DOC CHEATHAM
Name: Adolphus Anthony Cheatham
Born: June 13, 1905 Nashville, Tennessee
Died: June 2, 1997
Adolphus Anthony Cheatham, much better known as Doc Cheatham (13 June 1905-2
June 1997) was a jazz trumpeter, singer, and bandleader. While a reliable player
in some of the top jazz groups from the 1920s on, Cheatham's career enjoyed an
unusual flowering of renewed creativity and acclaim in his later decades; Doc
himself agreed with the critical assessment that he was probably the only jazz
musician to create his best work after the age of 70.
Cheatham was born in Nashville, Tennessee. He noted there was no jazz music
there in his youth; like many in the United States he was introduced to the
style by early recordings and touring groups at the end of the 1910s. He
abandoned his family's plans for him to be a pharmacist (although retaining the
medically inspired nickname "Doc") to play music, initially playing soprano and
tenor saxophone in addition to trumpet in Nashville's African American
Vaudeville theater. Cheatham later toured in band accompanying blues singers on
the Theater Owners Booking Association circuit.[1] His early jazz influences
included Henry Busse and Johnny Dunn, but when he moved to Chicago in 1924 he
heard King Oliver. Oliver's playing was a revelation to Cheatham. Cheatham
followed the jazz King around. Oliver gave young Cheatham a mute which Cheatham
treasured and performed with for the rest of his career. A further revelation
came the following year when Louis Armstrong returned to Chicago. Armstrong
would be a lifelong influence on Cheatham.
Cheatham played in Albert Wynn's band (and occasionally substituted for
Armstrong at the Vendome Theater), and recorded on sax with Ma Rainey before
moving to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1927, where he worked with the bands of
Bobby Lee and Wilber de Paris before moving to New York City the following year.
After a short stint with Chick Webb he left to tour Europe with Sam Wooding's
band.
Cheatam returned to the United States in 1930, and played with Marion Handy and
McKinney's Cotton Pickers before landing a job with Cab Calloway. Cheatham was
Calloway's lead trumpeter from 1932 through 1939.
He performed with Benny Carter, Teddy Wilson, Fletcher Henderson, and Claude
Hopkins in the 1940s; after World War II he started working regularly with Latin
bands in New York City, including the bands of Perez Prado, Marcelino Guerra,
Ricardo Ray (on whose catchy, hook-laden album "Jala, Jala Boogaloo, Volume II",
he played exquisitely (but uncredited), particularly on the track "Mr. Trumpet
Man"), Machito, and others. In addition to continuing Latin gigs, he played
again with Wilbur de Paris and Sammy Price. He led his own band on Broadway for
five years starting in 1960, after which he toured with Benny Goodman.
Name: Adolphus Anthony Cheatham
Born: June 13, 1905 Nashville, Tennessee
Died: June 2, 1997
Adolphus Anthony Cheatham, much better known as Doc Cheatham (13 June 1905-2
June 1997) was a jazz trumpeter, singer, and bandleader. While a reliable player
in some of the top jazz groups from the 1920s on, Cheatham's career enjoyed an
unusual flowering of renewed creativity and acclaim in his later decades; Doc
himself agreed with the critical assessment that he was probably the only jazz
musician to create his best work after the age of 70.
Cheatham was born in Nashville, Tennessee. He noted there was no jazz music
there in his youth; like many in the United States he was introduced to the
style by early recordings and touring groups at the end of the 1910s. He
abandoned his family's plans for him to be a pharmacist (although retaining the
medically inspired nickname "Doc") to play music, initially playing soprano and
tenor saxophone in addition to trumpet in Nashville's African American
Vaudeville theater. Cheatham later toured in band accompanying blues singers on
the Theater Owners Booking Association circuit.[1] His early jazz influences
included Henry Busse and Johnny Dunn, but when he moved to Chicago in 1924 he
heard King Oliver. Oliver's playing was a revelation to Cheatham. Cheatham
followed the jazz King around. Oliver gave young Cheatham a mute which Cheatham
treasured and performed with for the rest of his career. A further revelation
came the following year when Louis Armstrong returned to Chicago. Armstrong
would be a lifelong influence on Cheatham.
Cheatham played in Albert Wynn's band (and occasionally substituted for
Armstrong at the Vendome Theater), and recorded on sax with Ma Rainey before
moving to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1927, where he worked with the bands of
Bobby Lee and Wilber de Paris before moving to New York City the following year.
After a short stint with Chick Webb he left to tour Europe with Sam Wooding's
band.
Cheatam returned to the United States in 1930, and played with Marion Handy and
McKinney's Cotton Pickers before landing a job with Cab Calloway. Cheatham was
Calloway's lead trumpeter from 1932 through 1939.
He performed with Benny Carter, Teddy Wilson, Fletcher Henderson, and Claude
Hopkins in the 1940s; after World War II he started working regularly with Latin
bands in New York City, including the bands of Perez Prado, Marcelino Guerra,
Ricardo Ray (on whose catchy, hook-laden album "Jala, Jala Boogaloo, Volume II",
he played exquisitely (but uncredited), particularly on the track "Mr. Trumpet
Man"), Machito, and others. In addition to continuing Latin gigs, he played
again with Wilbur de Paris and Sammy Price. He led his own band on Broadway for
five years starting in 1960, after which he toured with Benny Goodman.