Chuck Deardorf (April 3, 1954 – October 9, 2022) was an American musician. He was best known for playing

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar i ...

and

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

with the Deardorf Peterson Group. He also headed the jazz department at the

Cornish College of the Arts Cornish College of the Arts (CCA) is a private art college in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1914. History Cornish College of the Arts was founded in 1914 as the Cornish School of Music, by Nellie Cornish (1876–1956), a teacher of ...

Early life

Deardorf was born on April 3, 1954, and grew up in the

Dayton metropolitan area The Dayton, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area, also known as Greater Dayton and the Miami Valley, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of three counties in the Miami Valley region of Ohio and is anchored by the cit ...

. He started playing the double bass when he was fifteen. During his senior year of high school, he relocated to the West Coast and attended

Central Kitsap High School Central Kitsap High School is a secondary school located in Silverdale, Washington, United States. It is one of seven secondary schools in the Central Kitsap School District. CKHS teaches grades 09-12. CKHS was for the first time ranked in the ...

. He then studied at the

Evergreen State College The Evergreen State College is a public liberal arts college in Olympia, Washington. Founded in 1967, it offers a non-traditional undergraduate curriculum in which students have the option to design their own study towards a degree or follow a p ...

, before playing at Seattle jazz clubs such as Parnell's and Dimitriou's Jazz Alley. There, he served as a backing musician to

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 ...

Monty Alexander Montgomery Bernard "Monty" Alexander (born 6 June 1944) is a Jamaican jazz pianist. His playing has a Caribbean influence and bright swinging feeling, with a strong vocabulary of bebop jazz and blues rooted melodies. He was influenced by Louis ...

, and Kenny Barron, among others.

Career

Deardorf first taught music at

Western Washington University Western Washington University (WWU or Western) is a public university in Bellingham, Washington. The northernmost university in the contiguous United States, WWU was founded in 1893 as the state-funded New Whatcom Normal School, succeeding a pri ...

in 1978. He then joined the faculty at the

a year later as a professor of jazz and instrumental music. He ultimately became the administrator of the school's jazz program, serving in that capacity from 1986 until 2000. Outside of teaching, Deardorf continued to perform and record as a sideman for musicians such as

Jovino Santos Neto Jovino Santos Neto (born September 18, 1954) is a Seattle-based Brazilian-American jazz pianist, flutist, composer, arranger, educator and record producer. Career Jovino Santos Neto started playing piano at age 13 and by 16 was playing keyboard ...

Bud Shank Clifford Everett "Bud" Shank Jr. (May 27, 1926 – April 2, 2009) was an American alto saxophonist and flautist. He rose to prominence in the early 1950s playing lead alto and flute in Stan Kenton's Innovations in Modern Music Orchestra and thro ...

Don Lanphere Donald Gale Lanphere (June 26, 1928 – October 9, 2003) was an American jazz tenor and soprano saxophonist, known for his 1940s and 1950s work, and recordings with Fats Navarro (in 1948), Woody Herman (1949), Claude Thornhill, Sonny Dunham, Bil ...

, Dave Peck, and

Pete Christlieb Pete Christlieb (born February 16, 1945) is an American jazz bebop, West Coast jazz and hard bop tenor saxophonist. Biography Christlieb was born in Los Angeles, California, United States, and is the son of bassoonist Don Christlieb. Christlieb ...

. He also played together with Dave Peterson, a local guitarist and composer, on a frequent basis starting in the late 1970s. The duo eventually established the Deardorf Peterson Group in 2004. They released ''Portal'', their first album as co-bandleaders, that same year. Deardorf also released two albums as leader – ''Transparence'' (2011) and ''Perception'' (2019). He joked that he "play dboth kinds of music:

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...

and

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

Personal life and death

Deardorf married Kelly Harland in 1987. She is a singer and author, and he had produced and featured on several of her albums. They remained married for 35 years until his death. Together, they had one son. Deardorf suffered from hereditary kidney disease. To avoid dialysis, he underwent a

kidney transplant Kidney transplant or renal transplant is the organ transplant of a kidney into a patient with end-stage kidney disease (ESRD). Kidney transplant is typically classified as deceased-donor (formerly known as cadaveric) or living-donor transplantati ...

from his brother in 2011. He died on October 9, 2022, aged 68, at the

Virginia Mason Medical Center Virginia Mason Medical Center is an integrated hospital, training and research facility located in Seattle, Washington, USA. It was the founding location, in 1920, of the private, non-profit Virginia Mason health organization; in January 2021, the ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

. He had contracted

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

two months before his death, leading to health complications.

