Neville Whitehead is a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a Bass (instrument), bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboar ...

and luthier who was an active member of the British

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, ...

community in the 1970s. Whitehead played at times in Keith Tippett's sextet in the late 1960s, including alongside

Elton Dean Elton Dean (28 October 1945 – 8 February 2006) was an English jazz musician who performed on alto saxophone, saxello (a variant of the soprano saxophone) and occasionally keyboards. Part of the Canterbury scene, he featured in, among oth ...

.Elton Dean on Calyx
/ref> He appears on The Keith Tippett Group's ''Dedicated To You, But You Weren't Listening'' (1971). Whitehead played live with Elton Dean,

Robert Wyatt Robert Wyatt (born Robert Wyatt-Ellidge, 28 January 1945) is a retired English musician. A founding member of the influential Canterbury scene bands Soft Machine and Matching Mole, he was initially a kit drummer and singer before becoming para ...

and Marc Charig in late 1970 and again alongside Wyatt on Wyatt's own ''

The End of an Ear ''The End of an Ear'' is the debut solo album by Soft Machine's Robert Wyatt. Background The album was recorded in August 1970, while Wyatt took a break from Soft Machine, the band he would leave the following year. Containing mostly free jazz ...

'' (1970). Both of them played with Jean-Luc Ponty,

Don "Sugarcane" Harris Don Francis Bowman "Sugarcane" Harris (June 18, 1938 – November 30, 1999) was an American blues and rock and roll violinist and guitarist. He is considered a pioneer in the amplification of the violin. Career Harris was born and raised in Pas ...

Michał Urbaniak Michał Urbaniak (born January 22, 1943) is a Polish jazz musician who plays violin, lyricon, and saxophone. His music includes elements of folk music, rhythm and blues, hip hop, and symphonic music. History He was born in Warsaw, Poland. U ...

, guitarist

Terje Rypdal Terje Rypdal (born 23 August 1947) is a Norwegian guitarist and composer. He has been an important member in the Norwegian jazz community, and has also given show concerts with guitarists Ronni Le Tekrø and Mads Eriksen as "N3". Career Rypdal ...

and others at the 1971 Berlin Jazz Festival's ''New Violin Summit''. Whitehead also appeared on

Soft Machine Soft Machine are a British rock band from Canterbury formed in mid-1966 by Mike Ratledge (keyboards, 1966–1976), Robert Wyatt (drums, vocals, 1966–1971), Kevin Ayers (bass, guitar, vocals, 1966–1968) and Daevid Allen (guitar, 1966–196 ...

's ''BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert'' (1971), Harris' ''Sugar Cane's Got the Blues'' (1972) and on some tracks of the

Neil Ardley Neil Richard Ardley (26 May 1937 – 23 February 2004) was a prominent English jazz pianist and composer, who also made his name as the author of more than 100 popular books on science and technology, and on music. Early years Neil Ardley ...

/ Ian Carr/

Don Rendell Donald Percy Rendell (4 March 1926 – 20 October 2015) was an English jazz musician and arranger. Mainly active as a tenor saxophonist, he also played soprano saxophone, flute, and clarinet. Career Rendell was born in Plymouth, England, an ...

album ''Greek Variations'' (1970). In 1967 Whitehead recorded on the Charlie Munro Quartet album "Eastern Horizons" with Charlie Munro (saxophone and cello), Mark Bowden (Drums and Percussion) and Bob McIvor (Trombone). Whitehead recorded tracks on Bob Grimm's album "Akasha" at Morgan Studios in London in 1971, after Bob left Frankie Valli's Four Seasons. Whitehead was part of the Elton Dean Quartet in 1971 and appears on ''Elton Dean'' (''a.k.a. Just Us''; 1971). Whitehead remained with the band for live shows as Just Us in 1972. He later appeared on

Isotope Isotopes are two or more types of atoms that have the same atomic number (number of protons in their nuclei) and position in the periodic table (and hence belong to the same chemical element), and that differ in nucleon numbers (mass numbers) ...

's ''Deep End'' (1976). In the mid-1970s Whitehead was a member of the second incarnation of Sun Treader with Morris Pert and

Peter Robinson Peter Robinson may refer to: Entertainment * Peter Robinson (sideshow artist) (1873–1947), American actor and sideshow performer, known for his appearance in film ''Freaks'' (1932) * J. Peter Robinson (born 1945), British musician and film score ...

. They recorded "Chromosphere" which appeared on ''The Music of Morris Pert'' (1975). Whitehead lived in England from 1969 to 1983 while he worked as a luthier after completing his apprenticeship as a luthier with luthier Gimpel Solomon. Whitehead worked as a luthier at the first Isle of Man International Double Bass Competition and Workshop in 1978. Whitehead now lives in Australia, working as bass luthier.

References

External links

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New Zealand jazz musicians Jazz fusion musicians Canterbury scene Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{bass-guitarist-stub