Lonnie Plaxico (born September 4, 1960) is 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 ...

double bassist.

Biography

Plaxico was born in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, into a musical family, and started playing the bass at the age of twelve, turning professional at fourteen (playing both double bass and

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

). His first recording was with his family's band, and by the time he was twenty he had moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, where he had stints playing with Chet Baker,

Dexter Gordon Dexter Gordon (February 27, 1923 – April 25, 1990) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and actor. He was among the most influential early bebop musicians, which included other greats such as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gi ...

, Sonny Stitt,

Junior Cook Herman "Junior" Cook (July 22, 1934 – February 3, 1992) was an American hard bop tenor saxophone player. Biography Cook was born in Pensacola, Florida. After playing with Dizzy Gillespie in 1958, Cook was a member of the Horace Silver Quin ...

, and Hank Jones. He won the Louis Armstrong Jazz Award in 1978. Plaxico first came to public attention through his work with the

Wynton Marsalis Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, teacher, and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has promoted classical and jazz music, often to young audiences. Marsalis has won nine Grammy Award ...

group in 1982, though his first regular attachment was with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers (1983–86), with whom he recorded twelve

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

s. In the mid-1980s Plaxico joined the

M-Base The term "M-Base" is used in several ways. In the 1980s, a loose collective of young African American musicians including Steve Coleman, Graham Haynes, Cassandra Wilson, Geri Allen, Robin Eubanks, and Greg Osby emerged in Brooklyn with a new sou ...

collective and played on the debut-releases of Steve Coleman (''Motherland Pulse'', 1985),

Cassandra Wilson Cassandra Wilson (born December 4, 1955) is an American jazz singer, songwriter, and producer from Jackson, Mississippi. She is one of the most successful female Jazz singers and has been described by critic Gary Giddins as "a singer blessed wi ...

(''

Point of View Point of view or Points of View may refer to: Concept and technique * Point of view (philosophy), an attitude how one sees or thinks of something * Point of view (literature) or narrative mode, the perspective of the narrative voice; the prono ...

'', 1986) and Greg Osby (''Sound Theatre'', 1987). On Wilson's recordings he appeared regularly ever since and is the musical director and first bassist of her tour band for more than 15 years. In 1986 Jack DeJohnette reformed his Special Edition and engaged beside guitarist

Mick Goodrick Mick Goodrick (June 9, 1945 – November 16, 2022) was an American jazz guitarist who spent most of his career as a teacher. In the early 1970s, he worked with Gary Burton and Pat Metheny. Biography An Elvis fan, Goodrick began studying guitar ...

the M-Base saxophonists Greg Osby and Gary Thomas and Plaxico on bass. The band existed until 1993, after three albums with pianist

Michael Cain Michael Cain (born April 2, 1966) is a pianist and composer. Biography Cain attended several universities starting with the University of North Texas. Although initially a jazz major, he found that classical music was occupying more of his ...

replacing Goodrick on the last. Plaxico has also performed and recorded with a wide range of artists, including Dizzy Gillespie, David Murray,

Alice Coltrane Alice Coltrane (' McLeod; August 27, 1937January 12, 2007), also known by her adopted Sanskrit name Turiyasangitananda, was an American jazz musician and composer, and in her later years a swamini. An accomplished pianist and one of the few har ...

Stanley Turrentine Stanley William Turrentine (April 5, 1934 – September 12, 2000) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. He began his career playing R&B for Earl Bostic and later soul jazz recording for the Blue Note label from 1960, touched on jazz fusion ...

, Andrew Hill,

Joe Sample Joseph Leslie Sample (February 1, 1939 – September 12, 2014) was an American keyboardist and composer. He was one of the founding members of The Jazz Crusaders in 1960, the band which shortened its name to "The Crusaders" in 1971. He remained ...

Abbey Lincoln Anna Marie Wooldridge (August 6, 1930 – August 14, 2010), known professionally as Abbey Lincoln, was an American jazz vocalist, songwriter, and actress. She was a civil rights activist beginning in the 1960s. Lincoln made a career out of deli ...

Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and media personality. He made significant contributions to American and African-American culture, and is well known in the United States for his eccentric ...

