Biography
Owing largely to his sparse recorded output, Baby Face Willette has never received due recognition as a soul-jazz organist, leaving him an elusive presence in jazz history. A reserved and soft-spoken individual, he withdrew from the scene entirely after the mid-1960s. Roosevelt Willette entered the world on September 11, 1933, though accounts differ on whether New Orleans or Little Rock was the actual birthplace. Because his parents were deeply immersed in church life, gospel formed the bedrock of his musical sensibility. After lessons from his uncle, pianist Fred Freeman, he performed with various gospel ensembles while still a teenager and soon gravitated toward R&B, which led to nationwide touring with multiple groups. He lived in Chicago for a period before turning his focus to jazz organ in 1958, yet real momentum arrived only after he relocated to New York and connected with Blue Note stalwarts Lou Donaldson and Grant Green. In January 1961 he appeared on Donaldson’s Here ’Tis and Green’s Grant’s First Stand, then cut his own debut, Face to Face, that same month. Several months afterward came the follow-up Stop and Listen, widely viewed as his strongest statement. In 1963 he assembled a working trio and switched to the Argo label, taping the 1964 sessions Mo-Roc and Behind the 8 Ball. From roughly 1966 through 1971 he held a steady gig at a South Side Chicago lounge, after which he largely withdrew from jazz circles and passed away out of public view.
Albums
