Cleveland Eaton -

Cleveland Eaton (August 31, 1939 – July 5, 2020) was an American jazz-funk bassist and arranger who did 1960s stints behind Donald Byrd and Ramsey Lewis. As a bandleader, he made the 1973–79 albums Half and Half, Plenty Good Eaton, Instant Hip, and Keep Love Alive.

Background

Cleveland Josephus Eaton II was born on August 31, 1939, in Fairfield, Alabama. His father, Cleveland Josephus Eaton, worked as a steelworker, and his mother, Ethel Shaw Eaton, played piano. The Eaton household also included eldest sister LaVergne Eaton Comer, a pianist and music teacher; and sister Ethel Eaton, a pianist and vocalist.

Eaton started on piano at age five, then took up saxophone and trumpet by age ten. His music teacher, John Springer, introduced him to tuba and string bass at Fairfield Industrial High School. Eaton attended Tennessee Agricultural and Industrial State University on a full music scholarship and played in a college jazz group. He earned a bachelor’s degree in music at the Nashville school.

Eaton moved to Chicago after college and entered the city’s club circuit as a bassist. Bandleader Isaac “Ike” Cole heard him at a jam session on his first night in Chicago and hired him for a working trio. Eaton spent roughly eighteen months with the Ike Cole Trio. He then joined the Donald Byrd–Pepper Adams Quintet for a 1961 engagement with pianist Herbie Hancock and drummer Teddy Robinson. The quintet taped a live set at Jorgie’s Jazz Club in St. Louis during a June 1961 engagement.

Sideman Roles and Credits Through 1972

In 1964, Cleveland Easton joined the Ramsey Lewis Trio for a seven-year run. He shared a co-arranger credit with Charles Stepney on Maiden Voyage and played double bass on the Stepney-produced Cadet album Mother Nature’s Son.

Saxophonist Bunky Green credited Eaton on Testifyin’ Time and Playin’ for Keeps, two Chicago dates from the 1965–66 Argo/Cadet cycle. The Soulful Strings credited Eaton on bass for Groovin’ with the Soulful Strings, a Richard Evans-directed Cadet studio project. Stepney paired Eaton with drummer Maurice White and pianist Ramsey Lewis on the 1970 Minnie Riperton album Come to My Garden. Singer Jerry Butler credited Eaton on bass and Morris Jennings on drums on the 1971 Mercury album The Sagittarius Movement. The Dells used Eaton in the Stepney period on the 1972 Cadet album Sweet as Funk Can Be.

Tenor saxophonists Dexter Gordon and Gene Ammons recorded a July 1970 North Park Hotel set in Chicago with Eaton, pianist John Young, and drummer Steve McCall. Prestige issued the afternoon material on The Chase!. Ammons and saxophonist James Moody recorded another November 1971 North Park Hotel concert with Eaton, pianist Jodie Christian, and drummer Marshall Thompson. Prestige issued that set later as Chicago Concert. Saxophonist John Klemmer used Eaton in early Chicago groups and credited him on the Cadet album And We Were Lovers.

Half and Half

Cleveland Eaton released his debut album, Half and Half, in 1973 on Gamble after an initial private-press issue on Cle An Thair.

The album frames bass-led jazz-funk with soul repertory, compact brass figures, flute passages, and strings. Eaton joins keyboardist Odell Brown, drummer Morris Jennings, guitarists Larry Blasingaine and Victor Comer, reedist Artee Duke Payne Jr. (tenor saxophone, flute), trombonist John Watson, and string player Ed Green (violin, viola), with arrangements by Richard Evans.

“Keep It Funky” simmers through a low-slung lead figure and clipped ensemble accents. “Day Dreaming” glides through soft flute lines and a restrained guitar figure. “Here Comes Funky Lou” swerves from a grounded low-end pattern into violin-led upper-register bursts. “Betcha by Golly Wow” lingers over an acid-toned synth bed and harmonica color. “People Make the World Go Round” punctuates its brass with sharp percussive breaks. “John’s Groove” coils through serrated guitar phrases and hard horn lines. “Ah Movin’ On” erupts into a freer closing coda built around a “Wade in the Water” quotation.

