Oscar Pettiford

Oscar Pettiford was born in September 1922 in Okmulgee Oklahoma. He was a primarily a double bassist but he also played the cello and was a well-known composer. He is considered one of the pioneers of bebop. He was a Native American but this was not known by most. The family band was his first real experience with music. He initially was a singer and dancer but he moved to piano and shortly thereafter to the bass around the age of 12. A few of the sources say that he was unhappy with the way people were playing the bass so he was going to develop his own individual way of playing it. According to allaboutjazz.com, “Pettiford is considered the pioneer of the cello as a solo instrument in jazz music.”
After a few years he joined Charlie Barnet’s band and was one of two bassists with the other being Chubby Jackson. In 1943 he made himself known when he was involved with Coleman Hawkins “The Man I Love”. In 1943 he formed a bebop group with Dizzy Gillespie in 1943 also. In the late 40’s he worked for Woody Herman and Duke Ellington. In 1949 Oscar broke his arm and wasn’t able to play his bass. So instead he picked up a cello that a friend had loaned him, tuned it in fourths an octave higher than the bass and became very proficient on the cello. He did not perform while his arm was broken since it was in a sling. Throughout the 50’s Pettiford did some freelance work but he mostly was a leader on bass and cello. He played with Thelonious Monk in the mid 1950’s as well. In 1958 he moved to Copenhagen in Europe and ended passing away from what doctors call a “polio-like-virus”.

My listening selection for this week is from the Oscar Pettiford band entitled "Blues in the Closet". This song starts out in  a 4 beat per measure feel. It seems to be in an AABA form. Pettiford plays a bass riff over and over again on a cello until a guitar comes in and they solo together as a type of duet. Then Pettiford and the soloist break up and the piano comes in. Then after a bit they all three come back together and play the initial riff together before a wonderful piano solo. All this time the set player is playing a laid back smooth bluesy feel. We know move on to a guitar solo and back to the cello solo with Pettiford. He takes the song out and shows off a little bit as the song comes to a close. Even though this is a basic song, one can see that Pettiford has some amazing talent on the cello.