Leonard Gaskin
Birth nameLeonard Gaskin
Born(1920-08-25)August 25, 1920
OriginNew York City, United States
DiedJanuary 24, 2009(2009-01-24) (aged 88)
GenresJazz
Instrument(s)Bass

Leonard Gaskin (August 25, 1920 – January 24, 2009)[1] was an American jazz bassist born in New York City.[2]

Gaskin played on the early bebop scene at Minton's and Monroe's in New York in the early 1940s. In 1944 he took over Oscar Pettiford's spot in Dizzy Gillespie's band,[3] and followed it with stints in bands led by Cootie Williams, Charlie Parker, Don Byas, Eddie South, Charlie Shavers, and Erroll Garner.[2] In the 1950s, he played with Eddie Condon's Dixieland band, and played with Ruby Braff, Bud Freeman, Rex Stewart, Cootie Williams, Billie Holiday, Stan Getz, J.J. Johnson, and Miles Davis.[2]

In the 1960s he became a studio musician, playing on numerous gospel and pop records.[2] In the 1970s and 1980s he returned to jazz, playing with Sy Oliver, Panama Francis, and The International Art of Jazz.

Gaskin became involved in educating young people later in his life.[2] He performed and shared his knowledge with elementary students with the Good Groove Band (Leonard Gaskin, Melissa Lovaglio, Bob Emry, Michael Howell) at Woodstock Elementary School in Woodstock, New York in 2003.

Gaskin died of natural causes on January 24, 2009.[1]

Discography

As leader

  • 1961 – Leonard Gaskin at the Jazz Band Ball, (Swingville)
  • 1962 – Darktown Strutter's Ball, (Swingville)

As sideman

References

Footnotes
  1. 1 2 "Leonard Gaskin †". Doublebassguide.com. 2 February 2009. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 947. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
  3. ↑ DeVeaux, Scott; Kernfeld, Barry (2002). "Gaskin, Leonard (Ogarro)". In Barry Kernfeld (ed.). The new Grove dictionary of jazz, vol. 2 (2nd ed.). New York: Grove's Dictionaries Inc. p. 20. ISBN 1561592846.
General references
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