Jimmy Blanton
b. October 1918, Chatanooga, Tennessee, USA, d. 30 July 1942. Starting out as a violinist, Blanton studied musical theory before switching to bass while still at school. He played in several local bands and during 1936-37 worked with the Jeter-Pillars Orchestra in St Louis and Fate Marable's Cotton Pickers. In October 1939 he was hired by Duke Ellington and celebrated this event by changing from three-string to four-string bass. For a few months he shared the spot with Billy Taylor but from early 1940 he was on his own. A remarkably dextrous player, Blanton's technique, his range, harmonic sense and unfailing swing gave the Ellington band enormous lift. His work attracted the attention of countless other bass players whose own work subsequently bore echoes of his innovations. Off-duty from the Ellington band, Blanton also played with early bop musicians at Minton's Playhouse where he was a major contributor to the changes taking place in jazz. While with Ellington Blanton recorded extensively, not only with the band but also in duets with the leader. Blanton's death, when only 23 years old, was an exceptional loss but his influence on jazz bass playing remains profound.