Wilbur Ware
Encyclopedia
Wilbur Ware was an American
jazz
double-bassist known for his hard bop
percussive style.
Born in Chicago
, Ware taught himself to play banjo and bass. In the 1940s, he worked with Stuff Smith
, Sonny Stitt
and Roy Eldridge
. In the 1950s, Ware played with Eddie Vinson
, Art Blakey
, and Buddy DeFranco
. He is best known for his work with the Thelonious Monk
quartet in 1957-58. Ware and fellow bassist Israel Crosby
were leading examples of the more laid-back "Chicago Sound" approach to the bass during the 1950s. In 1969, Ware played with Clifford Jordan
, Elvin Jones
and Sonny Rollins
. He later moved to Philadelphia
, where he died from emphysema
in 1979.
With Sonny Rollins
With others
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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...
double-bassist known for his hard bop
Hard bop
Hard bop is a style of jazz that is an extension of bebop music. Journalists and record companies began using the term in the mid-1950s to describe a new current within jazz which incorporated influences from rhythm and blues, gospel music, and blues, especially in the saxophone and piano...
percussive style.
Born in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Ware taught himself to play banjo and bass. In the 1940s, he worked with Stuff Smith
Stuff Smith
Hezekiah Leroy Gordon Smith , better known as Stuff Smith, was a jazz violinist. He is known well for the song "If You're a Viper".-Biography:...
, Sonny Stitt
Sonny Stitt
Edward "Sonny" Stitt was an American jazz saxophonist of the bebop/hard bop idiom. He was also one of the best-documented saxophonists of his generation, recording over 100 albums in his lifetime...
and Roy Eldridge
Roy Eldridge
Roy David Eldridge , nicknamed "Little Jazz" was an American jazz trumpet player. His sophisticated use of harmony, including the use of tritone substitutions, his virtuosic solos and his strong influence on Dizzy Gillespie mark him as one of the most exciting musicians of the swing era and a...
. In the 1950s, Ware played with Eddie Vinson
Eddie Vinson
Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson was an American jump blues, jazz, bebop and R&B alto saxophonist and blues shouter. He was nicknamed Cleanhead after an incident in which his hair was accidentally destroyed by lye contained in a hair straightening product.-Biography:Vinson was born in Houston, Texas...
, Art Blakey
Art Blakey
Arthur "Art" Blakey , known later as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina, was an American Grammy Award-winning jazz drummer and bandleader. He was a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community....
, and Buddy DeFranco
Buddy DeFranco
Boniface Ferdinand Leonard "Buddy" DeFranco is an American jazz clarinet player.-Biography:DeFranco began his professional career just as swing music and big bands — many of which were led by clarinetists like Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman and Woody Herman — were fading in popularity...
. He is best known for his work with the Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer considered "one of the giants of American music". Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epistrophy", "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser"...
quartet in 1957-58. Ware and fellow bassist Israel Crosby
Israel Crosby
Israel Crosby was an African-American jazz double-bassist born in Chicago, Illinois, best known as member of the Ahmad Jamal trio from 1957-1962...
were leading examples of the more laid-back "Chicago Sound" approach to the bass during the 1950s. In 1969, Ware played with Clifford Jordan
Clifford Jordan
Clifford Laconia Jordan was a jazz saxophone player. While in Chicago, he performed with Max Roach, Sonny Stitt, and some rhythm and blues groups. He moved to New York City in 1957, after which he recorded three albums for Blue Note. He also recorded with Horace Silver, J.J. Johnson, Kenny...
, Elvin Jones
Elvin Jones
Elvin Ray Jones was a jazz drummer of the post-bop era. He showed interest in drums at a young age, watching the circus bands march by his family's home in Pontiac, Michigan....
and Sonny Rollins
Sonny Rollins
Theodore Walter "Sonny" Rollins is a Grammy-winning American jazz tenor saxophonist. Rollins is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. A number of his compositions, including "St...
. He later moved to Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
, where he died from emphysema
Emphysema
Emphysema is a long-term, progressive disease of the lungs that primarily causes shortness of breath. In people with emphysema, the tissues necessary to support the physical shape and function of the lungs are destroyed. It is included in a group of diseases called chronic obstructive pulmonary...
in 1979.
