Jimmy Cheatham

{{Short description|American jazz trombonist and teacher (1924–2007)}}

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Jimmy Cheatham

| image = James Cheatham.jpg

| birth_name = James Rudolph Cheatham

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1924|6|18}}

| birth_place = Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2007|1|12|1924|6|18|mf=yes}}

| death_place = San Diego, California

| genre = Jazz

| occupation = Musician

| instrument = Trombone

| years_active = 1940s–2000s

| label =

| associated_acts =

}}

James Rudolph Cheatham (June 18, 1924 – January 12, 2007) was an American jazz trombonist and teacher, who played with Chico Hamilton, Ornette Coleman, Thad Jones, Mel Lewis, Lionel Hampton, Frank Foster, and Duke Ellington.{{cite news |last=Voce |first=Steve |date=January 20, 2007 |title=Jimmy Cheatham: Sweet Baby Blues Trombonist |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/723039799/ |url-access=subscription |work=The Independent |location=London |number=6322 |pages=46–47 |access-date=January 12, 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{cite book |last1=Eagle |first1=Bob |last2=LeBlanc |first2=Eric S. |name-list-style=amp |year=2013 |title=Blues: A Regional Experience |location=Santa Barbara, CA |publisher=Praeger |isbn=9780313344237 |page=256}}

In 1978, Cheatham was invited to lead the jazz program at University of California, San Diego. In 1979 he began to direct the school's African American and jazz performance programs. He retired in 2005.{{cite web |last1=Cheatham |first1=Jimmy |last2=Tregaser |first2=Jim |name-list-style=amp |date=May 2020 |title=Enlistment Blues: How I joined the Army, met Lester Young and Jo Jones, and found a career in jazz (Part One) |url= https://sandiegotroubadour.com/enlistment-blues-how-i-joined-the-army-met-lester-young-and-jo-jones-and-found-a-career-in-jazz/ |website=San Diego Troubadour |location=San Diego, CA |access-date=January 12, 2023}}

Biography

Cheatham was born in Birmingham, Alabama on June 18, 1924,{{cite magazine |last=Dance |first=Stanley |date=1987 |title=Jimmy Cheatham |magazine=Jazz Journal International |volume=40 |issue=9 |location=London |publisher=Jazz Journal Ltd. |pages=14–16}}{{cite web |last=Rye |first=Howard |date=2002 |title=Cheatham, Jimmy (James Rudolph) |url=https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/display/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-2000733900 |url-access=subscription |website=Grove Music Online |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.J733900 |access-date=January 12, 2023}} the son of Isabelle (née Steen) and Andrew Cheatham,{{cite book |last=Cheatham |first=Jeannie |author-link=Jeannie Cheatham |date=2006 |title=Meet Me with Your Black Drawers On: My Life in Music |url=https://archive.org/details/meetmewithyourbl0000chea/page/195/mode/1up |url-access=registration |location=Austin, TX |publisher=University of Texas Press |isbn=9780292712935 |page=195 |via=Internet Archive |access-date=January 12, 2023}}{{cite web |date=2012 |title=United States Census, 1940: James Cheatham in Household of Isabelle Cheatham, Ward 5, Buffalo, Buffalo City, Erie, New York, United States (Roll 2825, ED 64-85, Sheet 61A, Line 27) |url=https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KQBM-T6W |url-access=registration |location=Washington DC |publisher=National Archives and Records Administration |access-date=January 14, 2023 |via=FamilySearch}} who was a conductor on the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. After his parents separated when he was a small child, he grew up with his mother and sister, Arlene, in Buffalo, New York.{{sfnp|Cheatham|2006|p=[https://archive.org/details/meetmewithyourbl0000chea/page/195/mode/1up 177]}} In February 1943, he enlisted in the United States Army, and was a member of the 173rd Army Ground Force Band from 1944 to 1946, when he was demobilized following the end of World War II.{{cite web |last1=Cheatham |first1=Jimmy |last2=Tregaser |first2=Jim |name-list-style=amp |date=June 2020 |title=Enlistment Blues: How I joined the Army, met Lester Young and Jo Jones, and found a career in jazz (Part Two) |url=https://sandiegotroubadour.com/jimmy-cheatham/ |website=San Diego Troubadour |location=San Diego, CA |access-date=January 12, 2023}} At various times, his colleagues in the band included Eddie Chamblee, Chico Hamilton, Jo Jones, Lester Young, and also Harry White, whom Cheatham said had been "like a mentor" to him.{{cite web |last1=Cheatham |first1=Jimmy |last2=Tregaser |first2=Jim |name-list-style=amp |date=July 2020 |title=Enlistment Blues: How I joined the Army, met Lester Young and Jo Jones, and found a career in jazz (Part Three) |url=https://sandiegotroubadour.com/enlistment-blues-how-i-joined-the-army-met-lester-young-and-jo-jones-and-found-a-career-in-jazz-part-3/ |website=San Diego Troubadour |location=San Diego, CA |access-date=January 12, 2023}}

