Noted for his rich, resonant tone and metronomic precision,
Al McKibbon was one of the premier bassists of the early bebop era, supporting giants like
Dizzy Gillespie,
Coleman Hawkins, and
Thelonious Monk in addition to collaborating with percussionist
Chano Pozo to forge the sound of Afro-Cuban jazz. Born January 1, 1919, in Chicago,
McKibbon was the son of a minister who played tuba and guitar, often with
Al's mother on piano accompaniment. The family relocated to Detroit in 1921, where
McKibbon's older brother later played with the Midwest Territorial Orchestra and recommended that his younger sibling adopt the bass. While a student at Detroit's Cass Tech,
McKibbon studied bass and piano, and by 17 was gigging steadily at the local nightclub the B&C. Later, he backed
Kelly Martin at the Conga Club, followed by a stint with
Jimmie Lunceford's former saxophonist Ted Bruckner. In 1943,
Lucky Millinder headlined Detroit's Paradise Theater, and when
Millinder and band left town for a date in New York City, they took
McKibbon with them. The bassist eventually settled in the Big Apple, making his first studio recordings with
Millinder before signing on with
Tab Smith.
In October 1945
McKibbon joined
Hawkins, whose band included
Monk on piano. Via
Hawkins, the bassist also landed a spot on
Norman Granz's first
Jazz at the Philharmonic tour, which also featured
Lester Young and
Buck Clayton. Although
McKibbon's tenure with
Hawkins was relatively brief, his collaboration with
Monk spanned decades -- he played on some of the legendary pianist's earliest headlining recordings, and was featured during his landmark run at Minton's Playhouse. In 1946,
McKibbon joined
J.C. Heard's band during its stint at New York's Café Society, and the following year he was hired by
Dizzy Gillespie to replace bassist
Ray Brown, who'd alienated his bandmates by beginning a romance with singer
Ella Fitzgerald.
McKibbon roomed on tour with Cuban-born percussionist
Pozo, and despite their language barrier, the two men created the rhythmic template that would become the foundation for Afro-Cuban jazz, beginning with their work on
Gillespie's seminal "Manteca" and continuing across Latin-inspired sessions including "Cubano Be," "Cubano Bop," and "Guarichi Guaro."
Although the
Gillespie band splintered in 1949,
McKibbon remained immersed in Latin music for the duration of his career. After playing on
Miles Davis' groundbreaking Birth of the Cool sessions, he worked briefly with
Count Basie,
Earl Hines, and
Johnny Hodges before settling in with
the George Shearing Quartet in 1951, the beginning of the pianist's own exploration of Afro-Cuban music.
McKibbon spent seven years behind
Shearing, followed by a year with
Cal Tjader, another bandleader who grabbed the Latin baton. The bassist relocated to Los Angeles in 1958, working for over a decade as a session player and also recording for film and television. In the early '70s he returned to the road alongside
Gillespie and
Monk on the
Giants of Jazz tour -- in 1971, he also played on
Monk's final recording date. Sometime later
McKibbon acquired a bass created by Jacob Steiner, "the German Stradivarius," in 1650 -- his tone grew even richer and more robust in turn, and in time he moved into classical performance, in 1992 traveling to the Mojave Desert to play with a symphony orchestra recording
Beethoven's Ninth amid the sandy desolation. Only in 1999 did
McKibbon finally release his first LP as a leader, Tumbao Para los Congueros de Mi Vida. He died July 29, 2005, at age 86. ~ Jason Ankeny