Cecil McBee

World-acclaimed Bassist Cecil McBee was born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a community of rich and varied musical roots. His musical career started in high school, where he first played the clarinet. He and his sister Shirley soon gained local notoriety performing clarinet duets at concerts around the state. By the age of 17, he began to experiment with the string bass and played steadily at local nightclubs with top Jazz and Rhythm and Blues groups.

Because of the great promise he showed on the clarinet, Cecil was offered a full scholarship to attend Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio and upon his arrival to college, he was immediately embraced as both a fine clarinetist and a promising young bassist. Cecil found the academic atmosphere extremely inspiring, both towards his educational needs as a potential instructor as well as bass performer. Unfortunately, his college education was interrupted by his induction into the U.S. Army where he spent two years as the conductor of the “158th Band” at Fort Knox, Kentucky. There he developed a personal study of the possibilities of bass composition and improvisation.

After his discharge from the army, Cecil returned to college to resume his studies and eventually received Bachelor of Science degree in music education. By the time he graduated from college, Cecil realized that although he had prepared for a career in education, he was more inspired by performing jazz on the world stage. To realize this goal, Cecil decided to move to Detroit, then home to one of the most thriving jazz communities in the world. Within a year, he joined Paul Winter Sextet, which turned out to be an open passage for his eventual arrival in New York City.

Since his arrival in New York, Cecil has been embraced for his talents and has recorded and traveled worldwide with such powerful Jazz personalities as Charles Lloyd, Pharoah Sanders, Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner, Miles Davis, Bobby Hutcherson, Keith Jarrett, Wayne Shorter, Freddie Hubbard, Sonny Rollins, Joe Henderson, Andrew Hill, Sam Rivers, Michael White, Jackie McLean, Yusef Lateef, Alice Coltrane, Ravi Coltrane, Abdullah Ibrahim, Lonnie Liston Smith, Buddy Tate, Joanne Brackeen, Dinah Washington, Benny Goodman, George Benson, Nancy Wilson, Betty Carter, Art Pepper, Charles Lloyd, Pharoah Sanders, Dave Liebman, Joe Lovano, Billy Hart, Eddie Henderson, Yosuke Yamashita, Billy Harper and Geri Allen.

The recipient of two NEA composition grants, McBee has written works that are performed worldwide and have been recorded by Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner, Pharoah Sanders and many others. His music covers all territories of creative improvisation and is unique to his own individuality and incredible abilities on the instrument.

Alice Coltrane: The Carnegie Hall Concert

Read "The Carnegie Hall Concert" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic

by Mike Jurkovic
April 18, 2024

The most perfect of time machines, with no errant destinations and no abrupt landings, The Carnegie Hall Concert transports one to a time when artists took their art seriously, when it was sacrosanct. Alice Coltrane's harp comes on like the siren lure of angels, like a missionary, calling all to stop their labor. It seems to say, “Come to listen, come to wonder, come to rest, don't be afraid." And Coltrane wasn't, not ever. Here she was with ...

Radio & Podcasts

The Color of Jazz: Part 2

by Monk Rowe
August 29, 2023

For many black musicians, jazz was more than a gig and a way to make bread. Cecil McBee, Jon Hendricks, Rashied Ali, Doug Carn, and Vincent Pelote speak about the importance of this music in their lives and its role in bridging the distance between races, on and off the bandstand. ...

Album Review

Roy Brooks: Understanding

Read "Understanding" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi

by Angelo Leonardi
July 26, 2021

Il doppio compact di Roy Brooks pubblicato da qualche giorno (anche in lussuoso triplo vinile e in versione digitale) non è solo un tributo a uno dei massimi batteristi dei decenni sessanta/ottanta. Registrato il 1° novembre 1970 a Baltimora, presenta uno dei concerti più esaltanti del jazz contemporaneo, un hard bop intriso d'avanguardia—in particolare John Coltrane—che si sviluppa con intensità febbrile per due ore. Il merito va al misconosciuto batterista di Detroit e al suo quintetto comprendente Woody Shaw alla ...