Lonnie Liston Smith Lonnie Liston Smith Jr. (born December 28, 1940) is an American jazz, soul, and funk musician who played with such jazz artists as Pharoah Sanders and Miles Davis before forming Lonnie Liston Smith and the Cosmic Echoes, recording a number of ...

, Ravi Coltrane,

Scott Tixier Scott Tixier (born February 26, 1986) is a French jazz violinist and professor of jazz violin at the University of North Texas. Life and career Tixier was born in Montreuil, France, and studied classical violin at the conservatory in Paris ...

Barbara Dennerlein Barbara Dennerlein (born 25 September 1964 in Munich) is a German jazz organist. She has achieved particular critical acclaim for using the bass pedalboard on a Hammond organ and for integrating synthesizer sounds onto the instrument, and was de ...

, Helen Sung and Nina Vidal.

Discography

As leader

* 1989: ''Plaxico'' (

Muse In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...

) * 1990: ''Iridescence'' (Muse) * 1992: ''Short Takes'' (Muse) * 1993: ''With All Your Heart'' (Muse) * 2000: ''Emergence'' (

Savant Savant syndrome () is a rare condition in which someone with significant mental disabilities demonstrates certain abilities far in excess of average. The skills that savants excel at are generally related to memory. This may include rapid calcu ...

) * 2001: ''Mélange'' (

Blue Note In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note that—for expressive purposes—is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical c ...

) * 2002: ''Live at the 5:01 Jazz Bar'' (Orchard, Plaxmusic) * 2003: ''Rhythm and Soul'' (Sirocco Jazz) * 2004: ''Live at Jazz Standard'' (Village, Japan) * 2006: ''So Alive'' (Eighty-Eight's) * 2006: ''West Side Stories'' (Plaxmusic) * 2007: ''Live at the Zinc Bar NYC'' (Plaxmusic) * 2009: ''Ancestral Devotion'' (Plaxmusic)

As sideman

With Art Blakey and the

Jazz Messengers The Jazz Messengers were a jazz combo that existed for over thirty-five years beginning in the early 1950s as a collective, and ending when long-time leader and founding drummer Art Blakey died in 1990. Blakey led or co-led the group from the o ...

* ''Aurex Jazz Festival'' (

Eastworld Eastworld is a Japanese jazz and pop music record label owned by EMI Music Japan (former Toshiba-EMI), under Universal Music Group. Artists *Minako Honda *Jennifer Connelly *Marvin Peterson *Original Love *RC Succession *Sadistic Mika Band * San ...

, 1983) * '' New York Scene'' (

Concord Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Pact or treaty, frequently between nations (indicating a condition of harmony) * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other ...

, 1984) * '' Blue Night'' ( Timeless, 1985) * ''Live at Sweet Basil'' (Paddle Wheel, 1985) * ''Live at Kimball's'' (Concord, 1985) * ''Live at Ronnie Scott's'' (Wadham, 1985) * ''Hard Champion'' (Paddle Wheel, 1985) * ''Farewell'' (Paddle Wheel, 1985) * ''New Year's Eve at Sweet Basil'' (King/ProJazz, 1985) * ''Dr. Jeckyle - Live at Sweet Basil Vol. 2'' (ProJazz, 1985) With Cindy Blackman *'' Code Red'' (Muse, 1990

992 Year 992 ( CMXCII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Worldwide * Winter – A superflare from the sun causes an Aurora Borealis, with visibility as fa ...

With

Cecil Brooks III Cecil Brooks III (born 1959) is an American jazz drummer and record producer who has worked with Arthur Blythe, Russell Gunn, John Hicks, Andrew Hill, Etta Jones, Roseanna Vitro, Marvin Peterson, and Jimmy Ponder. A native of the Homewood n ...

*'' The Collective'' (Muse, 1989) * ''Smokin' Jazz'' (Muse, 1996) With Steve Coleman * '' Motherland Pulse'' ( JMT, 1985) * Five Elements, ''Sine Die'' (Pangaea, 1988) With Ravi Coltrane *'' Moving Pictures'' (RCA/BMG, 1998) With Robin Eubanks * ''

Karma Karma (; sa, कर्म}, ; pi, kamma, italic=yes) in Sanskrit means an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptivel ...

