s Life Achievement Award. In 2002, he recorded Four Generations of Miles (Chesky Records) with Ron Carter, Jimmy Cobb, and guitarist Mike Stern.

COLEMAN, ORNETTE (1930–2015)

An alto saxophonist, Coleman was instrumental in the development of avant-garde jazz. Ornette Coleman’s initial influence was Charlie Parker. He played with several rhythm and blues (R&B) bands before a tour with Pee Wee Crayton led him to Los Angeles in 1950. In Los Angeles, Coleman took a job as an elevator operator and studied music theory and harmony textbooks, developing many of the theories and concepts that would later prove controversial. Having difficulty finding people with whom to perform, he was finally discovered by Red Mitchell and Percy Heath. At the behest of John Lewis, Coleman and Don Cherry attended the Lenox School of Jazz in 1959, and Coleman’s quartet (which included Cherry, Charlie Haden, and Billy Higgins) began an extended appearance at the Five Spot Café in New York. It was during this time at the Five Spot that Coleman recorded some of his most influential albums, including The Shape of Jazz to Come (1959, Atlantic) and Free Jazz (1961, Atlantic). These albums, in particular Free Jazz, were highly influential in the avant-garde movement, but also extremely controversial.

Coleman retired in 1962 but returned in 1965 after teaching himself to play the trumpet and violin. By the end of the 1960s, Coleman was again playing with Cherry, Haden, and other previous band members. In the mid-1970s, Coleman formed the group Prime Time and codified his personal music theory as “harmolodics”—equality of harmony, melody, and rhythm. In 2007 he was awarded both the Pulitzer Prize and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. See also FREE JAZZ.

COLEMAN, STEVE (1956–)

Coleman, a saxophonist, began his musical studies at the age of 14. After beginning his professional career in Chicago, Illinois, he relocated to New York City and began playing with the Thad Jones–Mel Lewis Big Band. He soon began playing as a sideman with jazz artists including David Murray, Dave Holland, Michael Brecker, and vocalist Abbey Lincoln. Coleman is considered one of the leading contributors to the musical movement known as M-Base. A combination of philosophical studies and international trips has impacted his music in significant ways. He has established himself as an advocate for the connection of the music of today with the dynamic musical traditions of Africa, India, Cuba, and other peoples living in various parts of the world. Coleman was awarded a MacArthur genius grant in 2014.

COLEMAN, WILLIAM JOHNSON “BILL” (1904–1981)

Originally a clarinet and saxophone player, Bill Coleman switched to the trumpet after hearing Louis Armstrong. In the 1920s and 1930s, Coleman played in various bands, getting his recording debut with Lloyd and Cecil Scott in 1927. Coleman recorded with Fats Waller while in Teddy Hill’s band from 1934 to 1935 and thereafter moved to Paris where he toured with Willie Lewis and performed with his own groups. He returned to New York in 1940 and played with various bands including Benny Carter, Teddy Wilson, Andy Kirk, and others, and he recorded with both Lester Young and Coleman Hawkins in 1943. In 1948 Coleman moved permanently back to France and toured and recorded there for the rest of his life. See also FRANCE.

COLLECTIVE IMPROVISATION

A form of improvisation where some or all members of the group improvise at the same time and no one voice is more important than another.

COLLETTE, WILLIAM MARCEL “BUDDY” (1921–2010)

He began playing the saxophone at the age of 12, but he learned to play other woodwind instruments and is most known for his flute playing. Collette toured with several big bands during the early 1940s and led a dance band while serving in the navy during World War II. After he was discharged from the navy, he played with several more bands, including the Stars of Swing and Benny Carter. He also worked and recorded with Charles Mingus, of whom he was an early teacher. Collette came to prominence in 1955–1956 for his flute playing with Chico Hamilton’s quintet. Afterward he went on to record under his own name and also with Red Callender, Louie Bellson, and many others. During the 1960s Collette turned to writing and film scoring, which he continued throughout the 1970s and 1980s, interspersed with appearances with Thelonious Monk (1964) and Benny Carter (1978). Collette also founded the record company Legend in 1973. Known also as a teacher, in 1994 he released A Jazz Audio Biography, and in 2000 he published his autobiography, Jazz Generations: A Life in American Music and Society.

