Bob Cranshaw
b. Melbourne Robert Cranshaw, 10 December 1932, Evanston, Illinois, USA. Taking up bass in high school, Cranshaw began his professional career in Chicago. After travelling to New York in 1960 with Walter Perkins’ MJT+3, he joined Sonny Rollins (a musical relationship that lasted into the '80s), and worked with Carmen McRae(1961) and Junior Mance (1962-63). Between 1962 and 1973, Cranshaw played regularly with Duke Pearson's small groups and big band, during which time he took up the electric bass and became orientated towards the recording studio, working for television as well as recording with, amongst others, Coleman Hawkins, Horace Silver, Wes Montgomery and Lee Morgan.