Jimmy "Spanky" DeBrest (April 24, 1937 in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

– March 2, 1973 in Philadelphia) 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 major ...

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 ...

. DeBrest played with

Lee Morgan Edward Lee Morgan (July 10, 1938 – February 19, 1972) was an American jazz trumpeter and composer. One of the key hard bop musicians of the 1960s, Morgan came to prominence in his late teens, recording on John Coltrane's '' Blue Train'' (1 ...

in his early years in Philadelphia. In 1957 he was a member of

Ray Draper Raymond Allen Draper (August 3, 1940, New York City – November 1, 1982) was an American jazz tuba player. Early life and education Draper was born in New York City and attended the Manhattan School of Music in the mid-1950s. Career As a ...

's Quintet,

Jackie McLean John Lenwood "Jackie" McLean (May 17, 1931 – March 31, 2006) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and educator, and is one of the few musicians to be elected to the ''DownBeat'' Hall of Fame in the year of their deat ...

, pianist

Mal Waldron Malcolm Earl "Mal" Waldron (August 16, 1925 – December 2, 2002) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. He started playing professionally in New York in 1950, after graduating from college. In the following dozen years or so Wa ...

, and drummer Ben Dixon.

AllMusic ''Tuba Sounds'' review AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

/ref> He played with

Art Blakey Arthur Blakey (October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He was also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina after he converted to Islam for a short time in the late 1940s. Blakey made a name for himself in the 1 ...

's Jazz Messengers until 1958 which included

Bill Hardman William Franklin Hardman Jr. (April 6, 1933 – December 6, 1990) was an American jazz trumpeter and flugelhornist who chiefly played hard bop. He was married to Roseline and they had a daughter Nadege. Career Hardman was born and grew ...

on trumpet and certain sessions with

Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk (, October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including " 'Round Midnight", "B ...

on piano. Other credits include work with

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of br ...

Clifford Jordan Clifford Laconia Jordan (September 2, 1931 – March 27, 1993) was an American jazz tenor saxophone player. While in Chicago, he performed with Max Roach, Sonny Stitt, and some rhythm and blues groups. He moved to New York City in 1957, after ...

, and

J. J. Johnson J.J. Johnson (January 22, 1924 – February 4, 2001), born James Louis Johnson and also known as Jay Jay Johnson, was an American jazz trombonist, composer and arranger. Johnson was one of the earliest trombonists to embrace bebop. Biograph ...

. His last recordings were made in 1971.

Discography

With

* ''

Hard Bop Hard bop is a subgenre of jazz that is an extension of bebop (or "bop") music. Journalists and record companies began using the term in the mid-1950s to describe a new current within jazz that incorporated influences from rhythm and blues, gospe ...

'' (Columbia, 1956) * ''

Originally ''Originally'' is an album by drummer Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers recorded in 1956, but not released on the Columbia label until 1982.982 Year 982 ( CMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Summer – Emperor Otto II (the Red) assembles an imperial expeditionary force at Tar ...

*'' Ritual: The Modern Jazz Messengers'' (Pacific Jazz, 1957) *''

Drum Suite ''Drum Suite'' is an album by drummer Art Blakey with The Jazz Messengers and the Art Blakey Percussion Ensemble, recorded in late 1956 and early 1957 and originally released on the Columbia label. It was the first of several albums recorded by ...

'' (Columbia, 1956) *''

Mirage A mirage is a naturally-occurring optical phenomenon in which light rays bend via refraction to produce a displaced image of distant objects or the sky. The word comes to English via the French ''(se) mirer'', from the Latin ''mirari'', meanin ...

'' (Savoy, 1957) * '' Selections from Lerner and Loewe's...'' (Vik, 1957) *''

Tough! ''Tough!'' is an album by drummer Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers recorded in 1957 but not released on the Cadet label until 1966.

'' (Cadet, 1957

966 Year 966 (Roman numerals, CMLXVI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * 23 June - Arab-Byzantine Wars, Byzantine-Arab War: Arab-Byzantine ...

*''

A Night in Tunisia "A Night in Tunisia" is a musical composition written by Dizzy Gillespie around 1940–42, while Gillespie was playing with the Benny Carter band. It has become a jazz standard. It is also known as "Interlude", and with lyrics by Raymond Leveen w ...

'' (Vik, 1957) - reissued as ''

Theory of Art A theory of art is intended to contrast with a definition of art. Traditionally, ''definitions'' are composed of necessary and sufficient conditions and a single counterexample overthrows such a definition. ''Theorizing'' about art, on the other ...

'' (Bluebird) *''

Cu-Bop ''Cu-Bop'' is an album by drummer Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers with conguero Sabu recorded in 1957 and originally released on the Jubilee label.Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers with Thelonious Monk ''Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers with Thelonious Monk'' is a studio album released in 1958 by Atlantic Records. It is a collaboration between the Jazz Messengers, the group led by drummer Art Blakey, and Thelonious Monk on piano. Background ...

'' (Atlantic, 1957) - with

* ''

Hard Drive A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating platters coated with magnet ...

'' (Bethlehem, 1957) With

*'' Like Sonny'' (Capitol, 1960) With

*''

Tuba Sounds ''Tuba Sounds'' is the debut album by tuba player Ray Draper recorded in 1957 and released on the Prestige label.The Ray Draper Quintet featuring John Coltrane ''The Ray Draper Quintet featuring John Coltrane'' is the second album by tuba player Ray Draper recorded in 1957 and released on the New Jazz label. Reception Scott Yanow of AllMusic reviewed the album: "Draper had ambitious dreams of making ...

'' (New Jazz, 1957) - with

*'' A Tuba Jazz'' (Jubilee, 1958) With

*''

Really Livin' ''Really Livin'' is an album recorded by the J. J. Johnson Sextet which was released on the Columbia label. Reception AllMusic awarded the album 3 stars. Track listing # "Me Too" (J. J. Johnson) - 6:00 # "Decision" ( Sonny Rollins) - 4:50 # " ...

'' (Columbia, 1959) With

*'' Spellbound'' (Riverside, 1960) With

Harold Corbin Harold Corbin (December 31, 1906 – June 12, 1988) was an American fencer. He competed in the individual épée event at the 1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Ange ...

*'' Soul Brother'' (Roulette – Birdland Series, 1960) With

*''We Remember You'' (Fresh Sound, 1991; recorded 1962)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:DeBrest, Spanky 1937 births 1973 deaths American jazz double-bassists Male double-bassists The Jazz Messengers members Musicians from Philadelphia 20th-century American musicians Jazz musicians from Pennsylvania 20th-century double-bassists American male jazz musicians 20th-century American male musicians