Gerald L. Cannon

Early life

Born in Racine, Wisconsin, he attended The University of Wisconsin at La Crosse where he met jazz player Milt Hinton. Cannon also studied at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music in Milwaukee.

Biography

Cannon moved in New York City at age 28, and he started to play at the Blue Note Jazz Club with musicians Winard and Philip Harper and Justin Robinson. From there, he moved to gigs with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, Dexter Gordon, Cedar Walton Trio with Billy Higgins, Jimmy Smith, Jimmy Scott, James Williams, Hamiett Bluiett, Ed Thigpen, Frank Foster, John Bunch, Eddie Harris, Stanley Turrentine and Bunky Green. When trumpeter Roy Hargrove came to a club where Cannon was working, they met. For the next seven years, Cannon performed as a member of Hargrove's band at major jazz festivals all over the world, including the North Sea Jazz Festival, Cape Town Jazz Festival, Montreux Jazz Festival, Umbria Jazz Festival in Perugia, and the Montreal Jazz Festival. He also was a part of the award-winning Crisol tour where Cannon played with Cuban musicians like percussionist Jose Luis "Chanquito" Quintana, Miguel "Anga" Diaz, Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez, and Chucho Valdes and studied with bassist Orlando "Cachahito" Lopez and pianist Ruben Gonzalez.

Style

Cannon carries the knowledge passed on to him by bassists Ray Brown, Sam Jones, Ron Carter, and Buster Williams and continues the legacy by conducting master classes throughout the U.S. and Europe. He taught at the Oberlin Conservatory in 2014, the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music in Milwaukee, and the New School in New York and at Long Island University. He also gave a number of master classes at the University of Wisconsin in Whitewater and Eau Clair, at Emery University in Atlanta, Georgia and at the Conservatory of Amsterdam. Cannon was also a faculty member of the Conservatory of Maastricht, Holland.

After leaving Hargrove, Cannon held the bass chair for drummer Elvin Jones until his passing in 2004. Since then, Cannon has worked with Wynton and Branford Marsalis, Pat Martino, Louis Hayes, The Cannonball Legacy, Ernestine Anderson, Carmen Lundy, Abbey Lincoln, Gary Bartz, Joe Lovano, Monty Alexander, Larry Willis, Eddie Henderson, Steve Turre, Eric Reed, the Dexter Gordon Legacy Ensemble, and many other combinations, as well as with his own quartet. He continues to conduct Master classes around the world and remains the Musical Director for the McCoy Tyner Trio.

As leader

As sideman