COLLIER, (JAMES) GRAHAM (1937–2011)

English bassist, trumpet player, and composer. Graham Collier started playing in an army band in 1954, and in 1961 he attended the Berklee School of Music where he was the first British student to graduate. After a brief stint as the bassist in the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra in 1963, Collier moved to England and formed his own band. The band, Graham Collier Music, performed Collier’s own music and contained notable British jazz musicians, including Kenny Wheeler and Mike Gibbs, among others. Collier would continue to lead his own bands throughout the 1980s and also formed his own record label, Mosaic (a different label from the American company). Collier was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1987, and he continued to write music for television, film, the stage, and radio.

COLORADO JAZZ PARTY

An annual jazz festival and series of jam sessions held in Colorado from 1963 to 1993. Presented by Dick Gibson, the event featured world-class musicians performing together in various combinations. It was also known as the Gibson Jazz Party.

COLTRANE, ALICE (1937–2007)

A pianist, Alice Coltrane studied jazz with Bud Powell in Paris in 1959. While on tour with Terry Gibbs from 1962 to 1963 she met John Coltrane, whom she married in 1965 and with whom she had three children. She replaced McCoy Tyner in Coltrane’s group in 1966 and played with the band until Coltrane’s death in 1967. Following his death, from 1967 to 1972 Alice Coltrane led many groups that included musicians Pharoah Sanders, Joe Henderson, and Roy Haynes, among others. In 1972 she moved to California and became involved with spiritual and religious concerns, performing less regularly. In 1987 she performed a tribute to John Coltrane with her sons Ravi Coltrane and Oran Coltrane.

COLTRANE, JOHN (1926–1967)

Next to Charlie Parker, there is no more influential or imitated jazz saxophonist than John Coltrane; next to Miles Davis, there is perhaps no more influential figure in jazz. Around the age of 15, Coltrane began playing the alto saxophone, and from 1945 to 1946 he toured with a navy band, followed by tours with King Kolax and Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson. He recorded with Dizzy Gillespie in 1949, playing with his big band from 1949 to 1950 and his sextet from 1950 to 1951. Thereafter he played with Earl Bostic (1952) and Johnny Hodges (1953–1954), during which time he switched permanently to the tenor saxophone.

After spending two weeks with Jimmy Smith, Coltrane received and accepted Miles Davis’s offer to replace Sonny Rollins in his quintet. Coltrane would be in Davis’s group on and off until 1960, famously fired in 1957 due to his drug addiction but rehired after kicking his habit in 1958. During this time Coltrane participated in several of Davis’s most famous recordings, including Kind of Blue and Milestones; released some of his own recordings as a leader, including Blue Train and Giant Steps; and had a much-celebrated stint with Thelonious Monk in 1957.

In 1960, Coltrane left Davis’s group and formed his own quartet with McCoy Tyner, Elvin Jones, Reggie Workman (until 1961), and then Jimmy Garrison on bass. During this time, Coltrane produced many of his finest recordings, notably “My Favorite Things” in 1960, on which Coltrane plays the soprano saxophone, and A Love Supreme in 1964, which contained the spiritual message that framed the latter years of his life. As Coltrane ventured deeper into the avant-garde during 1965 and 1966, the quartet changed members, adding Pharoah Sanders, Alice Coltrane, and Rashied Ali while losing Tyner and Jones. Coltrane died of liver cancer at the relatively young age of 40.

COLUMBIA

Probably the oldest and longest-lasting name of any record label, Columbia’s roots extend back as far as the late 1880s, when it was created as a subsidiary of the American Graphophone Company in Washington, D.C. During the 1910s through the 1930s, the Columbia catalog included many noted jazz artists, including the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, Bessie Smith, King Oliver, Paul Whiteman, Jack Teagarden, Louis Armstrong, Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington, and Benny Goodman. In 1938, the label was purchased by the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS). During the 1940s, CBS also counted several dance bands among its artists, including the bands of Woody Herman and Count Basie, and also other artists including Billie Holiday. The label signed and recorded a tremendous number of rock-and-roll and popular music artists throughout the last half of the century but still served as a home for many famous jazz artists, including Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, and Wynton Marsalis. Columbia was purchased by Sony in 1987 but remains active today. See also EPIC.

COLUMBIA BROADCASTING SYSTEM (CBS)

Record label and company. See also COLUMBIA; ELECTRICAL AND MUSICAL INDUSTRIES (EMI).

COMBO

A term that refers to a small jazz ensemble or music group, it is a shortened form of the word combination. The term most often applies to a jazz group with more than four members, but less than a traditional big band.

COMMODORE

An American record label and company established in 1938 in New York. Artists included Coleman Hawkins, Billie Holiday, and Jelly Roll Morton.

