Bob Whitlock (January 21, 1931,

Roosevelt, Utah Roosevelt is a city in Duchesne County, Utah, United States. The population was 6,046 at the 2010 census, with an estimated population of 7,070 in 2018. The proper pronunciation of the city's name is based on how President Theodore Roosevelt p ...

- June 20, 2015,

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

double-bassist.

Background

Whitlock began playing bass as a teenager, and was active in Los Angeles as a session musician from the early 1950s, working with

Gerry Mulligan Gerald Joseph Mulligan (April 6, 1927 – January 20, 1996), also known as Jeru, was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and arranger. Though primarily known as one of the leading jazz baritone saxophonists—playing the instrum ...

, Art Pepper, Chet Baker, Stan Getz,

Buddy DeFranco Boniface Ferdinand Leonard "Buddy" DeFranco (February 17, 1923 – December 24, 2014) was an Italian-American jazz clarinetist. In addition to his work as a bandleader, DeFranco led the Glenn Miller Orchestra for almost a decade in the 1960s and ...

Joe Albany Joe Albany (born Joseph Albani; January 24, 1924 – January 12, 1988) was an American modern jazz pianist who played bebop with Charlie Parker as well as being a leader on his own recordings. Life and career Born in Atlantic City, New Jersey, ...

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Warne Marsh Warne Marion Marsh (October 26, 1927 – December 18, 1987) was an American tenor saxophonist. Born in Los Angeles, his playing first came to prominence in the 1950s as a protégé of pianist Lennie Tristano and earned attention in the 1970s as ...

, and others. He also led his own small group late in the decade and attended the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Franci ...

. He worked in France in the early 1960s, playing with

Zoot Sims John Haley "Zoot" Sims (October 29, 1925 – March 23, 1985) was an American jazz saxophonist, playing mainly tenor but also alto (and, later, soprano) saxophone. He first gained attention in the "Four Brothers" sax section of Woody Herman's big ...

Vi Redd Elvira "Vi" Redd (born September 20, 1928) is an American jazz alto saxophone player, vocalist and educator. She has been active since the early 1950s and is known primarily for playing in the blues style. She is highly regarded as an accomplis ...

Curtis Amy Curtis Amy (October 11, 1929 – June 5, 2002) was an American jazz saxophonist. Biography Amy was born in Houston, Texas, United States. He learned how to play clarinet before joining the Army, and during his time in service, picked up the teno ...

, and

Victor Feldman Victor Stanley Feldman (7 April 1934 – 12 May 1987) was an English jazz musician who played mainly piano, vibraphone, and percussion. He began performing professionally during childhood, eventually earning acclaim in the UK jazz scene as ...

. Later in the decade he worked with

Joe Pass Joe Pass (born Joseph Anthony Jacobi Passalaqua; January 13, 1929 – May 23, 1994) was an American jazz guitarist. Pass is well known for his work stemming from numerous collaborations with pianist Oscar Peterson and vocalist Ella Fitzgerald, an ...

and extensively with

George Shearing Sir George Albert Shearing, (13 August 1919 14 February 2011) was a British jazz pianist who for many years led a popular jazz group that recorded for Discovery Records, MGM Records and Capitol Records. Shearing was the composer of over 300 ...

. In the 1970s he worked with Albany once again.

Discography

As sideman

, '' The Right Combination'' (Riverside, 1958) * Joe Albany, '' Proto-Bopper'' (Revelation, 1972) *

, ''Tippin' On Through'' (Pacific Jazz, 1962) * Chet Baker, '' Pretty/Groovy'' (

World Pacific Pacific Jazz Records was a Los Angeles-based record company and label best known for cool jazz or West coast jazz. It was founded in 1952 by producer Richard Bock (1927–1988) and drummer Roy Harte (1924–2003). Harte, in 1954, also co-founded ...

, 1958) *

, ''Stop the World I Want to Get Off'' (World Pacific, 1962) * Victor Feldman, ''Soviet Jazz Themes'' (Ava, 1963) * Stan Getz, ''And the Cool Sounds'' (Verve, 1957) * Stan Getz, ''Stan Getz Plays'' (Verve, 1988) * Peggy Lee, ''Pass Me By'' (Capitol, 1965) *

, ''

Simplicity Simplicity is the state or quality of being simple. Something easy to understand or explain seems simple, in contrast to something complicated. Alternatively, as Herbert A. Simon suggests, something is simple or complex depending on the way we ...

'' (World Pacific, 1967) * Art Pepper, '' Surf Ride'' (Savoy, 1956) * Art Pepper, ''Art Pepper & Sonny Redd'' (Regent, 1959) *

, ''Birdcall'' (United Artists, 1962) *

, ''Zoot Sims in Paris'' (United Artists, 1962)

References

*"Bob Whitlock". '' The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz''. 2nd edition, ed. Barry Kernfeld. American jazz double-bassists Male double-bassists 1931 births 2015 deaths Musicians from Utah People from Roosevelt, Utah University of California alumni American male jazz musicians {{US-jazz-musician-stub