Taking advantage of the G.I. Bill, Cheatham was able to attend the New York Conservatory of Modern Music in Brooklyn from 1948 to 1950, then from 1950 to 1953 studied at the Westlake College of Music in Los Angeles,{{efn|Opened in 1945, Westlake College was only the second institution in the United States to offer a university-level jazz program, after Schillinger House in Boston. It closed in 1961.{{cite journal |last=Spencer |first=Michael T. |date=2013 |title=Jazz Education at the Westlake College of Music, 1945–61 |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/153660061303500105 |url-access=subscription |journal=Journal of Historical Research in Music Education |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=50–65 |publisher=Sage Publications |doi=10.1177/153660061303500105 |issn=1536-6006 |jstor=43958416 |s2cid=140361507 |access-date=January 13, 2023 }}}} where he developed a lifelong friendship with one of his instructors, Russell Garcia. While at Westlake, a piece he wrote for string quartet{{efn|It is unclear if this referred to Menorah, a work for flute quartet composed by (a) James Cheatham, which was played at a 1953 concert in Los Angeles involving Elmer Bernstein.{{cite news |author= |date=February 12, 1953 |title=Humanists Plan History Program For This Sunday |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/693598528/ |url-access=subscription |work=The California Eagle |volume=72 |number=46 |location=Los Angeles |publisher=Loren Miller |page=2 |access-date=January 16, 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}}}} was performed at a concert with Paul Robeson, and he also received a scholarship to the nearby American Operatic Laboratory. Amongst the visitors to the flat he shared with saxophonist Buddy Collette in Los Angeles were Charlie Parker, and the first Gerry Mulligan quartet (including Chico Hamilton) who went there to rehearse.{{cite web |last=Vacher |first=Peter |date=March 28, 2007 |title=Jimmy Cheatham: Trombonist fusing jazz and blues |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/mar/29/guardianobituaries.obituaries |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141003004934/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/mar/29/guardianobituaries.obituaries |archive-date=October 3, 2014 |website=The Guardian |location=London |access-date=January 13, 2023}}

Cheatham met his wife, Jean Evans, in 1956 in Buffalo, New York, when the local musicians' union chief called them separately to replace two musicians who could not make a job at the local Elks Ballroom. They married in 1959, and their son, Jonathan, was born the same year{{sfnp|Cheatham|2006|p=[https://archive.org/details/meetmewithyourbl0000chea/page/178/mode/1up 174]}} His wife also had a daughter from a previous relationship, Shirley, who was born in 1951.{{sfnp|Cheatham|2006|pp=[https://archive.org/details/meetmewithyourbl0000chea/page/113/mode/1up 113–115]}}

During the 1970s, Cheatham taught jazz at Bennington College in Vermont, and also at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin.{{cite magazine |last=Mendoza |first=Bart |date=2007 |title=Jimmy & Jeannie Cheatham: A Life of Music, Joy, & Inspiration |url=https://sandiegotroubadour.com/wp-content/pdf/2007_2_Feb.pdf |magazine=San Diego Troubadour |volume=6 |number=5 |pages=8–9 |location=La Jolia, CA |access-date=January 12, 2023}}

In 1984, Cheatham and his wife won a bronze medal at the New York Festivals Film and TV Awards for the 1983 KPBS television special Three Generations of the Blues, which featured Sippie Wallace, Big Mama Thornton, and Jennie Cheatham.{{cite magazine |author= |date=1984 |magazine=Bear Facts |volume=22 |number=6 |title=Honours & Awards |url=http://library.ucsd.edu/dc/object/bb10591246/_1.pdf |location=San Diego, CA |publisher=Oceanids, University of California, San Diego |page=15 |access-date=January 16, 2023}}

