Adolphus Alsbrook

Adolphus J. Alsbrook Jr. (February 21, 1912 – June 2, 1988[1]) was an American jazz and R&B musician, arranger and composer. He played the double bass, bass guitar, and harp.

Adolphus Alsbrook
Born(1912-02-21)February 21, 1912
Kansas City, Kansas
DiedJune 2, 1988(1988-06-02) (aged 76)
Canada
Occupation(s)American jazz musician

Life and work

Alsbrook attended Sumner High School and studied classical double bass and harp at the University of Kansas, University of Minnesota and the Chicago Conservatory of Music.[2] From 1933 to 1954 he lived intermittently in Minneapolis,[1] where he taught and worked as an arranger.[3] In the early 1930s he played with Boyd Atkins[1] and at the Cotton Club with Jo Jones in Rook Ganz's band.[4][5] During this time he also played with Lester Young[6] and Count Basie[1] Alsbrook played his main instrument, the double bass, but also harp, accordion and guitar. He also wrote several novelty songs. As an arranger, he worked in Minneapolis for the Orchestra of Red Nichols and Paul Pendarvis.[2] He also taught judo at a Police Department.[2]

For a short time in 1939 Alsbrook belonged to the Duke Ellington Orchestra alongside Billy Taylor,[7] before Jimmy Blanton joined the band.[3] However, no recordings emerged from his time with the orchestra.

In the 1940s Alsbrook worked in the Seattle music scene,[8] where he played with Ernestine Anderson[2] From the mid-1950s, he starred in the R&B band of Earl Bostic,[9] as well as Fats Domino ("Country Boy", Imperial 1960) and Amos Milburn. More recordings were made in Los Angeles with Jesse Belvin ("Where's My Girl", with Bumps Blackwell), Sam Cooke (1957),[10][11] Ernie Freeman, and Sugarcane Harris. Tom Lord lists his participation in eight recording sessions 1956–57.[12]

In 1972 Alsbrook made a guest appearance with Thelonious Monk's band when they played at Seattle's Fresh Air club.[13]

His son is the musician Darryl Alsbrook.

Recognition

The young Oscar Pettiford was impressed Alsbrooks bass playing,[14] as was Milt Hinton, who mentions Alsbrook in his memoirs.[15][16] Charles Mingus and Gene Ramey have also praised Alsbrooks talent as a musician and arranger.[3]

References
  1. Jay Goetting: Joined at the Hip: A History of Jazz in the Twin Cities. Minnesota Historical Society 2011.
  2. "Another little known Ellingtonian (Portrait fragments of Duke Ellington Music Society)". Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved October 5, 2016.
  3. Robin Kelley. Thelonious Monk: the Life and times of an American original.
  4. Hillard "Rook" Ganz, born in 1906 in Kansas ; cf. 1940 US census
  5. Frank Büchmann-Møller:. You Just Fight for Your Life: The Story of Lester Young. 1990, p 57
  6. Douglas Henry Daniels: '.' Northside Jazz: Lester "Pres" Young in Minneapolis (pdf)
  7. Robert George Reisner: The Jazz Titans, Including „The Parlance of Hip“. Da Capo Press, 1960
  8. Before Seattle Rocked: A City and Its Music of Kurt E. Armbruster
  9. Roy Porter. There And Back, 1995, p 198
  10. Radio Recorders – Santa Monica CA
  11. Peter Guralnick: Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke 2015
  12. Tom Lord The Jazz Discography (online, accessed September 25, 2015)
  13. Chris Sheridan:. Brilliant Corners: A Bio-Discography of Thelonious Monk . P.215
  14. International Society of Bassists −1985, Volumes 12–13 – Page lxxxviii
  15. Quote: And there was another unbelievable bass player from Minneapolis, Adolphus Alsbrook, who I'd met in Chicago before I went with Cab. I first got to know him in the early '30s when I was working at the Savoy Ballroom with Erskine Tate. Milt Hinton, David Garett Berger, Holly Maxson: Playing the Changes: Milt Hinton's Life in Stories. 2008, p 144
  16. Down Beat, 1966, Volume 33, p 26
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