Album Review

Roy Brooks: Understanding

Read "Understanding" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
July 17, 2021

Roy Brooks was a preeminent hard-bop drummer who early on participated in seminal recording dates led by Horace Silver, Yusef Lateef and Sonny Stitt. In this release entitled Understanding, produced by Cory Weeds and Zev Feldman for Reel To Real Records, Brooks is documented live by The Left Bank Jazz Society at The Famous Ballroom in Baltimore on November 1, 1970. The limited-edition 180 gram 3-LP gatefold set of previously unreleased material, features a stellar band including trumpeter Woody Shaw, ...

Album Review

Lonnie Liston Smith & The Cosmic Echoes: Expansions

by Chris May
June 17, 2020

If ever a first wave jazz-funk album deserved a 180gm vinyl reissue in 2020 it is this near masterpiece. It was originally released in 1975 on Flying Dutchman, the label Bob Thiele set up after he left Impulse!. Jazz-funk divided the jazz world in the 1970s as much as free-jazz had done a decade earlier. And with reason. Much of it was crap. Just like a lot of jazz-rock was crap. More or less desperate attempts by ...

Radio & Podcasts

Cecil McAwesome

by Patrick Burnette
February 27, 2020

Inspired by bassist Cecil McBee's star-turn on Lloyd McNeill's Elegia, the boys devote a whole episode to examining works led by Cecil or just plain enhanced by his presence. He's had a wide-ranging career as a side-man so they cherry-pick what highlights they can while wondering if the next setting on the engineering knob after “10" and “11" is really “sexual." A rapper, a classic by Beck, and some brand new dream pop get look ins during pop matters.

Interview

Cecil McBee: Masterful, And Always Equipped

by R.J. DeLuke
November 17, 2014

Cecil McBee is one of the finest bass players on the scene, a status he's held among musicians for many years, even if the public is slower to pick up on the achievements of this 79-year-old musician extraordinaire. A natural, he was quick to connect with musicians in his hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma. But helping him along the road to becoming a top-flight musician was a series of encounters where people would come asking for him. They were ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Cecil McBee

Source: Michael Ricci
May 19, 2016

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Cecil McBee

Source: Michael Ricci
May 19, 2015

Radio

The Jazz Session #271: Cecil McBee

Source: AAJ Staff
May 24, 2011

137

Recording

"Jazz My Soul" by the Jazz Explorers Features George Cables, Dave Liebman, Carmen Lundy, Billy Hart, Sonny Fortune, Victor Lewis and Cecil McBee Performing the Music of Tim Duffy

Source: All About Jazz
April 16, 2007

Bob Funk, Uptown Horns trombonist and producer, is proud to announce Jazz My Soul by The Jazz Explorers, released by Rhythm Dynamics. This extraordinary project features great performances by a unique gathering of jazz legends, including George Cables, Dave Liebman, Carmen Lundy, Billy Hart, Sonny Fortune, Victor Lewis and Cecil McBee and a strong supporting cast. The Jazz Explorers collective workshop performing the soulful original music of composer and band leader Tim Duffy move contemporary mainstream jazz forward with power ...
read more

Recording

Climbing the Gates Album Features Improx Trio: Falkner Evans, Cecil McBee & Matt Wilson

Source: Creative Service Company
January 7, 2007

CLIMBING THE GATES ALBUM FEATURES IMPROVISATORY JAZZ TRIO OF FALKNER EVANS,CECIL MCBEE & MATT WILSON

New York jazz pianist Falkner Evans loves the purity of the traditional jazz trio, so he once again joins forces with bassist Cecil McBee and drummer Matt Wilson on the second Falkner Evans Trio album, Climbing the Gates, that features what Evans calls “complex structures with discernible melodies laid over the top, and lots of improvisation."

Evans says, “The beauty of the trio is that ...
read more