Also in 1984, the Cheathams formed the Sweet Baby Blues Band,{{sfnp|Cheatham|2006|p=[https://archive.org/details/meetmewithyourbl0000chea/page/311/mode/1up 311]}} reviving Kansas City-style blues.{{cite web |author= |date=January 20, 2015 |title=The Kansas City Style: A Marriage of Blues & Jazz |url=https://library.ucsd.edu/news-events/the-kansas-city-style-a-marriage-of-blues-jazz/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190209212812/https://library.ucsd.edu/news-events/the-kansas-city-style-a-marriage-of-blues-jazz/ |archive-date=February 9, 2019 |location=San Diego, CA |publisher=The Library, University of California San Diego |access-date=January 13, 2023}} The first of the eight studio albums they released between 1985 and 1996, Sweet Baby Blues, was the sole recording to receive a {{Lang|fr|Grand Prix du Disque de Jazz}}{{efn|This should not be confused with the {{lang|fr|Grand Prix du Disque Jazz}}, awarded by the {{lang|fr|Académie Charles Cros}}.}} from the {{Lang|fr|Hot Club de France}} in 1985.{{sfnp|Cheatham|2006|p=[https://archive.org/details/meetmewithyourbl0000chea/page/364/mode/1up 364]}}{{cite web |title=Prix du disque de jazz décernés par le Hot Club de France de 1936 à 1992 |trans-title=Jazz recording awards presented by the Hot Club of France from 1936 to 1992 |url=https://www.hot-club.asso.fr/prix1936-92.php?sens=1&pageencours=1&tr=1 |website=Hot Club de France |language=fr |access-date=January 16, 2023}} Their fifth album, Luv in the Afternoon (1990), was also voted amongst the best blues albums of the year in Down Beat magazine's 39th annual poll of international music critics, as published in 1991.{{cite magazine |last=Ephland |first=John |date=1991 |title=Down Beat's 39th Annual International Critics Poll |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/DownBeat/90s/91/DB-1991-08.pdf |magazine=Down Beat |location=Elmhurst, IL |publisher=Mahler Publications |volume=58 |number=8 |pages=20–24 |issn=0012-5768 |access-date=January 15, 2023}}

In 1998, the band was described as "an earthy jump blues combo that plays funky, hard-swinging, boogie-busting music".{{cite book |last=Gilbert |first=Andrew |editor-last1=Holtje |editor-first1=Steve |editor-last2=Lee |editor-first2=Nancy Ann |name-list-style=amp |date=1998 |chapter=Jeannie & Jimmy Cheatham & the Sweet Baby Blues Band |title=MusicHound Jazz: The Essential Album Guide |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/musichoundjazzes0000unse/page/223/mode/1up |url=https://archive.org/details/musichoundjazzes0000unse/mode/1up |url-access=registration |location=New York |publisher=Schirmer Trade Books |isbn=1578590310 |pages=223–224 |access-date=January 13, 2023 |via=Internet Archive}}

Cheatham's legacy is carried on by several students who went on to become, like him, prominent composer/performer/educators: flutist Nicole Mitchell,{{cite web |last1=Varga |first1=George |last2=Mitchell |first2=Nicole |name-list-style=amp |date=April 25, 2019 |title=Before & After with Nicole Mitchell |url=https://jazztimes.com/departments/before-and-after/nicole-mitchell-aacm/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180902183839/https://jazztimes.com/departments/before-and-after/nicole-mitchell-aacm/ |archive-date=September 2, 2018 |work=JazzTimes |location=Braintree, MA |access-date=January 17, 2023}} bassist Karl E. H. Seigfried, and drummer Vikas Srivastava.

Cheatham died in San Diego, California on January 12, 2007, aged 82, having undergone heart surgery the previous month.{{cite news |last=Moe |first=Doug |date=March 21, 2007 |title=A memorial for Jimmy Cheatham |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/522551535/ |url-access=subscription |work=The Capital Times |edition=Home Final |location=Madison, WI |page=A2 |access-date=January 12, 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}}

Discography

=As co-leader=

==Studio albums==

Sweet Baby Blues (1985) – Note: includes the Cheatham's signature song, "Meet Me With Your Black Drawers On".{{cite book |last=Lord |first=Tom |date=1992 |title=The Jazz Discography |url=https://archive.org/details/jazzdiscogvol400lord/page/276/mode/1up |url-access=registration |volume=4 |location=West Vancouver, BC & Redwood, NY |publisher=Lord Music Reference & Clarence Jazz Books |isbn=1881993035 |oclc=1035901586 |pages=C276–C277 |access-date=January 13, 2023 |via=Internet Archive}}
Jeannie Cheatham and Jimmy Cheatham
with Red Callender, John "Ironman" Harris, Charles McPherson, Jimmy Noone, Curtis Peagler, Snooky Young
Concord Jazz
{{small|CCD-4258 (CD){{spaces|3}}CJ-258 (LP){{spaces|3}}CJC-258 (MC)}}

Midnight Mama (1986)
Jeannie and Jimmy Cheatham and the Sweet Baby Blues Band
Concord Jazz
{{small|CCD-4297 (CD){{spaces|3}}CJ-297 (LP){{spaces|3}}CJ 297-C (MC)}}

Homeward Bound (1987)
Jeannie and Jimmy Cheatham and the Sweet Baby Blues Band
Concord Jazz
{{small|CCD-4321 (CD){{spaces|3}}CJ-321 (LP){{spaces|3}}CJ 321-C (MC)}}

