June 13, 1905 – June 2, 1997
from The Greenwood Project
Few musicians can claim a successful 70-year career, but Nashville native Doc Cheatham was still producing extraordinary albums at the age of 91. Cheatham began his performing career in Chicago in 1926 where he recorded (on the saxophone!) with Ma Rainey and sometimes stood in for Louis Armstrong on trumpet. In the 1930s, with the trumpet now his signature instrument, he performed in big bands led by Teddy Wilson, Benny Carter, and Cab Calloway. After World War II he played in several Latin-American groups before working with Herbie Mann and Benny Goodman, where he developed his reputation as a soloist. His expressive style involved the use of a cup mute and a stylish rough burr which intensified his elegant improvisations and what one critic called his “glorious high register.” Doc Cheatham played his last gig in 1997 at the famed Blues Alley in Washington, D.C. The next day the 92-year-old virtuoso suffered a stroke, which took his life soon afterward.
Doc Cheatham performing at Sweet Basil’s in New York City. (Photo by Ed Newman is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.)
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The Greenwood Project is a series of 160-word biographies of individuals who lie at rest in Mt. Ararat and Greenwood cemeteries, two historic African American burial grounds in Nashville, Tennessee. The project, which began in September 2014 (and is still available on Facebook, at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064806156276), shares the stories of more than 300 consequential individuals, primarily African American, who changed the course of city, state, and national history through their words and deeds. (All biographies were written by Kathy Lauder unless otherwise noted.)
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