COMPING

A term used to refer to the harmonic and/or rhythmic accompaniment provided by ensemble members (typically piano, guitar, bass, and drum set) for soloists. The term is short for accompaniment or complement.

CONCORD

An American record label and company established in 1973 in Concord, California. Artists included older swing musicians such as Warren Vaché and Scott Hamilton.

CONDON, EDDIE (1905–1973)

A jazz guitarist, banjoist, and bandleader, Condon was born in Goodland, Indiana, and began performing professionally as a banjo player at the age of 16. Based in Chicago for most of the 1920s, he played with jazz artists including cornetist Bix Beiderbecke and trombonist Jack Teagarden. Along with Red McKenzie, he formed the Chicago Rhythm Kings in 1925. Condon moved to New York City in 1928 and began arranging jazz sessions for various record labels, sometimes playing with artists he brought to the studios, including Louis Armstrong and Fats Waller. He regularly organized racially integrated recording sessions, something that was rare at the time. He began a long association with Milt Gabler and Commodore Records beginning in 1938. Condon did a series of nationally popular radio broadcasts from New York’s Town Hall from 1944 to 1945, the recordings of which still survive and have been reissued on the Jazzology label.

Condon ran his own New York jazz club, Eddie Condon’s, from 1945 to 1967. During the 1950s Condon did a series of important recordings with early jazz musicians including Bobby Hackett on cornet, Wild Bill Davidson, Peanuts Hucko, Pee Wee Russell, Budd Freeman, and Ralph Sutton, among others. Condon toured and appeared at festivals until 1971.

CONGA

An Afro-Cuban drum with a barrel-shaped shell, played by striking the head with the fingers or the open palm. Chano Pozo, playing with Dizzy Gillespie in the late 1940s, was instrumental in introducing the conga to jazz music. See also AFRO-CUBAN JAZZ; CLAVE.

CONNIFF, RAY (1916–2002)

A trombonist, Ray Conniff played with various dance bands in the 1930s and 1940s, including the bands of Artie Shaw and Harry James. In the late 1950s, Conniff gave up the trombone for arranging. His group, the Ray Conniff Singers, was very successful during the later 1950s and the 1960s.

CONQUEROR

A record label that began issuing records in 1928 and was discontinued in 1942.

CONTACT

Record label and company founded in 1964 in New York. It released material by artists including Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young.

CONTEMPORARY

A record label and company founded in 1951 in Los Angeles by Lester Koenig. Artists included Art Pepper, Chet Baker, Ornette Coleman, Harold Land, Art Farmer, Sonny Rollins, Cecil Taylor, and many others.

CONTINENTAL

A record label and company founded in the mid-1940s. Artists included Cozy Cole and Mary Lou Williams.

CONTINUUM

A quintet that included Slide Hampton, Jimmy Heath, Kenny Barron, Ron Carter, and Art Taylor, formed in the late 1970s to play the music of Tadd Dameron.

COOK, HERMAN “JUNIOR” (1934–1992)

A tenor saxophonist, Junior Cook worked with Dizzy Gillespie in 1958 before joining Horace Silver’s quintet from 1959 to 1964. Cook and Blue Mitchell both left Silver’s quintet in 1964 and played together from 1964 to 1969. After teaching at the Berklee College of Music, he would go on to work with Freddie Hubbard from 1973 to 1975 and Louis Hayes from 1975 to 1976. In the 1980s, Cook played with Clifford Jordan and the McCoy Tyner big band, among others. See also TENOR SAXOPHONE.

COOL JAZZ

A variation and reaction to the bebop style of the 1940s, cool jazz was an attempt to tone down some of the harsher aspects of bop. Often interchanged with the term West Coast jazz, cool jazz emphasized arrangements and often demonstrated softer dynamics and articulations using less extremes of register. Miles Davis’s album Birth of the Cool is an oft-cited example. Notable artists associated with cool jazz styles include Gerry Mulligan, Chet Baker, and Lee Konitz. See also LIGHTHOUSE CAFÉ.

COOLMAN, TODD (1954–)

A bass player and author, Coolman moved to New York City in 1978 and began performing professionally. He has performed with many jazz artists—included among them are Horace Silver, Gerry Mulligan, Ahmad Jamal, and Benny Golson. For 25 years, he performed with the James Moody Quartet. In 1997, Coolman received a Ph.D. in music from New York University. He has recorded four CDs as a leader and written two books on bass techniques. He was director of the Skidmore Jazz Institute from 2011 to 2018. Coolman is currently on the faculty of the jazz studies programs at SUNY Purchase and the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music while continuing to perform internationally.

