Doc Cheatham

Doc Cheatham stood unmatched as the most accomplished trumpeter at age 90, for no brass instrumentalist past 80 had ever matched his combination of power, range, confidence, and inventive melodic phrasing. While most players on the instrument saw their abilities decline by their sixties because of its physical demands, Cheatham only began to emerge fully as a soloist once he approached seventy.

His professional path extended to the early 1920s, when he appeared in vaudeville houses supporting touring vocalists such as Bessie Smith and Clara Smith. Relocating to Chicago, he cut sides with Ma Rainey while doubling on soprano saxophone, performed alongside Albert Wynn, filled in for his primary influence Louis Armstrong, and led his own ensemble by 1926. Subsequent engagements included periods with Wilbur DeParis and Chick Webb before he joined Sam Wooding for a European tour. Thanks to his expansive upper register and attractive sound, he served as lead trumpeter without solo features in McKinney's Cotton Pickers and Cab Calloway's orchestra across the 1930s. He also worked in Teddy Wilson's large ensemble and the popular Eddie Heywood Sextet, which accompanied Billie Holiday on several recordings.

During the 1950s Cheatham moved between traditional jazz settings with Wilbur DeParis and occasional appearances alongside Eddie Condon, as well as Latin-oriented groups led by Perez Prado and Herbie Mann. He performed with Benny Goodman from 1966 to 1967, yet only in the mid-1970s did he feel at ease taking extended solos. Pairings with pianist Sammy Price initiated this later phase, after which he documented his work extensively until his passing in 1997 on releases for Sackville, New York Jazz, Parkwood, Stash, GHB, Columbia, and various European imprints. Cheatham also proved an engaging vocalist whose half-spoken, half-sung delivery complemented rather than diminished the risk-taking character of his trumpet work.