Discography

As leader

* 2004 ''Portal'' (co-leader with Dave Peterson as The Deardorf/Peterson Group) * 2011 ''Transparence'' * 2019 ''Perception''

As sideman

With

* 1984 ''Don Loves Midge'' * 1986 ''Stop'' * 1988 ''Jay Clayton & Don Lanphere: TheJazz Alley Tapes'' * 1990 ''Don Lanphere & Larry Coryell'' * 1995 ''Go...Again'' * 1999 ''Year 'Round Christmas'' With

* 1990 ''Tales of the Pilot: Bud Shank Plays the Music of David Peck'' * 1986 '' Bud Shank Quartet at Jazz Alley'' (Contemporary) * 1992 ''The Awakening'' * 1995 ''Lost Cathedral'' With Dave Peck * 1996 ''Solo'' * 1998 ''Trio'' * 1999 ''3 and 1'' With

* 1997 ''Caboclo'' * 2000 ''Live in Olympia'' * 2003 ''Canto do Rio'' * 2011 ''Current'' With Gunnar Bob Madsen * 1998 ''Power of a Hat'' * 1998 ''Spinning World: 13 Ways of Looking at a Waltz'' With Jim Knapp * 1995 ''On Going Home'' * 1998 ''Things for Now'' With others * 1989 ''Breaking Through'', Phil Sheeran * 1990 ''Worth Waiting For'', P.J. Perry * 1991 ''Living Things'', Michael Tomlinson * 1991 ''Pacific Aire'', Tom Collier * 1998 ''Collection'', Mike Strickland * 1998 ''Photographs'', Barney McClure * 1998 ''Red Kelley's Heroes,''

* 1999 ''Joy to the World'', Gene Nery * 1999 ''The Face of Love'', Eugene Maslov * 2002 ''Twelve Times Romance'', Kelly Harland * 2003 ''Convergence Zone'', Phil Kelly & the NW Prevailing Winds * 2003 ''Some Devil'', Dave Matthews * 2005 ''Carolyn Graye'', Carolyn Graye * 2006 ''Laid Back & Blues: Live at the Sky Church in Seattle,'' Larry Coryell * 2007 ''Malibu Manouche'', Neil Andersson * 2007 ''Shade'', Richie Cole * 2008 ''From the Depths'', Karen Emerson * 2008 ''Long Ago and Far Away: Kelly Harland Sings Jerome Kern'', Kelly Harland * 2008 ''Words & Music'', Paul West * 2009 ''Across the Sound'', Terry Lauber * 2009 ''Alone Together With the Blues'', Mia Vermillion * 2010 ''As the Crow Flies'', Neil Andersson/Malibu Manouche/Peter Pendras * 2010 ''Inner Mission'',

Randy Brecker Randal Edward Brecker (born November 27, 1945) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, and composer. His versatility has made him a popular studio musician who has recorded with acts in jazz, rock, and R&B. Early life Brecker was born on No ...

/Richard Cole * 2010 ''Reunion'',

Hadley Caliman Hadley Caliman (January 12, 1932 – September 8, 2010) was an American jazz saxophone and flute player.All ...

/Pete Christlieb * 2011 ''Imaginary Sketches'', Chad McCullough/Bram Weijters * 2012 ''Double Exposure'',

Frank D'Rone Frank D'Rone (April 26, 1932 – October 3, 2013) was an American jazz singer and guitarist. Biography D'Rone's first album, ''Frank D'Rone Sings'', was released in 1959, and included liner notes penned by Nat "King" Cole, who later helped D' ...

References

External links

chuckdeardorf.com
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Deardorf, Chuck 1954 births 2022 deaths Musicians from Dayton, Ohio American jazz double-bassists Male double-bassists Western Washington University alumni Cornish College of the Arts faculty American jazz bass guitarists American male bass guitarists 20th-century American bass guitarists 21st-century double-bassists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Washington (state)