Home » Jazz Musicians » Wilbur Ware

Wilbur Ware

Ware wasn't afraid to shift the rhythmic emphasis by varying his note lengths and leaving empty space between his phrases; he also stuck mostly to the lowest register of his instrument, laying a thick foundation. Even if Ware wasn't quite the soloist Blanton was, he had an expert understanding of harmony that allowed him to support some of bop's most sophisticated players.

Ware was born in Chicago in 1923, and played banjo, drums, and violin before picking up the bass as a teenager. After serving in World War II, Ware hit the Chicago jazz scene in 1946, playing with Roy Eldridge, Sonny Stitt, and Stuff Smith early on, as well as striking up relationships with Johnny Griffin (with whom he recorded in 1954) and Junior Mance.

After working with a very early version of Sun Ra's Arkestra, Ware joined Art Blakey's band and moved to New York in 1956. In 1957, he joined up with Thelonious Monk and played in his legendary groups with John Coltrane; the same year, he also participated in Sonny Rollins' equally legendary "A Night at the Village Vanguard" concerts.

In late 1957, Ware also recorded his only album as a leader, Chicago Sound, which featured fellow Chicagoans like Griffin and Mance, not to mention several Ware solos. During the late '50s, Ware recorded as a sideman on hard bop dates for Riverside and Blue Note, but his worsening health (probably exacerbated by drug problems) kept him out of action from 1963-1968. He returned in 1969 and soon played on adventurous sessions with Elvin Jones and Archie Shepp. Ware eventually moved to Philadelphia, where he died in 1979. Source: Steve Huey

Thelonious Monk: With John Coltrane 1957 Revisited

Read "With John Coltrane 1957 Revisited" reviewed by Chris May

by Chris May
December 26, 2023

Once again, the ezz-thetics label has taken some of the finest artefacts of mid-twentieth-century US jazz and sonically restored them, bringing an unprecedented level of clarity, precision and presence. It is no exaggeration to say that the Swiss-based label's work can be compared with the restoration of Michelangelo's frescoes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel during the 1980s, both in terms of the quality of the original material and the artistry with which the renovation has been executed. The ...

Radio & Podcasts

A Slightly Latin Set, Wilbur Ware at 100, and the Wailin' Mailman from DC

by David Brown
September 20, 2023

This week we kick things off with a slightly Latin set with Roland Kirk, Aymee Nuviola, Tito Puente and Michel Camilo. Then three pieces of silver from Horace Silver move into a birthday tribute set to bassist Wilbur Ware. Coming home from the DC Jazz fest had me listening to DC artists such as Ellington and the Wailin' Mailman Buck Hill, and more. Playlist Thelonious Monk “Esistrophy (Theme)" from Live at the It Club-Complete (Columbia) 01:00 Rahsaan Roland ...

Reassessing

Dial "S" for Sonny

by C. Michael Bailey
May 20, 2020

Pianist Sonny Clark was culturally marginalized in much the same way as his contemporary Elmo Hope—both heroin-addicted jazz musicians in the 1950s: at the time, and romantically, a cliche. Both pianists have been sorely lumped into the “Bud Powell school of bop piano" which superficially may seem accurate until one considers the evolutionary continuum of jazz piano that places both Clark and Hope conceptually and stylistically beyond Powell. Clark was born in Georgia and raised outside of jny: ...

Album Review

Tina Brooks Quintet: The Complete Recordings

Read "The Complete Recordings" reviewed by Chris May

by Chris May
March 9, 2020

Mosaic Records' spring 2020 release The Complete Hank Mobley Blue Note Sessions 1963-70, the second of the label's box sets devoted to the copiously recorded (and rightly so) Hank Mobley, prompts thoughts of another of Blue Note's singular hard-bop tenor saxophone stylists. Unlike Mobley, Tina Brooks was woefully under-recorded, making just four albums under his own name. But like Mobley, Brooks had an instantly recognisable sound, was a spellbinding soloist and was also a gifted composer. In addition to his ...

Album Review

Sonny Clark: Dial "S" For Sonny

Read "Dial "S" For Sonny" reviewed by Greg Simmons

by Greg Simmons
December 14, 2013

Original copies of Blue Note 1570--Dial “S" For Sonny--are among the rarer Blue Note records, often changing hands for thousands of dollars for even a mediocre copy. That's an awful lot of scratch for a fifty-six year old piece of pressed vinyl and a cardboard sleeve. Fortunately, there are better ways to hear pianist Sonny Clark's debut recording for the fabled label. The Music Matters series of two-disk, 45 rpm vinyl records is winding down after close to one hundred ...

172

Album Review

Johnny Griffin: Johnny Griffin

Read "Johnny Griffin" reviewed by David Rickert

by David Rickert
September 15, 2004

Johnny Griffin was a bop-influenced player who was capable of handling the rigors of both Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and a stint with Thelonious Monk. Often given credit as the world's fastest tenor player (at least for a time), Griffin enjoyed a good tenor battle as much as the next guy, but he also could deliver a solid quartet album such as this one.1956's Johnny Griffin is pretty typical mid-fifties fare: a few standards, a couple of originals, ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Wilbur Ware

Source: Michael Ricci
September 8, 2022

All About Jazz is celebrating Wilbur Ware's birthday today!

One of bop's most advanced and influential bassists, Wilbur Ware was a superb rhythmic anchor with an unerring sense of swing. Where many post- Jimmy Blanton bassists concentrated on legato melodic phrasing, Ware wasn't afraid to shift the rhythmic emphasis by varying his note lengths and leaving empty space between his phrases; he also stuck mostly to the lowest register of his instrument, laying a thick foundation. Even if Ware wasn't ...
read more

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Wilbur Ware

Source: Michael Ricci
September 8, 2021

All About Jazz is celebrating Wilbur Ware's birthday today!

One of bop's most advanced and influential bassists, Wilbur Ware was a superb rhythmic anchor with an unerring sense of swing. Where many post-Jimmy Blanton bassists concentrated on legato melodic phrasing, Ware wasn't afraid to shift the rhythmic emphasis by varying his note lengths and leaving empty space between his phrases; he also stuck mostly to the lowest register of his instrument, laying a thick foundation. Even if Ware wasn't quite ...
read more

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Wilbur Ware

Source: Michael Ricci
September 8, 2020

All About Jazz is celebrating Wilbur Ware's birthday today!

One of bop's most advanced and influential bassists, Wilbur Ware was a superb rhythmic anchor with an unerring sense of swing. Where many post-Jimmy Blanton bassists concentrated on legato melodic phrasing, Ware wasn't afraid to shift the rhythmic emphasis by varying his note lengths and leaving empty space between his phrases; he also stuck mostly to the lowest register of his instrument, laying a thick foundation. Even if Ware wasn't quite ...
read more