'' (JMT, 1991) With Dizzy Gillespie * ''

New Faces ''New Faces'' is a British television talent show that aired in the 1970s and 1980s. It has been hosted by Leslie Crowther, Derek Hobson and Marti Caine. It was produced for the ITV network by ATV, and later by Central. Original series: 197 ...

'' ( GRP, 1985) With

Bunky Green Vernice "Bunky" Green (born April 23, 1935) is an American jazz alto saxophonist and educator. Biography Green was raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he played the alto saxophone, mainly at a local club called "The Brass Rail". Green's fir ...

* ''

Another Place "Another place" or "the other place" is a euphemism used in many bicameral parliaments using the Westminster system, including Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. A member of one house will not usually refer directly to the other, but re ...

'' (Label Bleu, 2004

006 Alec Trevelyan (006) is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the 1995 James Bond film '' GoldenEye'', the first film to feature actor Pierce Brosnan as Bond. Trevelyan is portrayed by actor Sean Bean. The likeness of Bean as Ale ...

With

* ''

'' (JMT, 1986) * '' Blue Skies'' (JMT, 1988) * ''

Jumpworld ''Jumpworld'' is the fourth studio album by American jazz singer Cassandra Wilson. It was released in 1990 by JMT label. Track listing # "Woman on the Edge" (Cassandra Wilson) – 5:02 # "Domination Switch" ( Steve Coleman, Wilson) � ...

'' (JMT, 1990) * ''

Blue Light 'til Dawn ''Blue Light 'til Dawn'' is a studio album by American jazz singer Cassandra Wilson. Her first album on the Blue Note label, it was released in 1993. It contains Wilson's interpretations of songs by various blues and rock artists, as well as thre ...

'' (

, 1993) * ''

New Moon Daughter ''New Moon Daughter'' is a studio album by American jazz singer Cassandra Wilson that was released by Blue Note in 1995. The album reached No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' magazine jazz album chart and also won the Grammy Award as the Best Jazz Vocal Pe ...

'' (Blue Note, 1995) * '' Rendezvous'' (Blue Note, 1997), with

Jacky Terrasson Jacky Terrasson (born November 27, 1965) is a French jazz pianist and composer. Background Terrasson's mother is African-American from Georgia, and his father is French. From his parents he heard classical music as a child. He began piano lesson ...

* '' Traveling Miles'' (Blue Note, 1999) * '' Loverly'' (Blue Note, 2008) * '' Coming Forth by Day'' (Legacy, 2015) * ''5 Original Albums'' (Blute Note, 2018) With Greg Osby * '' Greg Osby and Sound Theatre'' (JMT, 1987) * '' Mindgames'' (JMT, 1988) * '' Season of Renewal'' (JMT, 1990) * ''Zero'' (Blue Note, 1998) With Jack DeJohnette's Special Edition * '' Irresistible Forces'' ( Impulse!/ MCA, 1987) * '' Audio-Visualscapes'' (Impulse!/MCA, 1988) * '' Earthwalk'' (Blue Note, 1991) With Ron Jackson * ''A Guitar Thing You'' (Muse, 1991) * ''Thinking of You'' (Muse, 1993) With

Don Byron Donald Byron (born November 8, 1958) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist. He primarily plays clarinet but has also played bass clarinet and saxophone in a variety of genres that includes free jazz and klezmer. Biography His mother w ...

* ''Tuskegee Experiments'' ( Nonesuch, 1992) * ''Ivey-Divey'' (Blue Note, 2004) With

Bud Shank Clifford Everett "Bud" Shank Jr. (May 27, 1926 – April 2, 2009) was an American alto saxophonist and flautist. He rose to prominence in the early 1950s playing lead alto and flute in Stan Kenton's Innovations in Modern Music Orchestra and thro ...

* ''I Told You So'' ( Candid, 1992) With

Carola Grey Carola Grey, born Carola Gschrey (born August 5, 1968, Munich) is a German jazz drummer and composer. Grey studied piano as a child, but switched to drums as a teenager after hearing the recordings of Gene Krupa.Mark Gilbert, "Carola Grey". '' The ...

* ''Noisy Mama'' (Jazzline, 1992) With Lafayette Harris * ''Lafayette Is Here'' (Muse, 1993) With

Hannibal Marvin Peterson Hannibal Lokumbe (born Marvin Peterson on November 11, 1948) is an American jazz trumpeter. Career A native of Smithville, Texas, United States, he is sometimes known by the name "Hannibal". He attended high school in Texas City, Texas and was i ...

