Roosevelt "Baby Face" Willette (born September 11, 1933 - 1971) was a hard bop and soul-jazz musician most known for playing Hammond organ. It is unclear whether he was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, or New Orleans, Louisiana [1]
His mother was a missionary who played the piano in the church where his father was a minister. His musical roots are therefore in gospel and Baby Face started out playing the piano for various gospel groups, and spend his early career travelling across the United States, Canada and Cuba [2]. In Chicago he decided to switch from Gospel and Rhythm and Blues to playing in Jazz bands. He played piano with the bands of King Kolax, Joe Houston, Johnny Otis and Big Jay McNeely before switching to organ. In 1960 he arrived in New York City where he met Lou Donaldson and Grant Green and started become a performer on their albums. This led to Willette being signed to Blue Note Records and starting to record his debut album Face to Face. [2] Willette formed his own trio in 1963 and recorded two more albums for Argo [1]. He has a son named Kevin D. Bailey. Willette taught himself to play the piano and was inspired by Jimmy Smith's work, however his playing style is heavily influenced by gospel and soul jazz. His record Face to Face for Blue Note is easily one of the 10 best organ jazz records of all time. An enigma of sorts in the annals of jazz organ, Willette seemed to have vanished off the face of the earth. His death in 1971 is as much hearsay as fact.
Discography
Albums
- Face to Face (1961) Blue Note Records
- Stop & Listen (1961) Blue Note Records
- Mo' Rock (1964) MCA Records
- Behind The 8 Ball (1965) MCA Records
References
- ^ a b All Music Guide Biography "Baby Face" Willette Accessed: December 1, 2006
- ^ a b Robert Levin, Booklet of Face to Face
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