COPELAND, RAY (1926–1984)

Originally a classical trumpet player, Ray Copeland switched to jazz and played with several bands in Manhattan and Brooklyn throughout the late 1940s, including Cecil Scott and Mercer Ellington. In the late 1950s, he settled in New York and would work with Ella Fitzgerald (1965) and tour with Thelonious Monk (1967). During the 1970s he became active as a composer and jazz educator.

COREA, ARMANDO ANTHONY “CHICK” (1941–)

A jazz pianist, Chick Corea got his start playing in several Latin bands before joining Blue Mitchell in 1964 and later Stan Getz in 1967. In 1968, Corea joined Miles Davis’s band and recorded with Davis on his first fusion albums. Corea and Dave Holland left Davis’s group in 1970 and formed their own group, Circle, with Barry Altschul and Anthony Braxton, and the group was active into 1971 when Corea founded his band Return to Forever. He would re-form the band several more times, and the band would stay active until 1980. During the 1980s, Corea played with his Akoustic Band and his Elektric Band, and during the 1990s and into the 2000s Corea remained an active performer. Several of his compositions, including “Windows” and “Spain,” have reached the status of jazz standards.

CORNET

A brass instrument with three valves, the cornet was also a predecessor of the modern trumpet. The cornet is more conical in construction than the trumpet, and the instrument produces a warmer, darker sound. Many early jazz artists played the cornet, including Buddy Bolden, Bix Beiderbecke, and Louis Armstrong, who switched to the trumpet in the early 1930s. Eventually improvements in the trumpet helped it surpass the cornet as the more popular instrument of the two. See also HANDY, W(ILLIAM) C(HRISTOPHER) (1873–1958); OLIVER, JOE “KING” (1885–1938); PETIT, BUDDY (1895–1931); SPANIER, FRANCIS JOSEPH JULIAN “MUGGSY” (1906–1967); STEWART, REX (1907–1967).

CORYELL, LARRY (1943–2017)

A guitarist originally influenced by Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton, Larry Coryell moved to New York in 1965 to pursue a career as a musician and began playing with Chico Hamilton and then Free Spirits. After spending time with Gary Burton from 1967 to 1968 and Herbie Mann in 1968, Coryell formed the group Fourplay in 1969. He performed with this group until 1973 when he formed the jazz-rock band Eleventh House with Randy Brecker. During the late 1970s, Coryell switched to acoustic guitar and played in many small groups, and he also recorded with Charles Mingus and Sonny Rollins. After a brief hiatus in the early 1980s to deal with alcoholism and drug addiction, he toured with John McLaughlin, once again playing electric guitar. In the 1990s, Coryell freelanced and led his own groups while continuing to record. In 2007, Coryell published his autobiography, Improvising: My Life in Music.

COTTON CLUB

A famous nightclub in Harlem, it was notable for showcasing stage shows, bands, and dancers for a White-only clientele. The Duke Ellington Orchestra became known through its involvement from 1927 to 1931 as the house band and through radio broadcasts. The bands of both Fletcher Henderson and Cab Calloway preceded and followed (respectively) Ellington’s as house bands. Numerous celebrities frequented the establishment. See also MILLS BLUE RHYTHM BAND.

COUNTSMEN

A name given to several bands in the 1970s and 1980s whose members were former members of the Count Basie Orchestra and performed Basie’s repertoire.

COURBOIS, PIERRE (1940–)

A Dutch percussionist, Pierre Courbois started playing jazz with a Dixieland group in Arnhem in the mid-1950s. Throughout the 1960s he played with several groups, including the Original Dutch Free Jazz Group and the Free Music Quartet. From 1970 to 1975, Courbois led a free jazz group called Association PC, and after playing with several other groups, he formed New Association PC in 1984. In 1991 he formed Jubilation PC and in the late 1990s the Pierre Courbois Quintet. Courbois was honored with the Bird Award at the North Sea Jazz Festival, the highest award in the Dutch jazz world. He continues to perform with his QWINTEET and his SEXTETT. See also EUROPE.

COVINGTON, WARREN (1921–1999)

A trombonist who got his start playing with Isham Jones in 1939, then later worked with Les Brown in 1945 and Gene Krupa in 1946. In 1950 he played with Tommy Dorsey and took over Dorsey’s band following his death in 1958. He toured with the band from 1961 through the 1970s in addition to playing in several studio big bands and orchestras.