* ''One with the Wind'' (Muse, 1993) With Gust Tsilis * ''Wood Music'' (

Enja Enja Records is a German jazz record company and label based in Munich which was founded by jazz enthusiasts Matthias Winckelmann and Horst Weber in 1971. The label's first release was by Mal Waldron, and early releases included European and Ja ...

, 1993) With

Regina Carter Regina Carter (born August 6, 1966) is an American jazz violinist. She is the cousin of jazz saxophonist James Carter. Early life Carter was born in Detroit and was one of three children in her family. She began piano lessons at the age of t ...

* ''Regina Carter'' (

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

, 1995) With

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

* ''Introducing Talib Kibwe'' ( Evidence, 1996) With

* ''Take Off!'' ( Verve, 1995) With Jean-Paul Bourelly, Harry Sokal, and

Ronnie Burrage Ronnie Burrage (born James Ronaldo Burrage October 19, 1959) is an American jazz drummer. His style draws from jazz, funk, and soul. Career He was born in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Burrage sang in the St. Louis Cathedral boys' choir ...

* ''Mag Five'' (PAO, 1998) With

LaMont Johnson Ernest Lamont Johnson Jr. (September 30, 1922 – October 24, 2010) was an American actor and film director who has appeared in and directed many television shows and movies. He won two Emmy Awards. Early years Johnson was born in Stockto ...

* ''241 East 3rd St.'' (Orchard, 1998) With Ray Anderson * Lapis Lazuli Band, ''Funkorific'' (Enja, 1998) With

Mark Ledford Mark Ledford (1960 – November 1, 2004) was an American trumpeter, singer, and guitarist. He was known for his multi-instrumentalism and his membership in the Pat Metheny Group. Music career Ledford grew up in Detroit and attended Berklee Col ...

* ''Miles to Go'' ( Verve Forecast, 1998) With Ravi Coltrane * ''Moving Pictures'' (

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

, 1998) With

Jason Moran Jason Moran may refer to: * Jason Moran (criminal) (1967–2003), Australian mobster * Jason Moran (musician) Jason Moran (born January 21, 1975) is an American jazz pianist, composer, and educator involved in multimedia art and theatrical inst ...

*'' Soundtrack to Human Motion'' (Blue Note, 1999) With

Teri Thornton Teri Thornton, born Shirley Enid Avery (September 1, 1934 – May 2, 2000) was an American jazz singer. Thornton first performed in local Detroit clubs in the 1950s. She moved to New York City in the 1960s, where she found work singing for telev ...

* ''I'll Be Easy to Find'' (Verve, 1999) With

* ''Another Place'' (Label Bleu, 2006) With

Brian Landrus Brian Landrus (born September 14, 1978) is a jazz saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, and educator. Career Landrus was born in Reno, Nevada, where he began playing professionally at the age of 13. He earned a degree in saxo ...

* ''Traverse'' (BlueLand, 2012) With Yukiko Onishi aka Yucco Miller * ''Yucco Miller'' (King, 2016)

References

External links

*Carr, Ian, Digby Fairweather, & Brian Priestley. ''Jazz: The Rough Guide''. London: Rough Guides.
Plaxico's Web site
*

Lonnie Plaxico Lonnie Plaxico (born September 4, 1960) is an American jazz double bassist. Biography Plaxico was born in Chicago, Illinois, into a musical family, and started playing the bass at the age of twelve, turning professional at fourteen (playing bot ...

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 ...

Brief bio
by Chris Parker for the

Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club is a jazz club that has operated in Soho, London, since 1959. History The club opened on 30 October 1959 in a basement at 39 Gerrard Street in London's Soho district. It was set up and managed by musicians Ronnie Sc ...

pages
Interview with Plaxico
for 441 Records {{DEFAULTSORT:Plaxico, Lonnie 1960 births Living people African-American guitarists American jazz double-bassists Male double-bassists American jazz bass guitarists American male bass guitarists The Jazz Messengers members Muse Records artists Blue Note Records artists Guitarists from Chicago Jazz musicians from Illinois 21st-century double-bassists American male jazz musicians