Philip "Phil" Francis Bates (born 19 June 1931) is an English

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 major ...

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

ist. Bates was born in

Brixton, London Brixton is a district in south London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th ce ...

. After playing regular gigs at London’s 51 Club with

Harry Klein Harold "Harry" Klein (25 December 1928 – 30 June 2010) was an English jazz saxophonist. As a session musician, he played on recordings by the Beatles. Early in his career, Klein played with Nat Gonella in the late 1940s. He then played with Bi ...

and Vic Ash throughout 1956, he joined The Jazz Couriers with

Tubby Hayes Edward Brian "Tubby" Hayes (30 January 1935 – 8 June 1973) was an English jazz multi-instrumentalist, best known for his tenor saxophone playing in groups with fellow sax player Ronnie Scott and with trumpeter Jimmy Deuchar. Early life H ...

and Ronnie Scott. After the Couriers disbanded, Bates toured with

Sarah Vaughan Sarah Lois Vaughan (March 27, 1924 – April 3, 1990) was an American jazz singer. Nicknamed "Sassy" and "Jazz royalty, The Divine One", she won two Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, and was nominated for a total of nine ...

and played with the Lennie Metcalfe Band on the Cunard liner the

RMS Mauretania Two ocean liners of the Cunard Line have been named RMS ''Mauretania'', after the ancient territory of Mauretania: * , launched in 1906 and in service until 1934 * , launched in 1938 and scrapped in 1965 {{DEFAULTSORT:Mauretania, RMS Ship na ...

. In the early 1960s he worked with

Johnny Dankworth Johnny is an English language personal name. It is usually an affectionate diminutive of the masculine given name John, but from the 16th century it has sometimes been a given name in its own right for males and, less commonly, females. Variant ...

and Ronnie Ross, among others, before joining

Dick Morrissey Richard Edwin Morrissey (9 May 1940 – 8 November 2000) was a British jazz musician and composer. He played the tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone and flute. Biography Background He was born in Horley, Surrey, England. Dick Morrissey emerg ...

's Quartet from October 1962 until 1968. During that period he also played with the

Harry South Harry Percy South (7 September 1929 – 12 March 1990) was an English jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, who moved into work for film and television. Career South was born in Fulham, London. He came to prominence in the 1950s, playing wi ...

Big Band, as did the other members of the quartet, and with the Tony Kinsey Quintet. In 1968 he played briefly again with Tubby Hayes. From 1968 on, he worked as a session musician, accompanying visiting US artists such as

Sonny Stitt Edward Hammond Boatner Jr. (February 2, 1924 – July 22, 1982), known professionally as Sonny Stitt, was an American jazz saxophonist of the bebop/hard bop idiom. Known for his warm tone, he was one of the best-documented saxophonists of his ...

, Jimmy Witherspoon,

Judy Collins Judith Marjorie Collins (born May 1, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and musician with a career spanning seven decades. An Academy Award-nominated documentary director and a Grammy Award-winning recording artist, she is known for her ec ...

and

Tom Paxton Thomas Richard Paxton (born October 31, 1937) is an American folk singer-songwriter who has had a music career spanning more than fifty years. In 2009, Paxton received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

, before spending five years touring Europe with Stéphane Grappelli in the late 1970s. In the 1980s and 1990s, he led his own trio and gave tuition.

References

* John Chilton, ''Who's Who of British Jazz'', 2004. Continuum International Publishing Group, {{DEFAULTSORT:Bates, Phil 1931 births Living people British jazz double-bassists Male double-bassists English jazz musicians People from Brixton 21st-century double-bassists 21st-century British male musicians