COWELL, STANLEY (1941–)

A pianist, Stanley Cowell moved to New York in 1966 and played with Max Roach (1967–1970) and then with the Bobby Hutcherson–Harold Land Quintet (1968–1971). In the 1970s he and Charles Tolliver cofounded the record label Strata-East. During the mid-1970s and 1980s, Cowell performed with the Heath brothers and with Larry Coryell. He has been active as an educator, having taught at Lehman College in New York and then for several decades in the Music Department of the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University in New Jersey. He continues to perform and record.

CRANE RIVER JAZZ BAND

A jazz band formed in England in 1949. See also ENGLAND.

CRANSHAW, BOB (1932–2016)

A bass player, Bob Cranshaw was a founding member of Walter Perkins’s MJT+3 in 1957. In 1960 he moved to New York, and by 1962 he began playing with Sonny Rollins, with whom he would continue to perform throughout the 1990s. In addition to his work with Rollins, Cranshaw has played with any number of famous jazz musicians, including McCoy Tyner, Thelonious Monk, Horace Silver, Lee Morgan, Johnny Hodges, Coleman Hawkins, James Moody, and Wes Montgomery, among many others. Cranshaw performed on hundreds of television and film scores and appears in the 90-minute documentary The Blue Note Story. Beginning in the 1990s, he worked for the musicians’ union in New York City as an advocate for the rights of jazz musicians. See also ELECTRIC BASS (GUITAR).

CRAWFORD, HANK (1934–2009)

A saxophonist, Hank Crawford began playing in Memphis with artists including B. B. King and Ike Turner in the early 1950s. In 1958 he joined Ray Charles’s band, and by 1961 he became the musical director. After leaving the group in 1963, Crawford would record many soul jazz albums and continued to play in that trademark style for the remainder of his life. See also SAXOPHONE.

CREOLE

A record label that reissued many early jazz records in the 1950s.

CREOLE BAND

Popular name for many early jazz bands, referencing people of racially mixed backgrounds, typically including French, Spanish, or African.

CRESCENT

Record label that issued recordings by Kid Ory’s Creole Jazz Band in the mid-1940s.

CRESCENT CITY JAZZERS

A jazz band made up of New Orleans musicians that performed during the 1920s at the Arcadia Ballroom in St. Louis, later changing their name to the Arcadian Serenaders. See also EARLY JAZZ.

CRISS, WILLIAM “SONNY” (1927–1977)

An alto saxophonist, Sonny Criss was influenced early on by Charlie Parker, with whom he played in 1946 and again in 1948. In the early 1950s, Criss toured with Jazz at the Philharmonic, and in the mid-1950s he played with Buddy Rich’s quintet and led his own groups. Criss moved to Europe in 1961 but returned to Los Angeles in 1966 and recorded many albums. In 1973 and 1974, Criss toured Europe again, but in 1977 he contracted stomach cancer and committed suicide.

CRISS CROSS JAZZ

Record label and company founded in 1981 in the Netherlands that focuses on albums by younger, bop-oriented jazz musicians. Artists include John Swana, Chris Potter, Seamus Blake, and Mark Turner, among numerous others.

CROSBY, HARRY LILLIS “BING” (1903–1977)

A singer and actor, Bing Crosby was one of the most popular entertainers of the 20th century. He got his start singing jazz in 1926 with Paul Whiteman, with whom he performed until 1930, when Crosby began his solo career. During the 1930s and into the 1940s, Crosby’s career reached nearly stratospheric levels thanks to radio and film. His most memorable contributions to jazz include partnerships with Louis Armstrong and Johnny Mercer. Easily the most popular singer of the first half of the 20th century, Crosby’s career declined in the 1960s, and he died in Spain while playing golf.

CROSBY, ISRAEL (1919–1962)

An outstanding bassist, Crosby was born in Chicago, Illinois. When only 16 years of age, he took one of the very first full-length jazz bass solos on record when he collaborated on a pickup date with drummer Gene Krupa. He is best known as a member of the Ahmad Jamal trio from 1957 to 1962, but he recorded with many jazz legends, including Albert Ammons, Roy Eldridge, Vic Dickenson, Fletcher Henderson, Coleman Hawkins, and Meade Lux Lewis. Crosby died of a heart attack only two months after joining the George Shearing Quintet.

