Al McKibbon

Al McKibbon (January 1, 1919 – July 29, 2005) was an American jazz double bassist, known for his work in bop, hard bop, and Latin jazz.

Al McKibbon
Al McKibbon, Lucky Thompson and Hilda A. Taylor at the Three Deuces, New York, 1948 Photo: William P. Gottlieb.
Background information
Born	January 1, 1919
Died	July 29, 2005 (aged 86)
Genres	Jazz
Instrument(s)	Double bass

In 1947, after working with Lucky Millinder, Tab Smith, J. C. Heard, and Coleman Hawkins, he replaced Ray Brown in Dizzy Gillespie's band, in which he played until 1950. In the 1950s he recorded with the Miles Davis nonet, Earl Hines, Count Basie, Johnny Hodges, Thelonious Monk, Mongo Santamaria, George Shearing, Cal Tjader, Herbie Nichols and Hawkins. McKibbon was credited with interesting Tjader in Latin music while he played in Shearing's group.

McKibbon has always been highly regarded (among other signs of this regard, he was the bassist for the Giants of Jazz), and continued to perform until 2004.

In 1999, the first album in his own name, Tumbao Para Los Congueros De Mi Vida, was released.^[1] McKibbon's second album, Black Orchid, was released in 2004 and was recorded at Icon Recording Studios, Hollywood, California. The album was Produced by Damon Martin, recorded by studio co-owner Andrew Troy and Assistant Engineer - Aaron Kaplan, 2nd Assistant Engineer - Pablo Solorzano. 'Black Orchid' was mixed by Robbie Adams. Al also wrote the Afterword to Raul Fernandez' book, Latin Jazz, part of the Smithsonian Institution's series of exhibitions on jazz.

Discography

As leader

• Tumbao Para Los Congueros De Mi Vida (Blue Lady, 1999)
• Black Orchid (Departure Records, 2004)

As sideman

With Nat Adderley

• To the Ivy League from Nat (1956)

With Lorez Alexandria

• Alexandria the Great (Impulse!, 1964)
• More of the Great Lorez Alexandria (Impulse!, 1964)

With Sonny Criss

• Sonny's Dream (Birth of the New Cool) (Prestige, 1968)

With Miles Davis

• Birth of the Cool (Capitol, 1957)

With Victor Feldman

• Latinsville! (Contemporary, 1960)

With Dizzy Gillespie

• The Complete RCA Victor Recordings (Bluebird, 1937-1949, [1995])
• Carter, Gillespie Inc. (Pablo, 1976) with Bennie Carter

With Coleman Hawkins

• The Coleman Hawkins, Roy Eldridge, Pete Brown, Jo Jones All Stars at Newport (Verve, 1957)

With Johnny Hodges

• Castle Rock (Norgran, 1951 [1955])

With The Jazz Crusaders

• Chile Con Soul (Pacific Jazz, 1965)

With Charles Kynard and Buddy Collette

• Warm Winds (World Pacific, 1964)

With Thelonious Monk

• Genius of Modern Music: Volume 2 (1955)
• The Giants of Jazz (Atlantic) with Art Blakey, Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Stitt and Kai Winding (1971)
• The London Sessions (Black Lion) with Art Blakey (1971)

With Randy Newman

• 12 Songs (1970)

With The Night Blooming Jazzmen

• The Night Blooming Jazzmen (1971)

With Herbie Nichols

• The Prophetic Herbie Nichols Vol. 1 (1955)
• The Prophetic Herbie Nichols Vol. 2 (1955)
• Herbie Nichols Trio (1956)

With Shuggie Otis

• "Here Comes Shuggie Otis" (1969)

With Freddie Redd

• Live at the Studio Grill (Triloka, 1990)

With George Shearing

• Latin Escapade (1956)
• On the Sunny Side of the Strip (1960)

With George Shearing and Dakota Staton

• In the Night (1958)

With Robert Stewart

• The Movement (Exodus, 2002)

With Billy Taylor

• Piano Panorama (Atlantic, 1952)

With Cal Tjader

• Cal Tjader, Vibist (Savoy, 1954)
• Cal Tjader Plays Afro-Cuban (Fantasy, 1955)
• Ritmo Caliente! (Fantasy, 1956)
• Tjader Plays Tjazz (Fantasy, 1956)
• Mas Ritmo Caliente (Fantasy, 1957)
• Latin for Lovers (Fantasy, 1958)
• Cal Tjader's Latin Concert (Fantasy, 1958)
• A Night at the Blackhawk (Fantasy, 1958)
• Cal Tjader Goes Latin (Fantasy, 1959)
• Cal Tjader's Concert by the Sea (Fantasy, 1959)
• Cal Tjader's Concert by the Sea, Vol. 2 (Fantasy, 1959)
• Demasiado Caliente (Fantasy, 1960)
• Cal Tjader Plays Harold Arlen (Fantasy, 1960)
• In a Latin Bag (Verve, 1961)
• Live at the Monterey Jazz Festival 1958-1980 (Concord, 2008)

With Jack Wilson

• The Jack Wilson Quartet featuring Roy Ayers (Atlantic, 1963)

References

1. Ankeny, Jason. "Al McKibbon". AllMusic. Retrieved December 18, 2018.

• San Jose Mercury News report of death 30 July 2005
• Googled cache of Bassland article retrieved 18 June 2005
• retrieved Aug. 5, 2005
• Frenandez, Raul. Latin Jazz: The Perfect Combination/La Combinacion Perfecta (Chronicle Books, 2002).