Bob Cranshaw


Melbourne Robert "Bob" Cranshaw was an American jazz bassist. His career spanned the heyday of Blue Note Records to his recent involvement with the Musicians Union. He is perhaps best known for his long association with Sonny Rollins. Cranshaw performed in Rollins's working band on and off for over five decades, starting with a live appearance at the 1959 Playboy jazz festival in Chicago and on record with the 1962 album The Bridge.

Career

Some of Cranshaw's best-known performances include Lee Morgan's The Sidewinder and Grant Green's Idle Moments. Cranshaw also served as the sole session bassist to Sesame Street and The Electric Company songwriter and composer Joe Raposo, and played bass guitar on all songs, tracks, buttons and cues recorded by the Children's Television Workshop during Raposo's tenure. In addition, he was the bass player for Saturday Night Live from 1975 to 1980 and musical director and bassist for Dick Cavett's talk show in the early 1980s. He performed in pit orchestras for numerous Broadway shows including Jesus Christ Superstar, Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band: The Musical and many more. He recorded innumerable recording dates for television shows, films and jingles. He is among the most recorded bassists in history.
Along with Wes Montgomery's brother Monk, Cranshaw was among the early jazz bassists to trade his upright bass for an electric bass. He was criticized for this by jazz purists, although he was forced to switch by a back injury incurred in a serious auto accident.
Throughout his long career he also performed on hundreds of television shows and film and television scores. He appears in The Blue Note Story, a 90-minute documentary of the jazz label.
Cranshaw was also a founding member of the short-lived MJT + 3 that included Frank Strozier on alto saxophone, Harold Mabern on piano, Willie Thomas on trumpet, and Walter Perkins on drums. The Chicago-based group produced several albums, a number for Vee-Jay Records. Another Cranshaw appearance, Shirley Scott and Stanley Turrentine's Blue Flames, featuring Otis Finch, was recorded for Prestige Records. Cranshaw also played live shows for tap dancer Maurice Hines, along with friend and drummer Paul Goldberg.
Since the 1990s he worked for the musicians union in New York City as an advocate for the rights of jazz musicians. He fought for better pension plans for jazz musicians, to make sure they or their widows received the royalties owed them and for other related issues. Because of his work in television, film and on Broadway, Cranshaw was compensated financially in a way that many jazz musicians were not. He credited his involvement in the union as his way of trying to insure that his fellow jazz musicians receive the same treatment and financial compensation that he did because of his work in other genres and in other media.
Cranshaw died at the age of 83 on November 2, 2016 in Manhattan, New York from Stage IV cancer.

Discography

As sideman

With Pepper Adams
With Nat Adderley
With Eric Alexander
  • Second Impression
With Mose Allison
  • Hello There, Universe
With Gene Ammons
  • Gene Ammons and Friends at Montreux
With Kenny Barron
  • Sunset to Dawn
With George Benson
  • Goodies
With Walter Bishop Jr.
  • Cubicle
With Paul Bley
  • BeBopBeBopBeBopBeBop
With Jaki Byard
  • Out Front!
With Donald Byrd
  • Up with Donald Byrd
  • I'm Tryin' to Get Home
With Johnny Coles
With Hank Crawford
  • Wildflower
With Sonny Criss
With Frank Foster
With George Freeman
  • Man & Woman
With Dexter Gordon
  • Gettin' Around
  • Clubhouse
  • Blues à la Suisse
With Bunky Green
  • Visions
With Grant Green
  • Idle Moments
  • Matador
  • Solid
With Friedrich Gulda
  • Ineffable
With Slide Hampton
With Barry Harris
  • Chasin' the Bird
  • Luminescence!
With Eddie Harris
  • Cool Sax from Hollywood to Broadway
With Hampton Hawes
  • Playin' in the Yard
With Coleman Hawkins
  • Sirius
With Jimmy Heath
  • The Gap Sealer
  • Love and Understanding
With Joe Henderson
  • Inner Urge
With Maurice Hines
With Johnny Hodges
With Bobby Hutcherson
  • The Kicker
  • Happenings
With Milt Jackson
  • Milt Jackson Quintet Live at the Village Gate
  • In a New Setting
  • Milt Jackson and the Hip String Quartet
With Willis Jackson
  • West Africa
  • Headed and Gutted
With Antônio Carlos Jobim
  • Terra Brasilis
With J. J. Johnson
  • J.J.!
With Quincy Jones
  • Golden Boy
  • I/We Had a Ball
With Clifford Jordan
  • Soul Fountain
With Eric Kloss
  • We're Goin' Up
  • Sky Shadows
With Irene Kral
  • Better Than Anything
With Yusef Lateef
  • The Blue Yusef Lateef
With Mike Longo
  • Talk with the Spirits
With Johnny Lytle
  • The Village Caller!
  • The Loop
  • People & Love
With Junior Mance
With Jack McDuff
With Jimmy McGriff
With Jackie McLean
With Carmen McRae
With MJT + 3
With Hank Mobley
With Grachan Moncur III
With Wes Montgomery
With James Moody
With Lee Morgan
  • Take Twelve
  • The Sidewinder
  • Delightfulee
  • The Gigolo
With Oliver Nelson
  • Oliver Nelson Plays Michelle
With Duke Pearson
  • Hush!
  • Wahoo!
  • Honeybuns
  • Prairie Dog
  • Introducing Duke Pearson's Big Band
  • The Phantom
  • Now Hear This
  • How Insensitive
  • It Could Only Happen with You
With Houston Person
  • Chocomotive
  • Blue Odyssey
With Dave Pike
  • Jazz for the Jet Set
With Sonny Red
  • Breezing
With Max Roach
With Sonny Rollins
With Lalo Schifrin
With Shirley Scott
With Wayne Shorter
With Horace Silver
With Paul Simon
With Billy Taylor
With Jimmy Smith
With Clark Terry and Bob Brookmeyer
With Bobby Timmons
With Stanley Turrentine
With McCoy Tyner
  • Live at Newport
With Harold Vick
  • Watch What Happens
With Cedar Walton
  • The Electric Boogaloo Song
With Joe Williams
  • At Newport '63
With Mary Lou Williams
  • Zoning
With Larry Willis
  • Just in Time
With Gerald Wilson
  • New York, New Sound
With Jack Wilson
With Reuben Wilson
With Kai Winding
With The Young Lions
With Joe Zawinul