Wilbur "Doc" Little (March 5, 1928 – May 4, 1987) 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 m ...
bassist known for playing
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 ...
and
post-bop
Post-bop is a genre of small-combo jazz that evolved in the early to mid 1960s in the United States. Pioneers of the genre, such as Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, John Coltrane and Jackie McLean, crafted syntheses ...
.
Little originally played
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...
, but switched to
double bass
The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar i ...
after serving in the military. In 1949 he moved to
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, where he worked with
"Sir" Charles Thompson, among others. After that, he was in
J. J. Johnson's quintet from 1955 to 1958 and was also the bassist for the
Tommy Flanagan
Thomas Lee Flanagan (March 16, 1930 – November 16, 2001) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He grew up in Detroit, initially influenced by such pianists as Art Tatum, Teddy Wilson, and Nat King Cole, and then by bebop musicians. ...
Trio. He moved to the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
in 1977 and lived there for the rest of his life.
Discography
As sideman
With
Tommy Flanagan
Thomas Lee Flanagan (March 16, 1930 – November 16, 2001) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He grew up in Detroit, initially influenced by such pianists as Art Tatum, Teddy Wilson, and Nat King Cole, and then by bebop musicians. ...
*''
Overseas'' (Prestige, 1957)
With
Buck Hill
*''
Easy to Love'' (SteepleChase, 1981
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 ...
*''
Impressions'' (SteepleChase, 1981
983
Year 983 ( CMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Europe
* Summer – Diet of Verona: Emperor Otto II (the Red) declares war against the Byza ...
With
Freddie Hubbard
*''
Jam Gems: Live at the Left Bank'' (Label M, 1965)
With
Elvin Jones
Elvin Ray Jones (September 9, 1927 – May 18, 2004) was an American jazz drummer of the post-bop era.
Most famously a member of John Coltrane's quartet, with whom he recorded from late 1960 to late 1965, Jones appeared on such widely celebrate ...
*''
Live at the Village Vanguard'' (Enja, 1968)
*''
Poly-Currents'' (Blue Note, 1969)
*''
The Prime Element'' (Blue Note, 1969)
*''
Coalition'' (Blue Note, 1970)
With
J. J. Johnson
*''
J Is for Jazz'' (Columbia, 1956)
*''
Dial J. J. 5'' (Columbia, 1957)
*''
J. J. in Person!'' (Columbia, 1958)
With
Duke Jordan
Irving Sidney "Duke" Jordan (April 1, 1922 – August 8, 2006) was an American jazz pianist.
Biography
Jordan was born in New York and raised in Brooklyn where he attended Boys High School. An imaginative and gifted pianist, Jordan was a regul ...
*''
Live in Japan'' (SteepleChase, 1976
977
*''
Flight to Japan'' (SteepleChase, 1976
978
Year 978 ( CMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Byzantine Empire
* Battle of Pankaleia: Rebel forces under General Bardas Skleros are defeated ...
*''
Tivoli One'' (SteepleChase, 1978,
984
Year 984 ( CMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Europe
* Spring – German boy-king Otto III (4-years old) is seized by the deposed Henry II ...
*''
Tivoli Two'' (SteepleChase, 1978,
984
Year 984 ( CMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Europe
* Spring – German boy-king Otto III (4-years old) is seized by the deposed Henry II ...
*''
Wait and See'' (SteepleChase, 1978
994
Year 994 ( CMXCIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Byzantine Empire
* September 15 – Battle of the Orontes: Fatimid forces, under Turkish gener ...
With
Lee Konitz
*''
Oleo'' (Sonet, 1975)
With
Junior Mance
Julian Clifford Mance, Jr. (October 10, 1928 – January 17, 2021), known as Junior Mance, was an American jazz pianist and composer.
Biography Early life (1928–1947)
Mance was born in Evanston, Illinois. When he was five years old, Mance st ...
*''
Live at the Top'' (Atlantic, 1968)
With
Horace Parlan
*''
Blue Parlan'' (Steeplechase, 1978)
*''
Hi-Fly'' (Steeplechase, 1978)
With
Roswell Rudd
Roswell Hopkins Rudd Jr. (November 17, 1935 – December 21, 2017) was an American jazz trombonist and composer.
Although skilled in a variety of genres of jazz (including Dixieland, which he performed while in college), and other genres of musi ...
* ''
Blown Bone
''Blown Bone'' is an album by trombonist Roswell Rudd. It was recorded in March 1976 at Blue Rock Studios in New York City, and was released on LP by Philips Japan in 1979. On the album, Rudd is joined by clarinetist Kenny Davern, saxophonists Ste ...
'' (Philips, 1979)
With
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 ...
*''
Little Red Moon'' (Soul Note, 1985)
With
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 ...
*''
Live at the Five Spot'' (United Artists, 1959)
External links
Biographyat
Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
American jazz double-bassists
Male double-bassists
20th-century American musicians
20th-century double-bassists
20th-century American male musicians
American male jazz musicians
1928 births
1987 deaths
{{double-bassist-stub