Jimmy Woode


James Bryant Woode was an American jazz bassist. He played and/or recorded in bands with Flip Phillips, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington, Coleman Hawkins, Nat Pierce, Sidney Bechet, Billie Holiday, Jaki Byard, Earl Hines, Jimmy Witherspoon, Clark Terry and Miles Davis.

Biography

Woode was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. His father, also named Jimmy Woode, was a music teacher and pianist who had played with Hot Lips Page. Woode studied piano and bass in Boston at Boston University and at the Conservatory of Music, as well as at the Philadelphia Academy.
He joined the Duke Ellington Orchestra in 1955, appearing on many of Ellington's recordings, including Such Sweet Thunder and Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Songbook, both from 1957, as well as the performance at the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival issued on Ellington at Newport. He stayed with the Orchestra until 1960, when he left to live in Europe.
Jimmy Woode's song "Just Give Me Time" was covered by Carola in 1966, first released on her album Carola & Heikki Sarmanto Trio, reaching the Finnish charts in 2004.
An original member of The Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band, in 1995 he also toured with Lionel Hampton's Golden Men of Jazz.
In 2003, Woode formed a trio with drummer Pete York and German jazz musician/comedian Helge Schneider, touring in Germany with his interpretation of jazz classics such as "Georgia" and "Summertime". As a consequence of his co-operation with Schneider, Woode also starred in the feature film Jazzclub. in the role of Steinberg, a struggling jazz bassist.
He died in April 2005 at age 78 at his home in Lindenwold, New Jersey, of post-surgical complications.

Discography

As leader

With Kenny Clarke
With Ted Curson
  • Urge
With Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis and Johnny Griffin
  • Tough Tenors Again 'n' Again
WIth Nathan Davis
  • The Hip Walk
  • Peace Treaty
  • Happy Girl
With Eric Dolphy
  • Stockholm Sessions
With Duke Ellington
With Art Farmer
  • Gentle Eyes
With Erich Kleinschuster
  • Live
With Paul Gonsalves
With Johnny Griffin
With Jim Hall
With Johnny Hodges
With John Lewis and Svend Asmussen
With Mythologie
With Sahib Shihab
With Sunbirds
  • Sunbirds
  • Zagara
With Clark Terry
With Mal Waldron'