Cecil McBee

One of post-bop's most advanced and versatile bassists, Cecil McBee has played with an enormous variety of artists, and is just as capable in a solo or group improvisational context as he is at offering thoughtfully advanced background support. McBee was born May 19, 1935, in Tulsa, and played clarinet as a high schooler before switching to bass at age 17. He studied to be a music teacher and spent two years conducting a military band; he played with <a href="spotify:artist:32LHRiof0sa4taYew9i3Fa">Dinah Washington</a> in 1959, and, in 1962, he moved to Detroit to make inroads into the city's burgeoning jazz scene. He joined Paul Winter's folk-jazz ensemble in 1963, and moved to New York with them the following year. McBee found numerous opportunities there, recording and playing with artists like <a href="spotify:artist:4ORSNkNYSzva169PBZCzvy">Andrew Hill</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0DNuWm5ZBKuCIXLNmrzuk5">Sam Rivers</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1lB7KbOr9xdPK1CuasxmeA">Jackie McLean</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0ZqhrTXYPA9DZR527ZnFdO">Wayne Shorter</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:0F3Aew9DSd6fb6192K1K0Y">Keith Jarrett</a>. He worked with <a href="spotify:artist:0GC1oqEWpiAjfE7jm5LQO5">Charles Lloyd</a> during the saxophonist's breakthrough year of 1966, and later in the decade recorded with <a href="spotify:artist:3JLUCojZaHrX2LaUkSj7Ud">Pharoah Sanders</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:33XkS6h90eeK7e6OJHw0mq">Yusef Lateef</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0oKYiTD5CdNbrofRvM1dIr">Alice Coltrane</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:0z1dQNcFhJxJjJPg9TQH3t">Charles Tolliver</a>. The '70s found McBee maintaining many of those connections, while also playing with <a href="spotify:artist:39mb0I6tdTcCXkeigvzxOJ">Abdullah Ibrahim</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2hdpXvaQJHBCZIVUd6cLvK">Lonnie Liston Smith</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6xTZJ3wPbBqduZQWHPAoFA">Joanne Brackeen</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3GpMtIOC5ZLvMBMI7IxPvA">Art Pepper</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:0V2fyT9oYJQdsePL7VrfwL">Chico Freeman</a>, plus leading his first session for Strata East in 1974 (titled Mutima). Two live dates from 1977 featuring <a href="spotify:artist:0V2fyT9oYJQdsePL7VrfwL">Freeman</a>, Music From the Source and Alternate Spaces, followed on small labels. McBee branched out into string-driven chamber jazz on his next effort, 1982's Flying Out. After 1983's Compassion, though, McBee remained largely silent as a leader for quite some time, returning to his familiar sideman role. In 1996, he formed his own quintet and began touring Europe; their music was documented on 1997's Unspoken. ~ Steve Huey, Rovi