Wilbur Ware

Wilbur Bernard Ware (September 8, 1923 – September 9, 1979) was an American jazz double-bassist known for his hard bop creative use of time and space, his angular, unorthodox solo technique and a distinctive percussive sound. He was a staff bassist at Riverside Records in the 1950s, playing on many of the label's sessions, including LPs with such widely diverse stylists as J.R. Monterose, Toots Thielemans, Tina Brooks, Zoot Sims, and Grant Green.

Born in Chicago, Ware taught himself to play banjo and bass and he approached the double bass not only as a melodic and rythmic instrument but also as a percussive instrument. In the 1940s, he worked with Stuff Smith, Sonny Stitt and Roy Eldridge. He recorded with Sun Ra in the early 1950s. Later in the 1950s, settling in New York, Ware played with Eddie Vinson, Art Blakey, and Buddy DeFranco. His only album recorded under his own name during his lifetime was The Chicago Sound, from 1957, while Ware was signed to Riverside. In 1958 Ware was one of 57 jazz musicians to appear in the photograph A Great Day in Harlem. In 2012, Ware's widow produced and released a superb collection of previously unreleased studio tracks made with trumpeter Donald Cherry under the title,"Wilbur Ware: Super Bass." The CD also contains a 5-minute track with Ware describing his early years in music and his life in jazz.

Ware is best known for his work with the Thelonious Monk quartet in 1957-58 and for his live recordings with the Sonny Rollins Trio at the Village Vanguard. Ware's exceptional timing, economic placement of notes combined with an adroit use of space and time in ensemble playing with Monk was perfectly suited to the pianist's music. Perhaps the best illustration of this is Ware's inter-play with Monk on "Off Minor" as Monk and Ware create a piano-bass dialog that increasingly builds a tension that is at last resolved with Ware's highly creative and angular extended bass solo that remains one of the finest ever recorded in modern jazz. Ware's unique ability to interpret Monk compositions, combined with his impeccable, and swinging sense of time and his percussive attack, perhaps made Ware the most perfectly suited bassist ever to work with Monk. Ware and fellow bassist Israel Crosby were leading examples of the more laid-back "Chicago Sound" approach to the bass during the 1950s. He returned to Chicago in 1963, becoming largely inactive musically for a time. In 1969, Ware played with Clifford Jordan, Elvin Jones and Sonny Rollins. He later moved to Philadelphia, where he died from emphysema in 1979.

Discography

As leader

• The Chicago Sound (Riverside, 1957), with Johnny Griffin
• "Super Bass" (released posthumously) The Wilbur Ware Institute, 2012

As sideman

With Tina Brooks

• The Waiting Game (Blue Note, 1961)

With Sonny Clark

• Dial "S" for Sonny (Blue Note, 1957)

With Kenny Dorham

• 2 Horns / 2 Rhythm (Riverside, 1957)

With Kenny Drew

• A Harry Warren Showcase (Judson, 1957)
• A Harold Arlen Showcase (Judson, 1957)
• I Love Jerome Kern (Riverside, 1957)
• This Is New (Riverside, 1957)
• Pal Joey (Riverside, 1957)

With Matthew Gee

• Jazz by Gee (Riverside, 1956)

With Grant Green

• Remembering (Blue Note, 1961)

With Johnny Griffin

• Johnny Griffin (Argo, 1956)
• Way Out (Riverside, 1958)
• Johnny Griffin Sextet (Riverside, 1958)

With Ernie Henry

• Presenting Ernie Henry (Riverside, 1956)
• Seven Standards and a Blues (Riverside, 1957)
• Last Chorus (Riverside, 1956-57)

With Clifford Jordan

• Jenkins, Jordan and Timmons (Prestige, 1957) - with John Jenkins and Bobby Timmons
• Starting Time (Jazzland, 1961)

With Blue Mitchell

• Big 6 (Riverside, 1958)

With Thelonious Monk

• 1957: Thelonious Himself (Riverside) on one track only
• 1957: Monk's Music (Riverside)
• 1957: Mulligan Meets Monk (Riverside)
• 1961: Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane (Jazzland)

With J. R. Monterose

• J. R. Monterose (Blue Note, 1956)

With Sonny Rollins

• 1958: Night at the Village Vanguard (Blue Note)

With Zoot Sims

• Zoot! (Riverside, 1956)

With Toots Thielemans

• Man Bites Harmonica! (Riverside, 1958)

External links

• "At Once Old-Timey & Avant-Garde: The Innovation & Influence of Wilbur Ware"
• Wilbur Ware Discography at www.JazzDiscography.com
• Down Beat biography
• Allmusic biography
• The Wilbur Ware Institute

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