Six Classic Albums (The New Oscar Pettiford Sextet / The Oscar Petiford Sextet / Oscar Pettiford Modern Quintet / Basically Duke / In Hi-Fi / In Hi-Fi

Born into a large and exotic family, his mother was a Choctaw Indian, his father was half Cherokee and half African American, Oscar Pettiford was singing and dancing in the family band from his very early childhood. At 12 he took up the piano, moving to the bass by 14 where he quickly developed his own unique style based on the premise that he was not hearing anyone play it the way he liked. By the age of 20 Oscar had joined the Charlie Barnet band and a year later was recording with Coleman Hawkins, Earl Hines and Ben Webster. Throughout the forties he was constantly touring and playing with the great jazzmen of the time including spells in the bands of Duke Ellington and Woody Herman. Moving to New York he could be heard playing with Thelonious Monk and Dizzy Gillespie at Minton's and was integral at the birth of the new jazz movement called Be-Bop. Our six fine selections come from the 1950's when Oscar was fast becoming the most recorded bass playing band leader of all time. You will also witness Oscar's supreme cello playing, an instrument he was famed for introducing into the jazz world when he played with the Woody Herman Band.