Wilbur Ware

Who was Wilbur Ware?

Wilbur Bernard Ware was an American jazz double-bassist known for his creative use of time and space, his angular, unorthodox solo technique and a distinctive percussive sound. He was a staff bassist at Riverside Records in the 1950s, playing on many of the label's sessions, including LPs with such widely diverse stylists as J.R. Monterose, Toots Thielemans, Tina Brooks, Zoot Sims, and Grant Green.

Born in Chicago, Ware taught himself to play banjo and bass and he approached the double bass not only as a melodic and rhythmic instrument but also as a percussive instrument. In the 1940s, he worked with Stuff Smith, Sonny Stitt and Roy Eldridge. He recorded with Sun Ra in the early 1950s. Later in the 1950s, settling in New York, Ware played with Eddie Vinson, Art Blakey, and Buddy DeFranco. His only album recorded under his own name during his lifetime was The Chicago Sound, from 1957, while Ware was signed to Riverside. In 1958 Ware was one of 57 jazz musicians to appear in the photograph A Great Day in Harlem. In 2012, Ware's widow produced and released a superb collection of previously unreleased studio tracks made with trumpeter Donald Cherry under the title,"Wilbur Ware: Super Bass." The CD also contains a 5-minute track with Ware describing his early years in music and his life in jazz.