Willie Kent (February 24, 1936 – March 2, 2006) was an American

Chicago blues Chicago blues is a form of blues music developed in Chicago, Illinois. It is based on earlier blues idioms, such as Delta blues, but performed in an urban style. It developed alongside the Great Migration of the first half of the twentieth cent ...

singer, bassist and songwriter.

Career

Kent was born in Inverness,

Sunflower County Sunflower County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, the population was 29,450. Its largest city and county seat is Indianola. Sunflower County comprises the Indianola, MS Micropolitan Statistical Are ...

, Mississippi. Although he had played the bass guitar in Chicago's

clubs Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a '' Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

since the 1950s, Kent worked full-time in careers other than music until he was over 50 years of age. Following

heart surgery Cardiac surgery, or cardiovascular surgery, is surgery on the heart or great vessels performed by cardiac surgeons. It is often used to treat complications of ischemic heart disease (for example, with coronary artery bypass grafting); to corr ...

, he stopped work as a truck driver, and formed a band. In 1971, Kent took up residence at Ma Bea's Lounge in West Madison, Chicago. The house band became known as Sugar Bear and the Beehives, headed by Kent (the Sugar Bear) with guitarist Willie James Lyons and drummer Robert Plunkett. For the next six years, this troupe backed visiting musicians, such as Fenton Robinson,

Hubert Sumlin Hubert Charles Sumlin (November 16, 1931 – December 4, 2011) was a Chicago blues guitarist and singer, best known for his "wrenched, shattering bursts of notes, sudden cliff-hanger silences and daring rhythmic suspensions" as a member of Howlin ...

Eddy Clearwater Edward Harrington (January 10, 1935 – June 1, 2018), better known by his stage name Eddy Clearwater, was an American blues musician who specialized in Chicago blues. ''Blues Revue'' said he plays "joyous rave-ups…he testifies with stunning s ...

, Jimmy Johnson, Carey Bell,

Buster Benton Arley "Buster" Benton (July 19, 1932 – January 20, 1996) was an American blues guitarist and singer. He played guitar in Willie Dixon's Blues All-Stars and is best known for his solo rendition of Dixon's song "Spider in My Stew." Benton was ...

John Littlejohn John Wesley Funchess (April 16, 1931 – February 1, 1994) known professionally as John (or Johnny) Littlejohn, was an American electric blues slide guitarist. He was active on the Chicago blues circuit from the 1950s to the 1980s. Biography ...

Casey Jones John Luther "Casey" Jones (March 14, 1863 – April 30, 1900) was an American railroader who was killed when his passenger train collided with a stalled freight train at Vaughan, Mississippi. Jones was a locomotive engineer for the Illinois C ...

, and Mighty Joe Young. The house band's proficient playing led to their recording a live album in October 1975 at Ma Bea's, billed as ''Ghetto''. Kent continued to play live shows, even after being diagnosed with colon cancer in early 2005. He died in Englewood, Illinois in March 2006.

Discography

*1975 – ''Ghetto'' (

Storyville Records Storyville Records is an international record company and label based in Copenhagen, Denmark, specializing in jazz and blues music. Besides its original material, Storyville Records has reissued many vintage jazz recordings that previously app ...

) *1989 – ''I'm What You Need'' (Big Boy Records) *1991 – ''Ain't It Nice'' (

Delmark Records Delmark Records is an American jazz and blues independent record label. It was founded in 1958 and is based in Chicago, Illinois. The label originated in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1953 when then owner, and founder, Bob Koester released a record ...

) *1991 – ''King of Chicago's West Side Blues'' (Wolf Records) *1993 – ''Live at B.L.U.E.S. in Chicago'' (Wolf Records) *1994 – ''Too Hurt to Cry'' (Delmark Records) *1995 – ''Blues and Trouble'' (Isabel Records) *1996 – ''Long Way to Ol' Miss'' (Delmark Records) *1998 – ''Everybody Needs Somebody'' (Wolf Records) *1998 – ''Make Room for the Blues'' (Delmark Records) *1998 – ''Who's Been Talking'' with Lil' Ed Williams (

Earwig Music Company Earwig Music Company is an American blues and jazz independent record label, founded by Michael Frank in October 1978 in Chicago. From 1975 until 1977 Frank was employed by the Jazz Record Mart, like Bruce Iglauer of Alligator Records and Jim O ...

) *2001 – ''Comin' Alive!'' (Blue Chicago Records)

Awards and honors

* W.C. Handy Awards: Best Blues Instrumentalist, Bass 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005 * Critics' Choice: Most Outstanding Blues Musician, Bass from Living Blues magazine (1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001) * Readers' Choice: Album of the Year 2001 from Soul Bag magazine, France, for ''Comin' Alive'' * Critics' Choice: Album of the Year 2001 from Soul Bag magazine, France, for ''Comin' Alive'' * France Blues Award: Best Blues Musician, Bass for the years 2002, 2003 * Chicago's Album of the Year 1998: for ''Make Room for the Blues'' * Library of Congress' Best Blues Recording of the Year 1991: for ''Ain't It Nice''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kent, Willie 1936 births 2006 deaths Chicago blues musicians Electric blues musicians American blues singers Blues bass guitarists Blues musicians from Mississippi Deaths from colorectal cancer Deaths from cancer in California 20th-century American singers 20th-century American bass guitarists Guitarists from Illinois Guitarists from Mississippi People from Inverness, Mississippi American male bass guitarists 20th-century American male singers Earwig Music artists