A prolific session player and occasional bandleader,
Jimmy Woode has worked with numerous bands since the late '40s. He's played in combos and orchestras, led trios and backed everyone from
Duke Ellington to
Eric Dolphy, always providing intelligent, first-rate accompaniment.
Woode played baritone horn and studied piano and bass as a child. He formed a trio after leaving the service in 1946.
Woode toured with
Flip Phillips in 1949, then recorded with
Zoot Sims and
Toots Thielemans. He later worked with
Sarah Vaughan,
Ella Fitzgerald and
Nat Pierce in the early '50s.
Woode served as house bassist at Storyville in Boston two years, recording with
Sidney Bechet and
Billie Holiday. He worked with
Duke Ellington in the mid-'50s, also recorded as a leader in 1957 and played with
Johnny Hodges and Clark Terry. After moving to Sweden in 1960,
Woode joined the Kenny Clarke/Francy Boland Big Band, and remained with them until they disbanded in 1973. He moved to Germany and managed his own publishing firm, then lived in the Netherlands and Munich.
Woode played often for radio and television broadcasts as well as on film soundtracks. He appeared at festivals, and recorded with
Don Byas,
Albert Nicholas,
Johnny Griffin,
Sahib Shihab,
Ted Curson and
Booker Ervin,
Milt Buckner,
Benny Bailey,
Mal Waldron, and
Helen Humes.
Woode lived in Vienna during the '80s and worked periodically with
Nathan Davis' Paris Reunion Band. He can be heard on CD reissues of the
Ellington mid-'50s band, on
Mal Waldron's Oneupmanship session on Enja and on
Johnny Hodges reissues. ~ Ron Wynn