Red Callender born 6 March 1916

George Sylvester "Red" Callender (March 6, 1916 – March 8, 1992) was an American string bass and tuba player. He is perhaps best known as a jazz musician, but worked with an array of pop, rock and vocal acts as a member of The Wrecking Crew, a group of first-call session musicians in Los Angeles. Callender also co-wrote the 1959 top-10 hit "Primrose Lane". 

Callender was born in Haynesville, Virginia, United States. He got his nickname from his red hair, a product of 18th Century ancestors who had lived in Scotland but later made their way to Barbados in the Caribbean. He studied tuba, bass, trumpet and harmony as a boy and as early as 1933 was playing in bands in New Jersey. He moved to Los Angeles while still a teen-ager and made his recording debut with Louis Armstrong when he was 19. Although Callender said he never considered himself a teacher, in 1939 a determined 17-year-old boy asked Callender to teach him the bass. Callender charged the teen-ager $2 an hour, and after the lessons they would share ice cream and dreams. That student was Charles Mingus, and he said he wanted to become the best bass player in the world. 

Red with Erroll Garner 1947

In the early 1940s, Callender played in the Lester and Lee Young band, and then formed his own trio. In the 1940s, Callender recorded with Nat King Cole, Erroll Garner, Charlie Parker, Wardell Gray, Dexter Gordon, Uffe Baadh and many others. After a period spent leading a trio in Hawaii, Callender returned to Los Angeles, becoming one of the first black musicians to work regularly in the commercial studios, including backing singer Linda Hayes on two singles. 

Red Callender Trio 1946

He turned down an offer to work with the Louis Armstrong All-Stars due to low wages. Red was also asked to join the Count Basie Band, an updated Nat Cole Trio and a new band being formed by Lester Young. He loved them all, and was not unmindful of the prestige-by-association they represented. On the other hand, being his own man and staying in town enabled him to maintain his freelancer freedom and accept record dates with the likes of André Previn, Benny Goodman, and Charlie Parker.  As a result of his work in the 1940s, he was credited with a pioneering role in showing that the bass could be both a solo instrument and rhythmic instrument. “He brought out melodic aspects of the bass,” said Times jazz critic Leonard Feather. 

                                    

But when the recording ban was imposed on the industry in 1947, Red sensed it was time for a change of venue. He accepted a gig touring the Hawaiian Islands. Honolulu welcomed the entire band, including Gerald Wilson, Dexter Gordon, Ralph Bledsoe, and Irving Ashby. Around Oahu Red would also enjoy several new bands, a new romance, and a position in the bass section of the Honolulu Symphony. Local groups began hiring Red to write arrangements. He worked briefly in a record store and wrote “Pastel Symphony,” a full 45 minutes of “legit” music that has only been performed once. After living for three busy years in Hawaii, he felt the onset of “island fever,” and headed back across the Pacific. 

On his 1957 Crown LP Speaks Low, Callender was one of the earliest modern jazz tuba soloists. He often had bit parts as a musician and his music was featured on shows starring Carol Burnett, Danny Kaye, Flip Wilson, Sammy Davis Jr. and Jonathan Winters. His 1958 hit, “Primrose Lane,” later became the theme for Henry Fonda’s “Smith Family” television series. Keeping busy up until his death, some of the highlights of the bassist's later career include recording with Art Tatum and Jo Jones (1955–1956) for the Tatum Group, playing with Charles Mingus at the 1964 Monterey Jazz Festival, working with James Newton's avant-garde woodwind quintet (on tuba), and performing as a regular member of the Cheatham's Sweet Baby Blues Band. 

He also reached the top of the British pop charts as a member of B. Bumble and the Stingers. In November 1964, he was introduced and highlighted in performance with entertainer Danny Kaye, in a duet on the Fred Astaire introduced George and Ira Gershwin song, "Slap That Bass", for Kaye's CBS-TV variety show. 

In explaining why he titled his 1985 autobiography “Unfinished Dreams,” Callender told jazz critic Leonard Feather: “It’s not that I’m frustrated about anything. To this day, I’m learning about music. Basically, that’s why I’m still playing. I want to be a better musician--that’s the dream.” 

He last performed on New Year’s Eve in Santa Monica, said his wife, Mary Lou. The next day, Callender was hospitalized and underwent surgery for the thyroid cancer that had plagued him for several years, but he succumbed to the disease at his home in Saugus, California on March 8, 1992. He was 76. 

(Edited from Wikipedia, Los Angeles Times & Syncopated Times)