Oscar Pettiford - The Classic Albums 1953-1960 (5CD)

Double bassist, cellist and composer Oscar Pettiford was one of the true pioneers of his instrument in 1940s and 1950s jazz, being one of the earliest to play in the bebop idiom and, alongside Charles Mingus, remains one of the most recorded bassists of the genre. At the age of 14, Pettiford famously claimed he adopted the bass because of his dissatisfaction as to the way it was played, instead wishing to develop his own style. Pettiford's first major foray into playing professionally came when he joined the band of saxophonist Charlie Barnet in 1942. He left the company of Barnet in 1943 before moving to New York, where he began to play jam sessions at Minton's Playhouse in Harlem, meeting other bebop pioneers such as Thelonious Monk in the process. Pettiford would spend much of his time working with many high profile performers of the 40s. Towards the end of the 1940s, Pettiford began to truly embrace his secondary instrument. Pettiford suffered a broken arm during a game of baseball that left him unable to play bass for almost a year. As a result, he tuned a cello loaned to him by a friend to the same bass tuning, only an octave higher, and proceeded to play on that throughout his rehabilitation. Making his first recording on the cello in 1950, he would regard it as his secondary instrument for the remainder of his career, and is often credited with bringing it into the jazz mainstream. Pettiford went on to ply his trade alongside the likes of Thelonious Monk on Brilliant Corners, Kenny Dorham on Jazz Contrasts and Sonny Rollins of Freedom Suite, before relocating to Copenhagen, Denmark. With appearances from the likes of Lucky Thompson, Coleman Hawkins and Kenny Clarke, the music contained on these five discs will continue to delight old and new jazz fans alike. Record Label: Enlightenment Series Style: Jazz