Cedric Haywood was an American jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 pianist.

Born and raised in Houston, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, Haywood played as a teenager in a high school band with Arnett Cobb

Arnett Cobb

Arnett Cobb was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.Cobb was born Arnette Cleophus Cobbs in Houston, Texas. His musical career began with the local bands of Chester Boone, from 1934 to 1936, and Milt Larkin, from 1936 to 1942...

. His first professional engagement was with Chester Boone's band in 1934, followed by an extended run with Milt Larkin

Milt Larkin

Milt Larkin was an American jazz trumpeter and bandleader.Larkin was an autodidact on the trumpet, and got his start playing in Texas in the 1930s with Chester Boone and Giles Mitchell...

 (1935-42); during his tenure in the band the reed section included Illinois Jacquet

Illinois Jacquet

Jean-Baptiste Illinois Jacquet was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, best remembered for his solo on "Flying Home", critically recognized as the first R&B saxophone solo....

, Tom Archia

Tom Archia

Ernest Alvin Archia, Jr. , was a jazz tenor saxophonist. He took "Texas Tom" as his marquee name.Archia was born, in Groveton, Texas...

, and Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson in addition to Cobb. Haywood also played with Floyd Ray and Lionel Hampton

Lionel Hampton

Lionel Leo Hampton was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, bandleader and actor. Like Red Norvo, he was one of the first jazz vibraphone players. Hampton ranks among the great names in jazz history, having worked with a who's who of jazz musicians, from Benny Goodman and Buddy...

 around the turn of the decade. In 1942 he played with Sidney Bechet

Sidney Bechet

Sidney Bechet was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer.He was one of the first important soloists in jazz , and was perhaps the first notable jazz saxophonist...

. Toward the middle of the 1940s Haywood moved to California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, served in the Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, and following this joined Saunders King

Saunders King

Saunders King was an American R&B and blues guitarist and singer.-Life and career:Saunders Samuel King was born in Staple, Louisiana, United States. He was the son of a preacher, and sang in his father's church while growing up in Oakland, California...

 in 1948.

In the 1950s Haywood worked with Illinois Jacquet

Illinois Jacquet

Jean-Baptiste Illinois Jacquet was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, best remembered for his solo on "Flying Home", critically recognized as the first R&B saxophone solo....

, Cal Tjader

Cal Tjader

Callen Radcliffe Tjader, Jr. a.k.a. Cal Tjader was a Latin jazz musician, though he also explored various other jazz idioms. Unlike other American jazz musicians who experimented with the music from Cuba, the Caribbean, and Latin America, he never abandoned it, performing it until his...

, and Kid Ory

Kid Ory

Edward "Kid" Ory was a jazz trombonist and bandleader. He was born in Woodland Plantation near LaPlace, Louisiana.-Biography:...

, touring Europe with Ory in the middle of the decade. Early in the 1960s he played with Brew Moore

Brew Moore

Milton Aubrey Moore , born in Indianola, Mississippi, was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.- Early life :...

, then moved back to Houston in 1963. There he played locally as a bandleader and recorded with Lightnin' Hopkins

Lightnin' Hopkins

Sam John Hopkins better known as Lightnin’ Hopkins, was an American country blues singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional pianist, from Houston, Texas...

. In the late 1960s, he contributed arrangements to a big band led by Sonny Franklin; among the participants were Tom Archia

Tom Archia

Ernest Alvin Archia, Jr. , was a jazz tenor saxophonist. He took "Texas Tom" as his marquee name.Archia was born, in Groveton, Texas...

 and Don Wilkerson

Don Wilkerson

Don Wilkerson was an American soul jazz / R&B tenor saxophonist born in Moreauville, Louisiana, probably better known for his Blue Note Records recordings in the 1960s as bandleader with guitarist Grant Green. Prior to signing with the label, he worked frequently with Cannonball Adderley...

.