[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 76 (Thursday, June 5, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1140]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      CELEBRATING THE LEGACY OF ADOLPHUS ANTHONY ``DOC'' CHEATHAM

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JOHN CONYERS, JR.

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, June 5, 1997

  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening to pay tribute to 
Adolphus Anthony ``Doc'' Cheatham who died Monday, June 2, at age 91, 
at George Washington University Hospital in Washington, DC. A native of 
Nashville, TN, Cheatham would have celebrated his 92nd birthday on June 
13. He had just completed an engagement at Blues Alley, a world 
renowned jazz club.
  The Nation and the African-American community have lost a major 
cultural figure. Cheatham was one of the few musicians still active 
whose career reached all the way back to the beginnings of the jazz 
revolution in American music. He could count the legendary Joe ``King'' 
Oliver as a mentor, and the even more legendary Louis ``Pops'' 
Armstrong as a peer.
  It was remarkable and quite wonderful that ``Doc,'' as he was 
affectionately known, was still performing on so demanding an 
instrument as the trumpet at 91. At the time of his passing, Cheatham 
was touring with 23-year-old trumpet phenomenon Nicholas Payton. Their 
performances, as well as their recently released recording, were widely 
praised in both the general and the jazz press.
  Washington Post writer Richard Harrington characterized their efforts 
as a ``cross-generational communion full of timeless verve and abundant 
joy.'' His colleague Geoffrey Himes noted that ``despite their immense 
age difference Cheatham and Payton find common ground in their shared 
affection for Louis Armstrong.'' Whitney Balliet of the New Yorker 
described Cheatham's playing as ``complete and jubilant.''
  Early in his career, Cheatham played saxophone, in addition to cornet 
and trumpet. In fact, on one of his earliest recordings he accompanied 
the classic blues singer Ma Rainey exclusively on soprano saxophone. 
Accompanying blues and jazz vocalists was one of Cheatham's strengths. 
He was a favored accompanist for such outstanding vocal stylists as 
Bessie Smith, Ethel Waters, and Billie Holiday.
  For most of his career, Cheatham was highly regarded as a first chair 
trumpeter. At one point or another Cheatham was associated with just 
about every significant big band, including those of Chick Webb, Cab 
Calloway, Teddy Wilson, Benny Carter, Benny Goodman, and Count Basie. 
He was also active in Latin Jazz, performing with the likes of Perez 
Prado, Tito Puente, Ricardo Rey, and the great Machito. His small group 
associations included stints with the Eddie Heywood Sextet, Herbie 
Mann, and the Wilbur DeParis' ``New'' New Orleans Jazz Band.
  Late in his career, Cheatham remade himself as a jazz soloist, 
vocalist stylist, and raconteur. He became a regular on the festival 
circuit. Among the club venues he frequently played was New York City's 
Sweet Basil, where he held forth at Sunday Brunch nearly every Sunday 
for 17 years. He was fond of telling his audiences that he had 
earmarked on his second career.
  Cheatham was one of the most beloved figures in Jazz and a true 
national treasure. He was a link to the beginning, a first person 
witness who had also been an important practitioner from the very early 
days of Jazz. He breathed the essence of Jazz through his horn and did 
so with a great sweetness and humility. The jazz world was fortunate 
that he was active for so long and that he was able to pass along his 
knowledge and understanding to artists who will carry the flame of Jazz 
into the next century.

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