Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Born Charles Isaacs on March 28, 1923 in Akron, Ohio, he initially played trumpet and tuba as a child before settling on bass. He served in the Army during World War II, where he took lessons from Wendell Marshall. After the war he played with Tiny Grimes from 1948–50, Earl Bostic from 1951 to 1953, Paul Quinichette in 1953, and Bennie Green in 1956.

Ike, as he was affectionately called, led a local band in Ohio in 1956, then played for two years in the trio behind Carmen McRae, whom he married late in the decade. He went on to work with Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, then with Count Basie, Gloria Lynne, and Erroll Garner in the Sixties,

With his own small groups he recorded only once as a leader, At The Pied Piper in 1967 for RGB Records. On this recording he plays in a trio with Jack Wilson on piano and Jimmie Smith on drums. As a coleader he recorded two albums with Maxine Sullivan.

As a sideman he recorded twenty-six albums with Count Basie, Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, Roy Brown, Ray Bryant, Harry Edison, Eddie Lockjaw Davis, Pee Wee Erwin, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Erroll Garner, Bennie Green, Al Grey, Jon Hendricks, Carmen McRae, Big Miller, Esther Phillips, Dan Wall, Jack Wilson, and Joe Williams.

Bassist Ike Isaacs died on February 27, 1981.

CALIFORNIA JAZZ FOUNDATION

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