William Clifford "Vishnu" Wood (born November 7, 1937), also known as Vishnu Bill Wood, is an American double bass player and educator. Born in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, he moved to Detroit when he was ten, where he started playing trumpet and later taking up double bass. After studying at the

Detroit Institute of Musical Arts The Detroit Institute of Musical Arts (DIMA) was a music conservatory in Detroit, Michigan that was actively providing higher education in music from 1914-1970. History The Detroit Institute of Musical Arts was founded by several Michigan based mu ...

he worked with

Dorothy Ashby Dorothy Jeanne Thompson (August 6, 1932 – April 13, 1986), better known as Dorothy Ashby, was an American jazz harpist, singer and composer. Hailed as one of the most "unjustly under loved jazz greats of the 1950s" and the "most accomplished ...

in 1957 and then with

Yusef Lateef Yusef Abdul Lateef (born William Emanuel Huddleston; October 9, 1920 – December 23, 2013) was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, and prominent figure among the Ahmadiyya Community in America. Although Lateef's main instruments ...

and

Joe Henderson Joe Henderson (April 24, 1937 – June 30, 2001) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. In a career spanning more than four decades, Henderson played with many of the leading American players of his day and recorded for several prominent l ...

.Kennedy, Gary W
"Wood, Vishnu."
''Grove Music Online''. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 30 November 2022. Woods moved to New York in 1962 where he performed with

Kenny Dorham McKinley Howard "Kenny" Dorham (August 30, 1924 – December 5, 1972) was an American jazz trumpeter, singer, and composer. Dorham's talent is frequently lauded by critics and other musicians, but he never received the kind of attention or public ...

Carmen McRae Carmen Mercedes McRae (April 8, 1920 – November 10, 1994) was an American jazz singer. She is considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century and is remembered for her behind-the-beat phrasing and ironic interpre ...

Terry Gibbs Terry Gibbs (born Julius Gubenko; October 13, 1924) is an American jazz vibraphonist and band leader. He has performed or recorded with Tommy Dorsey, Chubby Jackson,Theroux, Gary"Gibbs, Terry".''Grove Music Online''. Oxford University Press. Re ...

(with Gibbs’s group he recorded in 1963 alongside Alice McLeod (who later married

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 ...

Leo Wright Leo Wright (December 14, 1933 in Wichita Falls, Texas – January 4, 1991 in Vienna) was an American jazz musician who played alto saxophone, flute and clarinet. He played with Charles Mingus, Booker Ervin, John Hardee, Kenny Burrell, Johnny Co ...

, Gloria Lynn,

Roy Haynes Roy Owen Haynes (born March 13, 1925) is an American jazz drummer. He is among the most recorded drummers in jazz. In a career lasting over 80 years, he has played swing, bebop, jazz fusion, avant-garde jazz and is considered a pioneer of jazz ...

, and

Archie Shepp Archie Shepp (born May 24, 1937) is an American jazz saxophonist, educator and playwright who since the 1960s has played a central part in the development of avant-garde jazz. Biography Early life Shepp was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but ...

. He then went on to join

Randy Weston Randolph Edward "Randy" Weston (April 6, 1926 – September 1, 2018) was an American jazz pianist and composer whose creativity was inspired by his ancestral African connection. Weston's piano style owed much to Duke Ellington and Thelonious M ...

's sextet, and with whom he toured several countries in Africa, and appears on ''

Randy Randy is a given name, popular in the United States and Canada. It is primarily a masculine name. It was originally derived from the names Randall, Randolf, Randolph, as well as Bertrand and Andrew, and may be a short form (hypocorism) of the ...

'' (1964), ''

Berkshire Blues ''Berkshire Blues'' is an album by American jazz pianist Randy Weston, recorded in 1965 and released on the Freedom label in 1977. The title track, in the waltz tempo characteristic of many Weston compositions, was written in 1962 and recorded in ...

'' (recorded 1965 as a trio and released in 1977), ''Blues'' (recorded 1964/1965, released 1970), '' Monterey ‘66'' (1966), ''

Blue Moses ''Blue Moses'' is an album by American jazz pianist and composer Randy Weston featuring performances recorded in 1972 and released on the CTI label.