CROUCH, STANLEY (1945–)

A musician and journalist, Crouch grew up in Los Angeles. Crouch began performing free jazz in 1967 with various groups, performing alongside members that included Arthur Blythe and David Murray. He taught at the Claremont Colleges in California from 1968 to 1975 before relocating to New York City where he promoted jazz performances and became a staff writer for the newspapers Soho Weekly News and the Village Voice. Crouch was also a mentor and advocate of Wynton Marsalis. In 1987, Crouch helped to establish a program of jazz concerts at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in Manhattan, New York City. The program became known as Jazz at Lincoln Center. Crouch remains a prolific writer and was among the contributors to Ken Burns’s PBS documentary Jazz in 2001. See also JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER ORCHESTRA.

CRUSADERS

Originally the Modern Jazz Sextet and founded in the 1950s by Wilton Felder, Joe Sample, Stix Hooper, Wayne Henderson, and two other musicians, the group moved to Los Angeles and changed their name to the Jazz Crusaders. They made several soul jazz albums and in 1970 shortened their name to the Crusaders and changed styles to jazz funk. Henderson would leave the band in 1975, and after the success of their album Street Life in 1979, the Crusaders began using vocalists. In 1983, Hooper also left the band, and after 1991 the group completely disbanded. In the mid-1990s the group would reunite again, and various disagreements resulted in there now being two groups—the Crusaders and the Jazz Crusaders featuring Wayne Henderson.

CUBER, RONNIE (1941–)

Starting on the clarinet at age nine, then switching to the tenor saxophone and then settling on the baritone saxophone his senior year in high school, Ronnie Cuber followed up his appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1959 with stints with Slide Hampton (1962) and Maynard Ferguson (1963–1965). He joined the George Benson quartet in 1966, followed by some time with Lionel Hampton and then Woody Herman. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Cuber performed with a variety of Latin groups and rock and soul artists, including Aretha Franklin and Eddie Palmieri. During the 1970s he also started leading his own groups, and he would record with many notable rock musicians through the mid-1980s, including Steely Dan, Billy Joel, Eric Clapton, and others. In the mid-1980s, Cuber joined the NBC Saturday Night Live band and continued to lead and record his own groups, and in the 1990s he performed and arranged for the Mingus Big Band.

CUBOP

See AFRO-CUBAN JAZZ.

CUICA

A Brazilian drum.

CULLUM, JIM (1941–2019)

A cornetist, bandleader, and educator, Cullum was known for his contributions to the early jazz style of music. He played alongside musicians including Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Earl Hines, Pete Fountain, and many others. Based in San Antonio, Texas, Cullum hosted a syndicated weekly radio program on National Public Radio, Riverwalk Jazz, for 25 years. He led a San Antonio–based ensemble, the Jim Cullum Big Band, which recorded dozens of albums and performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and in New York’s Carnegie Hall. Cullum also served on the faculty of the Stanford Jazz Workshop from 1993 to 2005. See also DIXIELAND (JAZZ).

CUP MUTE

See MUTE.

CUPOL

A record label founded in 1947 in Sweden that became a part of the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) in 1970.

CUT

A term with several meanings, it can refer to a record, a recording, or a specific track on a record; to the editing process of a recording; or to one soloist outperforming another soloist.

CUTTING CONTEST

A contest between improvisers, a cutting contest can take place during a performance, a recording, or a jam session. It can also refer to a battle of bands, in which two or more bands alternate performing pieces until a “winner,” as determined by those dancers and enthusiasts in attendance, is decided. See also IMPROVISATION.

CYMBAL(S)

Modern cymbals are circular, concave metal discs, and in jazz they are usually placed on stands around and as part of a drum set. Jazz drummers may use any variety of cymbals, but most often they make use of the hi-hat (two cymbals that are operated by a foot pedal), the ride cymbal (generally used to keep time), and the crash cymbal (used to provide extra accent for specific notes). The ride cymbal is generally responsible for maintaining the “swing” pattern and can come in a variety of sizes. The pattern played on a cymbal is sometimes also referred to as the ride pattern due to its ride cymbal roots.

Additionally, there are lesser-used cymbals that players may use for extra effect. A China cymbal is a full-sized cymbal but with the edges turned up and a shallower, raised cup in the middle. The sound produced slightly resembles a high-pitched gong. The zinger cymbal, rarely used in modern times, is a much smaller cymbal that is attached to the bass drum. This cymbal is simultaneously played with the same beater (or mallet) that strikes the bass drum, therefore striking the two instruments at the same time. A cymbal used extensively during the 1920s is the Charleston cymbal, 25 centimeters in diameter and often containing a large cup or bell.