“There isn’t a cello tradition in jazz so that leaves it pretty free. I listened to saxophonists and bass players to pattern myself after,” cellist Diedre Murray once told Be-Bop And Beyond magazine. “If you’re a cellist you have to play classical music because that’s the way to learn the instrument. Unlike being a violinist or saxophonist, where you have other options... you have to be a classical musician to learn the cello or bassoon, at least you have to be introduced to them that way,” Murray added. That was in 1985.

If jazz didn’t yet have a cello tradition, the instrument was starting to have a substantial – even if sprawling and scattered – history in the genre. The 1970s were the decade that saw improvising cellists emerge in greater numbers. It was when many musicians featured in this – far from exhaustive – selection began making their mark.

Notable points of prior history had included bassist Oscar Pettiford starting to record on cello at the beginning of the 1950s, and Chico Hamilton featuring cellist Fred Katz prominently in his quintet later that decade. Unsurprisingly, the further opening up of jazz forms by the 1960s avant garde created more avenues. Bassist Ron Carter played cello with Eric Dolphy, Albert Ayler included the instrument in his too infrequently discussed strings concept. If a thorough history of the cello in jazz is one day written, special mention will likely be made of Abdul Wadud. On his very first recording, in 1968, with The Black Unity Trio, Wadud was already demonstrating how the instrument could be an equal voice in a small formation practising free playing at the highest level.

On its path away from its classical roots and towards becoming a jazz instrument – an ensemble member, a soloist, an unaccompanied voice – the cello looked outward, to many different sources. In the process, did something resembling a tradition emerge? Younger players such as Tomeka Reid, featured on the cover of The Wire 485, have found enough to look back to for explicit nods to the past to appear in their projects. The following selection contains fragments of this history, often leaning on the “pretty free” side.

Tracklist

Oscar Pettiford, His 'Cello And Orkette
“Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen”
From Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen/Swingin’ ’Til The Girls Come Home
(Mercer) 1950

Chico Hamilton Quintet (Fred Katz, cello)
“My Funny Valentine”
From Chico Hamilton Quintet
(Pacific Jazz) 1955

Eric Dolphy (Ron Carter, cello)
“17 West”
From Out There
(New Jazz) 1961

Albert Ayler (Joel Freedman, cello)
“Change Has Come”
From In Greenwich Village
(Impulse!) 1967

Black Unity Trio (Abdul Wadud, cello)
“John’s Vision”
From Al-Fatihah
(Salaam/Gotta Groove) 1969

David Eyges Trio
“Crossroads”
From Crossroads
(Quixotic) 2000

Curtis Clark Quintet (Ernst Reijseger, cello)
“Cape Town 2048”
From Letter To South Africa
(Nimbus West) 1986

Diedre Murray & Fred Hopkins (Diedre Murray, cello)
“Never To Return”
From Firestorm
(Victo) 1992

Paul Murphy Trio (Kash Killion, cello)
“Winds Run”
From Shadow Intersections West
(Cadence Jazz) 2004

Tristan Honsinger
“Mary Contrary”
From A Camel’s Kiss
(ICP) 2000

Tomeka Reid Quartet
“17 West”
From Tomeka Reid Quartet
(Thirsty Ear) 2020

François Tusques & Hélène Bass (Hélène Bass, cello)
“Partout J’ai Des Camarades”
From Un Portrait Musical De Colette Magny
(Éditions Montparnasse)

The Liberated Cello Band (Muneer B Fennell, cello)
“Jan”
From Confidentially Speaking
(Bandcamp) 2020

More cellos in jazz contexts can be heard in these Wire playlists (Abdul Wadud, Jean-Charles Capon on PALM, and Irène Aebi with Steve Lacy):

Wire playlist: Musician-Owned Record Labels In Jazz In The 1970s
Wire playlist: Yusuf Mumin and The Black Unity Trio
Wire playlist: Jef Gilson’s PALM label, independent jazz production in 1970s France
Wire playlist: Once Upon A Time In Paris...

Read Stewart Smith’s interview with Tomeka Reid in The Wire 485. Wire subscribers can also read the interview online via the digital library of back issues.