As leader
- The Chicago Sound (RiversideRiverside RecordsRiverside Records was a United States record label specializing in jazz. Founded by Orrin Keepnews and Bill Grauer under his firm Bill Grauer Productions, Inc. in 1953, the label was a major presence in the jazz record industry for a decade...
, 1957; reissued on Jazzland) - with John JenkinsJohn Jenkins (jazz musician)John Jenkins was an American jazz saxophonist.Jenkins initially studied clarinet in high school but switched to saxophone after six months on the instrument. He played in jam sessions led by Joe Segal at Roosevelt College from 1949-1956. He played with Art Farmer in 1955 and led his own group in...
, Johnny GriffinJohnny GriffinJohn Arnold Griffin III was an American bop and hard bop tenor saxophonist.- Early life and career :Griffin studied music at DuSable High School in Chicago under Walter Dyett, starting out on clarinet before moving on to oboe and then alto sax...
, Junior ManceJunior ManceJulian Clifford Mance, Jr. is an American jazz pianist and composer.-Biography:...
, Wilbur Campbell, Frankie DunlopFrankie DunlopFrancis "Frankie" Dunlop is an American jazz drummer.Dunlop grew up in a musical family and began playing guitar at age nine and drums at ten. He was playing professionally by age 16 and received some classical education in percussion...
As sideman
With Thelonious MonkThelonious Monk
Thelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer considered "one of the giants of American music". Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epistrophy", "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser"...
- Thelonious Monk with John ColtraneThelonious Monk with John ColtraneThelonious Monk with John Coltrane is a 1957 album by Thelonious Monk originally recorded for Riverside Records. It was recorded while Monk was engaged in a six-month stay at New York's legendary Five Spot in 1957 with his quartet of the time, which included Coltrane...
(Jazzland/Riverside 1957) - Monk's MusicMonk's MusicMonk's Music is a 1957 album by Thelonious Monk's jazz septet. It was recorded in New York on June 26, 1957. The first song "Abide With Me"—a hymn by W. H. Monk—is an austere rendition played only by the septet's horn section. The song "Ruby, My Dear" is performed only by Monk, Coleman Hawkins,...
(Riverside/OJC, 1957) - Mulligan Meets Monk (OJC, 1957)
With Sonny Rollins
Sonny Rollins
Theodore Walter "Sonny" Rollins is a Grammy-winning American jazz tenor saxophonist. Rollins is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. A number of his compositions, including "St...
- Night at the Village VanguardNight at the Village VanguardA Night at the Village Vanguard is an album by Sonny Rollins. The album was identified by Scott Yanow in his Allmusic essay "Hard Bop" as one of the 17 Essential Hard Bop Recordings.-Reception:...
(Blue Note, 1957)
With others
- Tina BrooksTina BrooksHarold Floyd "Tina" Brooks was an American hard bop tenor saxophonist and composer.-Early years:Harold Floyd Brooks was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and was the brother of David "Bubba" Brooks. The nickname "Tina", pronounced Teena, was a slight variation of "Teeny", a childhood moniker....
: The Waiting GameThe Waiting Game (album)The Waiting Game is the final recorded session of hard-bop tenor Tina Brooks, recorded on March 2, 1961 for Blue Note. It was shelved until 2002...
(Blue Note, 1961) - Sonny ClarkSonny ClarkConrad Yeatis "Sonny" Clark was an American jazz pianist who mainly worked in the hard bop idiom.-Biography:...
: Dial "S" for SonnyDial "S" for SonnyDial "S" for Sonny is the debut album by jazz pianist Sonny Clark recorded for the Blue Note label and performed by Clark with Art Farmer, Curtis Fuller, Hank Mobley, Wilbur Ware, and Louis Hayes...
(Blue Note, 1957) - Kenny DorhamKenny DorhamMcKinley Howard Dorham was an American jazz trumpeter, singer, and composer born in Fairfield, Texas. Dorham's talent is frequently lauded by critics and other musicians, but he never received the kind of attention from the jazz establishment that many of his peers did...
