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Biography
Cecil McBee (born May 19, 1935) is an American post bop jazz bassist, described by the Guinness Who's Who of Jazz (Second Edition, ed. Colin Larkin, 1995) as "a full-toned bassist who creates rich, singing phrases in a wide range of contemporary jazz contexts."
McBee was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on 19 May 1935. He studied clarinet at school, but switched to bass at the age of 17, and began playing in local nightclubs. After gaining a music degree from Ohio Central State University, he spent two years in the army, during which time he conducted the band at Fort Knox. In 1959 he played with Dinah Washington, and in 1962 he moved to Detriot, where he wokred with Paul Winter's folk-rock ensemble from 1963-1964. His jazz career began in earnest in the mid-1960s, after he moved to New York, when he began playing and recording with a number of significant musicians including Miles Davis, Andrew Hill, Sam Rivers, Jackie McLean (1964), Wayne Shorter (1965-66),Charles Lloyd (1966), Yusef Lateef (1967-69),Keith Jarrett, and Alice Coltrane(1969-1972).
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