Cecil McBee (born May 19, 1935) is an American jazz bassist, one of the most influential in the history of jazz. McBee has recorded as a leader only a handful of times since the 1970s, but has contributed as a sideman to a number of jazz albums.
Early life and career McBee was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma , on May 19, 1935. He studied clarinet at school, but switched to bass at the age of 17, and began playing in local nightclubs. After gaining a music degree from Ohio Central State University, he spent two years in the army, during which time he conducted the band at Fort Knox . In 1959 he played with Dinah Washington, and in 1962 he moved to Detroit , where he worked with Paul Winter 's folk-rock ensemble in 1963–64.
His jazz career began to take off in the mid-1960s, after he moved to New York , when he began playing and recording with a number of significant musicians including Miles Davis, Andrew Hill, Sam Rivers, Jackie McLean (1964), Wayne Shorter (1965–66), Charles Lloyd (1966), Yusef Lateef (1967–69), Keith Jarrett, Freddie Hubbard and Woody Shaw (1986), and Alice Coltrane (1969–72).
In the 2000s, McBee unsuccessfully sued a Japanese company that opened a chain of stores under his name.
He was an artist in residence at Harvard from 2010 to 2011. He teaches at the New England Conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts.
1991 he was inducted into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame . Blues for Coltrane: A Tribute to John Coltrane Pharoah Sanders /David Murray /McCoy Tyner /Cecil McBee/Roy Haynes – Winner, Best instrumental performance, individual or group, Grammy Awards, 1988.1975: Mutima Strata-East ) 1977: Music from the Source Enja ) 1977: Compassion (Enja ) 1979: Alternate Spaces India Navigation ) 1982: Flying Out 1986: Roots of Blue Muhal Richard Abrams 1997: Unspoken (Palmetto ) With the Ray Anderson
Old Bottles New Wine (1985)With Chet Baker
Blues for a Reason (Criss Cross Jazz, 1985)
With Bill Barron
Live at Cobi's 2 (SteepleChase, 1885 [2006])With Kenny Barron
Landscape (Baystate, 1984)What If? (Enja, 1986)Live at Fat Tuesdays (Enja, 1988)
With the Bob Thiele Collective
Sunrise Sunset (Red Baron, 1990)With Joanne Brackeen
Snooze (Choice, 1975)Tring-a-Ling (Choice, 1977)Havin' Fun (Concord Jazz, 1985)Fi-Fi Goes to Heaven (Concord Jazz, 1986)Turnaround (Evidence, 1992)With Dollar Brand
African Space Program (Enja, 1973)With Anthony Braxton
Eight (+3) Tristano Compositions, 1989: For Warne Marsh (hatArt, 1989)With Roy Brooks
The Free Slave Muse , 1970 [1972])
With Joe Chambers
The Almoravid With Alice Coltrane
Journey in Satchidananda With Junior Cook
Pressure Cooker (Catalyst, 1977)With Stanley Cowell
Equipoise Galaxy , 1979)Close to You Alone DIW , 1990)With Ted Curson
Blue Piccolo Whynot , 1976)
With Chico Freeman
Morning Prayer Chico The Outside Within Kings of Mali Spirit Sensitive Destiny's Dance Contemporary , 1981)With Hal Galper
Now Hear This (Enja, 1977)With Johnny Griffin
Birds and Ballads With Louis Hayes
Variety Is the Spice (Gryphon, 1978)With Andrew Hill
Compulsion! (Blue Note , 1965)
With Freddie Hubbard and Woody Shaw
Double Take With Elvin Jones
Power Trio (Novus, 1990) – with John HicksWhen I Was at Aso-Mountain Elvin Jones Jazz MachineIt Don't Mean a Thing With Clifford Jordan
Two Tenor Winner With John Klemmer
Magic and Movement With Prince Lasha
Inside Story
With Yusef Lateef
The Complete Yusef Lateef Atlantic , 1967)The Blue Yusef Lateef Yusef Lateef's Detroit The Diverse Yusef Lateef With The Leaders
Mudfoot Out Here Like This Unforeseen Blessings Heaven Dance (Sunnyside , 1988) – The Leaders Trio with pianist Kirk Lightsey and drummer Don MoyeSpirits Alike (Double Moon, 2007)With Dave Liebman
The Seasons (Soul Note, 1992)John Coltrane's Meditations (Arkadia Jazz, 1998)With Charles Lloyd
Dream Weaver Forest Flower The Flowering Charles Lloyd in Europe With Raphe Malik
Storyline
With Jackie McLean
It's Time! (Blue Note, 1964)Action Action Action With Lloyd McNeill
Treasures (1976)With Charles McPherson
New Horizons Xanadu , 1977)With Grachan Moncur III
Some Other Stuff With Tisziji Munoz
Visiting This Planet (Anami Music, 1980's)Presence of Joy (Anami Music, 1999)Divine Radiance (Anami Music, 2003)
With Amina Claudine Myers
Salutes Bessie Smith Leo , 1980)With Almanac
Almanac Improvising Artists , 1967)With Art Pepper
Winter Moon With Dannie Richmond
"In" Jazz for the Culture Set (Impulse!, 1965)With Sam Rivers
Dimensions & Extensions (Blue Note, 1967)Streams (Impulse!, 1973)Hues
With Buddy Tate and Dollar Brand
Buddy Tate Meets Dollar BrandWith Pharoah Sanders
Izipho Zam (My Gifts) (Strata-East , 1969 [1973])Jewels of Thought Thembi Black Unity Live at the East Village of the Pharoahs Love in Us All With Saxophone Summit
Gathering of Spirits (Telarch, 2004)With Zbigniew Seifert
Man of the Light (Promising Music, 2010)With Woody Shaw
The Moontrane Love Dance The Iron Men Anthony Braxton (Muse, 1977 [1980])
With Archie Shepp
Lady Bird (Denon , 1978)With Wayne Shorter
Et Cetera (Blue Note, 1965)Odyssey of Iska With Sonny Simmons
Burning Spirits With Lonnie Liston Smith
Expansions (1974)With Leon Thomas
Spirits Known and Unknown (1969)
With Horace Tapscott
The Dark Tree With Charles Tolliver
Live at Slugs' , Volume I & II (Strata-East, 1970)Music Inc. (Strata-East, 1971)Impact With Mickey Tucker
Sojourn Mister Mysterious With McCoy Tyner
Quartets 4 X 4 Milestone , 1980)Blues for Coltrane (1987)With James "Blood" Ulmer
Revealing
With Mal Waldron
What It Is With Michael White
The Land of Spirit and Light With Paul Winter
Jazz Meets the Folk-Song (1963)With Yōsuke Yamashita
Sakura (Verve, 1990)Kurdish Dance (Verve, 1993)Dazzling Days (Verve, 1993)Fragments 1999 (Verve, 1999)Spider (Verve, 1996)Delightful Contrast (Universal, 2011)
