Wilfred Middlebrooks

Wilfred Roland "Walkin 'Willie" Middlebrooks , Fred Middlebrooks, (* 17th July 1933 in Chattanooga , Tennessee ; † 13. March 2008 in Pasadena , California ) was an American jazz - bassist .

Wilfred Middlebrooks was the son of a semi-professional bassist and a pianist. After taking piano lessons as a child, he began playing bass at the age of twelve; he received lessons from the bassist of the Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra. At the age of 15 he left his family and played in a touring "Carnival Show". While touring the southern states, he also met a veteran of New Orleans jazz , the trumpeter Punch Miller . When the show arrived in New York in 1950, he switched to the formation of ex- Basie saxophonist Tab Smith , who was very popular in African American clubs at the time; the first recordings were made. In 1953 he was drafted into the US Army . Stationed at Camp Stewart , Georgia , he played tuba in an army band and string bass in a dance orchestra. After his discharge from the Army, he settled in California, played in clubs and worked with Buddy Collette , Art Pepper , Frank Rosolino , Howard Rumsey , Plas Johnson and Bill Holman / Mel Lewis (1958, with whom he recorded), 1955 also with Eric Dolphy's band, which performed at Club Oasis.

In 1958 Ella Fitzgeralds manager Norman Granz invited him to play in her backing band; for the next five years he worked with the singer and was involved in numerous tours (including 1959 and 1960 in Europe), such as for Norman Granz ' Jazz at the Philharmonic , and recordings. Their backing combo was conducted alternately by pianists Paul Smith and Lou Levy . He played for Ella Fitzgerald from 1958 to 1962. He also played with Tony Scott , Kay Starr , Bobby Troup and from 1963 with Paul Smith .

Back in Los Angeles , Middlebrooks played with Paul Smith at Club Velvet Turtle in Redondo Beach for the next 13 years . In 1977 he made a film appearance in New York, New York as a bass player. Since he couldn't make a living from music alone at this time, he worked for the US Postal Service . In his retirement he continued to work as a freelance musician, teaching children at Chattanooga's African-American Museum .

literature

• John Jörgensen & Erik Wiedemann : Jazz Lexicon . Munich, mosaic, 1967
• Richard Cook , Brian Morton : The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD . 6th edition. Penguin, London 2002, ISBN 0-14-051521-6 .

Web links

• Obituary in the Guardian
• Biography at allaboutjazz.com
• Works by and about Wilfred Middlebrooks in the catalog of the German National Library