Milt Hinton

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Milt Hinton

Courtesy the Fraser MacPherson estate
Background information
Birth name Milton John Hilton
Born June 23, 1910
Vicksburg, Mississippi, United States
Died December 19, 2000 (aged 90)
Queens, New York, United States
Genres Traditional Jazz. Swing, Pop Music
Occupations Double bassist, Photographer
Instruments Double bass
Years active 80 years
Labels Various
Associated acts Jabbo Smith, Zutty Singleton, Art Tatum, Eddie
South, Cab Calloway,Count Basie, Louis
Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Benny
Goodman, Clark Terry, Hank Jones,Branford Marsalis
Website http://www.milthinton.com/
Milton John "Milt" Hinton (June 23, 1910 December 19, 2000), "the dean of jazz bass
players," was an American jazz double bassistand photographer. He was nicknamed "The
Judge".
[1]

Contents
[hide]
1 Biography
2 Discography
o 2.1 As leader
o 2.2 As sideman
3 References
4 External links
Biography[edit]
Hinton was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, where he resided until age eleven when he moved
to Chicago, Illinois. He attended Wendell Phillips High School and Crane Junior College. While
attending these schools, he learned first to play the violin, and later bass horn, tuba, cello and the
double bass. As a young violinist out of school, he found gainful employment as a bassist. He
later recounted in interviews, released in 1990 on Old Man Time, how this prompted him to
switch to double bass.
In the late 1920s and early 1930s, he worked as a freelance musician in Chicago. During this
time, he worked with famous jazz musicians such as Jabbo Smith, Eddie South, and Art Tatum.
In 1936, he joined a band led by Cab Calloway. Members of this band included Chu Berry,Cozy
Cole, Dizzy Gillespie, Illinois Jacquet, Jonah Jones, Ike Quebec, Ben Webster, and Danny
Barker.
Hinton possessed a formidable technique and was equally adept at bowing, pizzicato, and
"slapping," a technique for which he became famous while playing with the big band of Cab
Calloway from 1936 to 1951.
[1]
Unusually for a double bass player, Hinton was frequently given
the spotlight by Calloway, taking virtuose bass solos in tunes like "Pluckin' the Bass."
As well as being a famous Jazz musician, Hinton at the same time, worked as a studio musician.
he was part of a large group of studio musicians who played on dozens of hit records written by
songwriters who worked at the Brill Building. he was responsible for the opening bass line on The
Drifters "Under the Boardwalk" as well as playing on dozens of hits recorded by Neil Sedaka and
many others.
Hinton played a rare Gofriller Double Bass during his latter career. The bass was in pieces in a
cellar in Italy and a musical agent arranged the purchase from the family for Hinton. Hinton in his
autobiography Bass Line described the tone as magnificent and said it was one of the reasons
for his long success in the New York recording studios in the 1950s, and 1960s.
He later became a television staff musician, working regularly on shows by Jackie Gleason and
later Dick Cavett.
[1]
His work can be heard on the Branford Marsalis album Trio Jeepy.
Hinton twice received awards from the National Endowment for the Arts for his work as a jazz
educator: a music fellowship in 1977 and an NEA Jazz Master award in 1993.
[2]

According to a search of The Jazz Discography, Hinton is the most-recorded jazz musician of all
time, having appeared on 1,174 recording sessions.
[3][4]

Also a fine photographer, Hinton documented many of the great jazz musicians via photographs
he took over the course of his career.
[5]
Hinton was one of the best friends of jazz trumpeterLouis
Armstrong.
[citation needed]

Hinton died in Queens, New York City, New York at age 90.
Discography[edit]
As leader[edit]
1955: Milt Hinton Bethlehem High Fidelity
1955: Basses Loaded
1955: Milt Hinton Quartet Bethlehem High Fidelity
1956 : The Rhythm Section Epic
1975: Here Swings the Judge Progressive
1977: The Trio (Chiaroscuro Records)
1984: Back to Bass-ics Progressive
1984: The Judge's Decision Exposure
1990: Old Man Time Chiaroscuro
1994: The Trio: 1994 Chiaroscuro
1994: Laughing at Life
As sideman[edit]
With John Benson Brooks
Alabama Concerto (Riverside, 1958) with Cannonball Adderley
With Kenny Burrell
Blue Bash! (Verve, 1963) with Jimmy Smith
With Curtis Fuller
Images of Curtis Fuller (Savoy, 1960)
Cabin in the Sky (Impulse!, 1962)
With Dizzy Gillespie
The Complete RCA Victor Recordings (Bluebird, 1937-1949, [1995])
With Lionel Hampton
You Better Know It!!! (Impulse!, 1965)
With Langston Hughes
Weary Blues (MGM, 1958)
With Milt Jackson
The Ballad Artistry of Milt Jackson (Atlantic, 1959)
With Willis Jackson
Cool "Gator" (Prestige, 1960)
Blue Gator (Prestige, 1960)
Cookin' Sherry (Prestige, 1960)
Together Again! (Prestige, 1960 [1965]) - with Jack McDuff
Together Again, Again (Prestige, 1960 [1966]) - with Jack McDuff
With Elvin Jones
Time Capsule (Vanguard, 1977)
With Mundell Lowe
New Music of Alec Wilder (Riverside, 1956)
With Johnny Lytle
Got That Feeling! (Riverside, 1963)
With Helen Merrill
Helen Merrill with Strings (EmArcy, 1955)
Merrill at Midnight (EmArcy, 1957)
With Charles Mingus
The Complete Town Hall Concert (Blue Note, 1962 [1994])
Charles Mingus and Friends in Concert (Columbia, 1972)
With Ike Quebec
Heavy Soul (Blue Note, 1961)
It Might as Well Be Spring (Blue Note 1961)
Easy Living (Blue Note, 1962)
With Sonny Stitt
Broadway Soul (Colpix, 1965)
The Matadors Meet the Bull (Roulette, 1965)
I Keep Comin' Back! (Roulette, 1966)
With Ralph Sutton and Ruby Braff
Remembered (Arbors Records)
With Sylvia Syms
Sylvia Is! (Prestige, 1965)
With Clark Terry
The Happy Horns of Clark Terry (Impulse!, 1964)
With Ben Webster
The Soul of Ben Webster (Verve, 1958)