: 2 Horns / 2 Rhythm2 Horns / 2 Rhythm2 Horns / 2 Rhythm is an album by American jazz trumpeter Kenny Dorham featuring performances with Ernie Henry recorded in 1957 and released on the Riverside label...
(Riverside, 1957) - Kenny DrewKenny DrewKenneth Sidney "Kenny" Drew was an American jazz pianist.-Biography:Born in New York City, New York, he first recorded with Howard McGhee in 1949, and over the next two years recorded with Buddy DeFranco, Coleman Hawkins, Milt Jackson, Charlie Parker, Buddy Rich, and Dinah Washington...
: Pal Joey (Riverside, 1956) - Matthew GeeMatthew GeeMatthew Gee was an American bebop trombonist and part time actor.Gee played trumpet and baritone as a child, and took up the trombone at age 11. After studying at Alabama State University, he played with Coleman Hawkins before doing a stint in the Army...
: Jazz By gee (OJC, 1956) - Grant GreenGrant GreenGrant Green was a jazz guitarist and composer....
: RememberingRemembering (Grant Green album)Remembering is an album by American jazz guitarist Grant Green featuring performances recorded in 1961 and released on the Japanese Blue Note label. The U.S...
(Blue Note, 1961) - Johnny GriffinJohnny GriffinJohn Arnold Griffin III was an American bop and hard bop tenor saxophonist.- Early life and career :Griffin studied music at DuSable High School in Chicago under Walter Dyett, starting out on clarinet before moving on to oboe and then alto sax...
: Way Out (OJC, 1958) - Johnny Griffin: Sextet (OJC, 1958)
- Ernie HenryErnie HenryErnie Henry was an American jazz saxophonist.Henry played in the late 1940s with Tadd Dameron , Fats Navarro, Charlie Ventura, Max Roach, and Dizzy Gillespie . From 1950 to 1952 he played in the band of Illinois Jacquet...
: Presenting.. (OJC, 1956) - Clifford JordanClifford JordanClifford Laconia Jordan was a jazz saxophone player. While in Chicago, he performed with Max Roach, Sonny Stitt, and some rhythm and blues groups. He moved to New York City in 1957, after which he recorded three albums for Blue Note. He also recorded with Horace Silver, J.J. Johnson, Kenny...
: Mosaik (Milestone, 1961) - Blue MitchellBlue MitchellRichard Allen Mitchell was an American jazz, rhythm and blues, soul, rock, and funk trumpeter, known for many albums recorded as leader and sideman for Riverside, Blue Note and then Mainstream Records.-Biography:...
: Big 6Big 6 (album)Big 6 is the debut album by American trumpeter Blue Mitchell recorded in 1958 and released on the Riverside label.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 5 stars and stated "Mitchell is heard in excellent form in an all-star sextet".-Track listing:*Recorded in New York City...
(Riverside, 1958) - J. R. MonteroseJ. R. MonteroseJ. R. Monterose , born Frank Anthony Peter Vincent Monterose, Jr. in Detroit, Michigan,was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.- Early life :...
: J. R. MonteroseJ. R. Monterose (album)J. R. Monterose is the debut album by American saxophonist J. R. Monterose recorded in 1956 and released on the Blue Note label.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine awarded the album 4½ stars and stated "J. R...
(Blue Note, 1956) - Zoot SimsZoot SimsJohn Haley "Zoot" Sims was an American jazz saxophonist, playing mainly tenor and soprano.-Biography:He was born in Inglewood, California, the son of vaudeville performers Kate Haley and John Sims. Growing up in a performing family, Sims learned to play both drums and clarinet at an early age...
: Zoot! (OJC, 1956) - Toots ThielemansToots ThielemansJean-Baptiste Frédéric Isidor, Baron Thielemans , known as Toots Thielemans, is a Belgian jazz musician well known for his guitar and harmonica playing as well as his whistling. Thielemans is credited as one of the greatest harmonica players of the 20th century...
: Man Bites Harmonica (OJC, 1957)