Cece CHAPTER 16 Oscar Pettiford SCAR PETTIFORD WAS ONE OF THE MOST ACCOMPLISHED and colorful bassists in jazz history. In addition to being the definitive bebop bass player, he achieved great renown as a composer, bandleader, and cellist. Pettiford was born on an Indian reservation in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, on September 30, 1922, the son of a full-blooded Choctaw mother and a father of Cherokee ancestry. O-P., as he would be known among musicians, became a bass player in much the same way that many of us have: out of necessity. His father, Harry “Doc” Pettiford, formed a band with Oscar’s music-teacher mother and their 11 children. Oscar was appointed bassist. Doc Pettiford & His Family Orchestra toured the Midwest during Oscar’s formative years. In 1943, OP. joined the Charlie Barnet big band, playing in a two-bass format along- side Chubby Jackson. After working with Barnet for a few months, Pettiford made his way to New York, where he quickly fell in with the hottest young players. At the time, Manhattan's 52nd Street was lined with jazz clubs, and O.P. was soon the premier bassist ‘on the scene, playing strong accompaniments and inventive horn-like solos. His work on 52nd Street included gigs with such notables as pianist Thelonious Monk and trumpeters Roy Eldridge and Dizzy Gillespie. One of his first recordings as a leader was Oscar Pettford and His 18 All Stars (Xanadu, 1945], a big band date featuring Gillespie, saxophonist Don Byas, drummer Shelly Manne, and other bebop greats. Pettiford was the first bassist to fully explore the new language of bebop. He played beautifully constructed solos that would have sounded good on any instrument, and his cighth-note walking lines always had an even, accurate feel. His harmonic sense was well developed, too, and he often used substitutions to enliven standard chord progressions. Oscar would also perform unaccompanied solos on tunes like “Stardust” or “Willow Weep for Me,” which was as unusual for bassists then as it is now. Besides being a brilliant musician, O.P. was known to have an explosive personality. Saxophonist Jerome Richardson, interviewed in Cadence (December’87), recalled: "He was 1 good leader, very exacting, Oscar wouldn't allow you to play a wrong note—and he heard all of them, Hed chew you out. He'd put his bass down and fight you if you made him mad. A very fiery guy, quick-tempered, but lovable at the same time.” Pettiford played with the Duke Ellington Orchestra from November 1945 until March "48. This was an important association for Oscar, because ofthe legacy of Jimmy Blanton. When he was 17, Pettiford had met Blanton when the Ellington band played in Minneapolis. O.P later recalled the moment: “I was in love with Blanton right away; we had a headcutting contest then and there. Our approaches were a lot alike. If he'd stayed alive, Yd probably still be in Minneapolis” To check out Oscar’s work with Ellington, listen to Black, Brown and Beige (Columbia/Legacy]. OP. joined the Woody Herman band in 1949 but had to quit five months later, after he broke his arm playing baseball. It took Pettiford more than a year to recover from this injury; during his convalescence, he began to practice the cello, He had played the smaller THE JAZZ BASS BOOKinstrument occasionally before, but now that his ‘arm was in a cast and he couldn't play bass, Oscar began to focus on it. When he finally returned to work, OP. doubled on the two instruments. One of his most interesting recordings was The New Oscar Pettiford Sextet [Debut/OJC, 1953], which featured Oscar on cello and Charles Mingus on bass. In 1954, Pettiford made one of the first multi-track recordings, playing bass and cello; this is available on The Oscar Pettiford Memorial Album [Prestige]. Throughout the °50s, O.P. was featured on ‘many classic jazz albums. Two of his trio record- ings with Thelonious Monk, Thelonious Monk Plays Duke Ellington and The Unique Thelonious ‘Mont, are included in the set titled The Complete Riverside Recordings of Thelonious Monk, The Freedom Suite, also on Riverside, isa trio recording from 1958 led by saxophonist Sonny Rollins, with OP. on bass and Max Roach on drums. The absence of a chordal instrument allowed Pettiford to.eally stretch and use his imagination. The Miles Oscar Pettiford with Miles Davis Davis album Green Haze (included in Miles Davis Chronicle: The Complete Prestige Recordings, 1951-1956) is a nice jam-session date. Dancing Sunbeam (ABC, 1956], led by saxophonist Lucky Thompson, features OP. in a swinging small-group setting that includes the memorable (and much-covered) Pettiford original “Tricotism.” Oscar's bass and cello enlivened numerous sessions with vocalist Helen Merrill, now collected on ‘The Complete Helen Merrill (EmArcy|—check out Pettiford’s cello solo on “Falling in Love with Love.” In September 1958, Oscar went to Europe with an all-star group called Jazz from ‘Carnegie Hall. When the tour ended, he decided not to return to the States, staying on to gig in France, Austria, and Germany with several different combos, One of his best performances from this period is on Coleman Hawkins and Bud Powell in Germany [Black Lion]. Oscar’s solo on “Blues in the Closet” is one of the greatest bass solos you'll hear anywhere! Also look for Vienna Blues: The Complete Session [Black Lion], which features OP. in the company of European jazz players. In 1959, Oscar settled in Denmark, where he worked regularly until his death from a polio-like virus on September 8, 1960. Ina 1957 interview with Nat Hentoff, Pettford spoke of his instrument's potential: “The bass is one of the most important, if not the most important, instrument in any orchestra. You don’t need piano or drums. The bass can be much more [like] a horn than it often has been in the past. When I finish, the bass will be down front where it belongs” He was right, THE JAZZ BASS BOOK oscar pettiford 87ee Oscar Pettiford’s Simple Truth ‘Oscar Pettiford shares a trait with many of our bass heroes: He would have been an incred- ‘ible musician no matter what instrument he had played. O.P. transcended the double bass’s difficulties to speak the bebop language, and his work of the 1940s and ’50s endures as the i bop bass standard. i ‘This solo comes from Lucky Thompson’s great ’56 album Tricorism [GRP/Impulse]. Featuring Pettiford along with Thompson on tenor sax and Skeeter Best on guitar, the title track puts the bass up front. His impeccable timing and note choices are immediately rec- ognizable. Oscar was a master of the groove: His eighth-notes are not straight, but they aren't triplets. He played long eighth-note solo lines and developed his ideas over many bars. To really cop the bebop groove, you have to check out the recording. Note these Oscar-worthy details in Ex. 1: Bar 3: Pettiford often uses “enclosures” such as the B and A that wrap around the Bb across beats two and three, Bars 6-7: Oscar uses chromatic passing tones to reach the target chord tone F. Bars 7-8: By carrying an A over to one and playing Ab on three, O.P. artfully outlines the change in sound from Dm? to G769. Bars 9-10: This very hip Im-V pattern uses Dp passing tones to propel its ‘graceful arc, Bars 13-16; Oscar states a four-note theme and then develops it to fit the chord changes. Bars 25-29: He plays several riffs that land on the open G string. As the Bb6 chords 6, the G gives the blues feel a “happy” sound. Bar 34: Another example of chromatic passing tones that lengthen the line and put chord tones on the strong beats. Bars 35-37; This two-bar phrase puts the definitive ending on a great solo. THE JAZZ BASS BOOKoscar pettiford Ex.1 4-2 Ble 7 aimr BS Fm eb7ebrftt bri obs om G8 mr 7 Fro abe cm FT Bhs 7 Edin abe Fm7 BT eh7 abe m7 arb. om7 Fr Bho cmt F7 be bs eb7 be om? ars cm Fr a6 om? F7 Be THE JAZZ BASS BOOK 39