trumpet career began while performing in air force bands before moving to New York in the mid-1950s. Byrd was considered to be highly reliable because he had none of the addiction problems that plagued many of the other musicians during the decade. This reliability, in addition to Byrd’s long phrasing and harmonic ideas, led him to work steadily with many of the top musicians of the 1950s, including Art Blakey, John Coltrane, Jackie McLean, Hank Mobley, Horace Silver, and Sonny Rollins. Byrd became a leader during the 1960s and frequently recorded for Blue Note Records. He was highly educated and had received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music, in addition to a degree in law. A strong advocate of music education, he received a doctorate in music education from the Teachers College at Columbia University in 1982. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Byrd was an active teacher, in addition to making a number of fusion and contemporary albums with his groups. Byrd experienced a brief resurgence of his music in the 1980s, although he would primarily work as an educator for the remainder of his career. He was recognized in 2000 by the National Endowment for the Arts as a Jazz Master.
C
CAB JIVERS
See CALLOWAY, CABELL “CAB” (1907–1994).
CABLES, GEORGE ANDREW (1944–)
An American jazz pianist, George Cables was born in New York City and initially instructed by his mother, who was an amateur classical pianist. He attended the High School of Performing Arts and began to play jazz. At the age of 18, Cables formed a group with Steve Grossman and Billy Cobham called the Jazz Samaritans. In 1969 he played with Art Blakey, Sonny Rollins, and Joe Henderson (with whom he stayed until 1971). He then played with Freddie Hubbard from 1971 to 1976 and recorded with Woody Shaw, Joe Chambers, and Billy Harper during the same period. He played with Dexter Gordon during his return to the United States (1976–1978) and was pianist for saxophonist Art Pepper (1979–1982). He joined the group Bebop and Beyond in 1984 and would rejoin the renamed Bebop and Beyond 2000 in 1998.
CACHAO (ISRAEL LÓPEZ VALDÉS) (1918–2008)
Cachao was a Cuban bass player and composer. He is widely known as cocreator of the mambo. Throughout his career, he performed and recorded in a variety of musical styles. In the 1950s, Cachao became famous for popularizing improvised jam sessions known as descargas. He emigrated to Spain in 1961 and moved to the United States in 1963, where he started playing in New York City as a session and live musician for a variety of bands. Cachao fell into obscurity during the 1970s, releasing albums sporadically as a bandleader. He had a resurgence in his career after being rediscovered by movie actor Andy Garcia, who produced two documentaries and several Cachao albums. Cachao won numerous awards, included induction into the Billboard Latin Music Hall of Fame and the International Latin Music Hall of Fame. Cachao received four Grammy Awards, including one posthumously. He received an honorary doctorate in music from the Berklee College of Music in 2006. See also AFRO-CUBAN JAZZ.
CADET
Created in 1965, renamed from the record label Argo. See also RECORD LABEL.
CADILLAC
English record label and company founded in London in 1973.
CAFÉ BOHEMIA
Nightclub in New York opened in 1955 by Jimmy Garofalo. It was the location of performances and recordings by Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Art Blakey, and others. See also JONES, JOSEPH “PHILLY JOE” (1923–1985).
CAFÉ SOCIETY
Opened in 1938, it was the first racially integrated club in New York. Many careers in jazz were launched here through the support of John Hammond, a regular visitor to the club, and many of the great figures in jazz performed here. It was here that Billie Holiday debuted “Strange Fruit” to great acclaim. A second location was opened in 1940 on 58th Street.
CALIFORNIA RAMBLERS
A White dance band formed by banjo player Ray Kitchingman in 1921 and active until 1937. Notable members of the band included Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey, Stan King, Red Nichols, and Bill Moore, a trumpet player who was the first African American to work with an all-White band. The band recorded many albums under different pseudonyms and was briefly re-formed in the 1970s and 1980s.
CALL AND RESPONSE
Alternating musical phrases in which a musical statement is followed by a musical answer. It can occur in jazz between instrumental sections in an ensemble, between instrumentalists (as in the practice of trading fours), or between a vocalist and instrumentalist. Some forms, such as the blues, are said to be structured as call and response.
CALLENDER, RED (1916–1992)
A bassist who made his recording debut with Louis Armstrong in 1937, he spent three years in the Lester and Lee Young band before forming his own trio. He played with Erroll Garner, Charlie Parker, Wardell Gray, Dexter Gordon, and eventually Art Tatum (1955–1956). In later years Callender switched to playing tuba. His autobiography, Unfinished Dream, was published in 1985.
CALLOWAY, CABELL “CAB” (1907–1994)
Bandleader, singer, and entertainer. Cab Calloway attended law school briefly before quitting to pursue a career in music. In 1931, his group the Missourians recorded one of his biggest hits, “Minnie the Moocher” (which contained his famous phrase “Hi-de-hi”), and replaced the band of Duke Ellington at the Cotton Club, where they performed until 1940. The group, renamed Cab Calloway and His Orchestra, appeared in several films (The Big Broadcast, 1933; The Singing Kid, 1936; Stormy Weather 1943) and made many recordings before finally dissolving in 1948. Calloway’s band contained several members who would go on to great fame, including Dizzy Gillespie, Ben Webster, Chu Berry, and Mario Bauza. After disbanding his big band in 1948, Calloway still appeared with the Cab Jivers, a small group. Later in his life, Calloway appeared in Porgy and Bess (1950s), Hello, Dolly! (1960s), and the movie The Blues Brothers (1980).
CALYPSO
A style of dance and song that originated on slave plantations in the Caribbean; it is most associated with the island of Trinidad. Calypsos are duple meter; modern calypsos are in a major mode, while earlier examples were in a minor mode and slower tempo.
CAMELIA BRASS BAND
A New Orleans brass band established around 1917 by Wooden Joe Nicholas and named after the steamer S.S. Camelia.
CAMEO
A record label of the Cameo Record Corporation, it sold records in Macy’s department stores during the 1920s. The company joined Plaza in 1929 to form the American Record Corporation. The Cameo label name was dropped in the 1930s.
CANDID
Its catalog contained nearly 40 albums, including ones by Don Ellis, Charles Mingus, Cecil Taylor, and Booker Little. Purchased by the label Barnaby in the 1970s and then later purchased and reactivated by Black Lion, many recordings have been reissued in CD format, and more recent recordings have been issued by artists including Dave Liebman and Lee Konitz.
CANDOLI, CONTE (1927–2001)
An American trumpet