Back to the Neighborhood (1989)
Jeannie & Jimmy Cheatham and the Sweet Baby Blues Band
Concord Jazz
{{small|CCD-4373 (CD){{spaces|3}}CJ-373 (LP){{spaces|3}}CJ 373-C (MC)}}

Luv in the Afternoon (1990)
Jeannie & Jimmy Cheatham and the Sweet Baby Blues Band
Concord Jazz
{{small|CCD-4429 (CD)}}

Basket Full of Blues (1992)
Jeannie and Jimmy Cheatham and the Sweet Baby Blues Band
Concord Jazz
{{small|CCD-4501 (CD){{spaces|3}}CJ 501-C (MC)}}

Blues and the Boogie Masters (1993)
Jeannie & Jimmy Cheatham and the Sweet Baby Blues Band
Concord Jazz
{{small|CCD-4579 (CD)}}

Gud Nuz Bluz (1996)
Jeannie & Jimmy Cheatham and the Sweet Baby Blues Band
Concord Jazz
{{small|CCD-4690 (CD)}}

==Compilation albums==

The Concord Jazz Heritage Series: Jeannie and Jimmy Cheatham (1998){{cite web |title=Jeannie & Jimmy Cheatham |url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/1991584-Jeannie-amp-Jimmy-Cheatham |website=Discogs |location=Portland, OR |publisher=Zink Media |access-date=January 13, 2023}}
Jeannie and Jimmy Cheatham
Concord Jazz
{{small|CCD-4837 (CD)}}

=As sideman=

With Bill Dixon

Intents and Purposes (RCA Victor, 1967){{cite book |last=Lord |first=Tom |date=1993 |title=The Jazz Discography |url=https://archive.org/details/jazzdiscogvol500lord/page/360/mode/1up |url-access=registration |volume=5 |location=West Vancouver, BC & Redwood, NY |publisher=Lord Music Reference & Clarence Jazz Books |isbn=1881993043 |oclc=1035903524 |page=D360 |access-date=January 14, 2023 |via=Internet Archive}}

With Chico Hamilton

El Chico (Impulse!, 1965){{cite book |last=Lord |first=Tom |date=1994 |title=The Jazz Discography |url=https://archive.org/details/jazzdiscogvol800lord/page/n480/mode/1up |url-access=registration |volume=8 |location=West Vancouver, BC & Redwood, NY |publisher=Lord Music Reference & Clarence Jazz Books |isbn=1881993078 |oclc=1035920133 |page=H85 |access-date=January 14, 2023 |via=Internet Archive}}
The Further Adventures of El Chico (Impulse!, 1966)
The Dealer (Impulse!, 1966){{efn|Cheatham arranged two tracks on the album and conducted a third, but played (uncredited) percussion only. The final track on the original LP release, "Jim-Jeannie", was named after the Cheathams.{{cite book |last1=Cook |first1=Richard |author-link1=Richard Cook (journalist) |last2=Morton |first2=Brian |author-link2=Brian Morton (Scottish writer) |name-list-style=amp |date=2006 |chapter=Chico Hamilton |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/penguinguidetoja0000cook/page/574/mode/1up |title=The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings |url=https://archive.org/details/penguinguidetoja0000cook/mode/1up |url-access=registration |edition=Eighth |location=London |publisher=Penguin |isbn=9780141023274 |oclc=1245637586 |pages=574–575 |access-date=January 15, 2023 |via=Internet Archive}}}}
The Gamut (Solid State, 1968)
Juniflip (Joyous Shout, 2006){{cite web |author= |title=Chico Hamilton – Juniflip |url=https://www.discogs.com/release/6159759-Chico-Hamilton-Juniflip |website=Discogs |location=Portland, OR |publisher=Zink Media |access-date=January 15, 2023}}

With Grover Mitchell

Meet Grover Mitchell (Jazz Chronicles, 1979){{cite book |last=Lord |first=Tom |date=1996 |title=The Jazz Discography |url=https://archive.org/details/jazzdiscogvol1500lord/page/930/mode/1up |url-access=registration |volume=15 |location=West Vancouver, BC & Redwood, NY |publisher=Lord Music Reference & Clarence Jazz Books |isbn=1881993140 |oclc=1035901585 |page=M930 |access-date=January 14, 2023 |via=Internet Archive}}
The Devil's Waltz (Jazz Chronicles, 1981)

Notes

References

External links

[https://www.jeanniecheatham.com/ Jeannie Cheatham official site]

Category:1924 births

Category:2007 deaths

Category:20th-century American male musicians

Category:20th-century American trombonists

Category:American blues musicians

Category:American jazz trombonists

Category:American music educators

Category:Grand Prix du Disque winners

Category:American male jazz musicians

Category:American male trombonists

Category:University of California, San Diego faculty