'' (1972), ''Perspective'' (1976). In July 1970, Woods played

oud , image=File:oud2.jpg , image_capt=Syrian oud made by Abdo Nahat in 1921 , background= , classification= * String instruments *Necked bowl lutes , hornbostel_sachs=321.321-6 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded with a plectrum , ...

at an Alice Coltrane concert, with

Pharoah Sanders Pharoah Sanders (born Ferrell Lee Sanders; October 13, 1940 – September 24, 2022) was an American jazz saxophonist. Known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as his use of "sheets of sound", San ...

Charlie Haden Charles Edward Haden (August 6, 1937 – July 11, 2014) was an American jazz double bass player, bandleader, composer and educator whose career spanned more than 50 years. In the late 1950s, he was an original member of the ground-breaking ...

, and

Rashied Ali Rashied Ali, born Robert Patterson (July 1, 1933 – August 12, 2009) was an American free jazz and avant-garde drummer best known for playing with John Coltrane in the last years of Coltrane's life. Biography Early life Patterson was born and ...

The Village Gate The Village Gate was a nightclub at the corner of Thompson and Bleecker Streets in Greenwich Village, New York. Art D'Lugoff opened the club in 1958, on the ground floor and basement of 160 Bleecker Street. The large 1896 Chicago School structu ...

, New York City, which appeared as a live recording a track of Coltrane's 1971 album ''

Journey in Satchidananda ''Journey in Satchidananda'' is the fourth solo album by Alice Coltrane. Four of the album's tracks were recorded at the Coltrane home studios in Dix Hills, New York, in November 1970, while the remaining track was recorded live at the Village Gat ...

''. It was Wood who, a few years earlier, had suggested she meet his guru,

Swami Satchidananda Satchidananda Saraswati (; 22 December 1914 – 19 August 2002), born C. K. Ramaswamy Gounder and usually known as Swami Satchidananda, was an Indian yoga guru and religious teacher, who gained fame and following in the West. He founded his own ...

, who had given the opening speech at

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...

. In 1975, he appeared on

's ''

There's a Trumpet in My Soul ''There's a Trumpet in My Soul'' is an album by avant-garde jazz saxophonist Archie Shepp released in 1975 on the Arista Freedom label. Reception The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow states: "Two vocals and a poem recitation weigh down the music ...

''. He released one solo album, ''Vishnu Wood in Concert'', recorded live at the New England Science Center, Worcester, Massachusetts, featuring, among others,

Talib Kibwe T. K. Blue (also known as Talib Kibwe, born Eugene Rhynie, February 7, 1953)TK Blue Artist Profile
Motéma Mu ...

and Bertha Hope."Albums".
''Safari East'', official website. Retrieved 1 December 2022.

Partial discography

Sathima Bea Benjamin Beatrice "Sathima Bea" Benjamin (17 October 1936 – 20 August 2013) was a South African vocalist and composer, based for nearly 45 years in New York City. Early life She was born Beatrice Bertha BenjaminChinen, Nate ''The New York Times'', 29 ...

: ''Songs of Ellington'' (Ekapa Records, 1978) *

Alberta Hunter Alberta Hunter (April 1, 1895 – October 17, 1984) was an American jazz and blues singer and songwriter from the early 1920s to the late 1950s. After twenty years of working as a nurse, Hunter resumed her singing career in 1977. Early life Hu ...

: ''Look for the Silver Lining'' (Columbia, 1983) *Randy Weston/Vishnu Wood Duo: ''Perspectives'' (Denon DC 8554, 1989) *

Barry Harris Barry Doyle Harris (December 15, 1929 – December 8, 2021) was an American jazz pianist, bandleader, composer, arranger, and educator. He was an exponent of the bebop style. Life and career Harris was born in Detroit, Michigan, on December ...

, Majeed Grenlee,

Roy Brooks Roy Brooks (March 9, 1938 – November 15, 2005) was an American jazz drummer. Biography Early life Brooks was born in Detroit and drummed since childhood, his earliest experiences of music coming through his mother, who sang in church. He was a ...

: ''Cadillac & Mack'' (Toshiba Records)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Woods, Vishnu 1937 births Living people 20th-century American double-bassists American jazz double-bassists Male double-bassists Musicians from North Carolina Jazz musicians from Detroit 20th-century American male musicians