1. Cleveland Josephus Eaton II was an American jazz double bassist, producer, arranger, composer, publisher, and head of his own record company in Fairfield, Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham.
18 Facts About Cleveland Eaton
1. 2.
Cleveland Eaton's 1975 recording Plenty Good Eaton is considered a classic in the funk music genre.
3.
Cleveland Eaton was inducted into both the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame and the Alabama Music Hall of Fame.
4.
Cleveland Eaton was the music teacher at George Washington Carver Upper Grade.
5.
Cleveland Eaton began studying music at the age of five, and by the time he was 15, he had mastered the piano, trumpet, and saxophone.
6.
Cleveland Eaton began playing bass when a teacher allowed him to take one home, spending nearly every waking hour learning the instrument.
7.
Cleveland Eaton came from a music-loving family, including an elder sister who studied at both Fisk University and the Juilliard School of Music in New York.
8.
Cleveland Eaton was a student of John T "Fess" Whatley, one of the most influential and well-known educators in American jazz music during the 1920s and 1930s.
9.
Cleveland Eaton made his debut as a leader on Half and Half on Gamble Records in 1973.
10.
Two years later he recorded the jazz-funk classic Plenty Good Cleveland Eaton, often sampled by contemporary artists.
11.
In September, 1978 Cleveland Eaton released a disco-themed track on Gull Records GULS63 called "Bama Boogie Woogie" which reached number 35 in the BBC Top 75 chart in the UK and proved very popular on the UK club scene at the time.
12.
Cleveland Eaton was told that his services with the Count Basie Orchestra would be needed for about two weeks.
13.
Cleveland Eaton lent his talents to over 100 albums, and composed about three times as many songs.
14.
Cleveland Eaton played on notable recording sessions with Dexter Gordon, Gene Ammons, John Klemmer, Ike Cole, Bunky Green, The Dells, Bobby Rush, Minnie Riperton, Jerry Butler and Rotary Connection, George Benson, Henry Mancini, Frank Sinatra, Joe Williams, Billy Eckstine, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald.
15.
Cleveland Eaton performed with Nancy Wilson, Peggy Lee, Mimi Hines, Sammy Davis Jr.
16.
Cleveland Eaton was 80, and had been hospitalized during the last four months of his life.
17.
Cleveland Eaton was survived by his wife, Myra Eaton, two sons, Lothair Eaton and Andre Eaton; and a daughter, Keena Eaton Kelley.
18.
Cleveland Eaton was survived by stepchildren from his marriage to Myra Cleveland Eaton: stepdaughters Tania Adams and Kwani Dickerson Carson, and stepson Kole Anderson.