A1. “Keep It Funky” (5:20) – Eaton, Comer
A2. “Day Dreaming” (3:36) – Aretha Franklin
A3. “Here Comes Funky Lou” (4:00) – Eaton, Jennings
A4. “Betcha By Golly Wow” (4:15) – Linda Creed, Thom Bell
A5. “People Make the World Go Round” (5:34) – Creed, Bell

B1. “Slipping Into Darkness” (7:15) – War
B2. “Missing You” (3:17) – Johnny McFarland, Luther Ingram
B3. “John’s Groove” (2:55) – Eaton, John Watson
B4. “The Love Gangster” (3:20) – Bill Wyman, Stephen Stills
B5. “Lie” (2:15) – Eaton, Watson
B6. “Ah Movin’ On” (4:00) – Eaton

Half and Half appeared with a cover illustration of Eaton aflight as a winged half-man/half-bull figure.

Plenty Good Eaton

Cleveland Eaton released his second album, Plenty Good Eaton, in 1975 on Black Jazz.

Eaton wrote and arranged six of the seven tracks; M. Anderson and Eaton wrote “Are You Out There Somewhere Caring,” with special assistance from Ed Green and Morris Jennings. The album places Eaton across acoustic bass, electric bass, and vocals, with guitarist Ernest Johnson, keyboardists Odell Brown and Kenneth Prince, percussionist Morris Jennings, vibraphonist Bobby Christian, and flutist/percussionist Derf Raheen. The horn-and-reed personnel includes reedists Arie Brown, Artee Duke Payne, and Edwin Daugherty, trombonists John Watson and Steve Galloway, and string player Ed Green.

“Chi-Town Theme” struts through bright soundtrack-styled vamps and direct rhythmic placement. “Keena” bobs under sweeping strings, then clears space for a saxophone solo. “Moe, Let’s Have a Party” leans into party-ready call phrases and thick low-end emphasis. “Are You Out There Somewhere Caring” drops the lights through vocal phrasing and slower romantic pacing. “Kaiser 405” shuffles through an upfront walking line and brassy chart work. “All Your Lover, All Day, All Night” chants through background voices, disco strings, and guitar-marked accents. “Hamburg 302” closes the album with a jazz-leaning ensemble cut.

A1. “Chi-Town Theme” (5:03) – Eaton
A2. “Keena” (5:12) – Eaton
A3. “Moe, Let’s Have a Party” (4:33) – Eaton
A4. “Are You Out There Somewhere Caring” (7:23) – M. Anderson, Eaton

B1. “Kaiser 405” (6:41) – Eaton
B2. “All Your Lover, All Day, All Night” (9:26) – Eaton
B3. “Hamburg 302” (8:37) – Eaton

Sessions occurred on July 15, 1974, at Chess Recording Studio, and mixdown took place at Sigma Sound in Philadelphia. Eaton’s Prod. Inc. produced the album.

Plenty Good Eaton appeared in a menu-style cover package that cast the songs and credits as entree listings. Black Jazz lifted “Chitown Theme” as a 1975 single (b/w “Chitown Theme”).

Instant Hip

Cleveland Eaton released his third album, Instant Hip, in 1976 on Ovation.

The album builds a jazz-funk setting around Eaton’s electric bass, jazz cello, and vocals, with drummer Nathaniel Miller, percussionist/vocalist Atif Adul Razzaq, keyboardist/vocalist Kennith Tally (electric piano, clavinet, string machine), flutist/vocalist Vickie Gayle, and guitarist/vocalist Earl “Country Boy” Williams. The brass section pairs trumpeter Hudie Henderson with trombonists Archie Cooper and Kennith Judkins.

“Funky Funky Music” clips its title phrase into a direct vocal-rhythm cut. “The Funky Cello” charges through a low-slung dance vamp with cello placed as the lead marker. “Bama Boogie Woogie” stomps in the same club-facing zone, with brassy punctuation and a compact refrain. “Pure Love” recedes from the heavier title pieces into smoother vocal placement. “Whammy Ommy” chants through clipped syllables and repeat-pattern phrasing. “Natural Rhythm” closes the set in lean short-form cadence.

A1. “Bo’s Blue” (5:23)
A2. “Pure Love” (3:41)
A3. “Funky Funky Music” (3:58)
A4. “Reason’s” (4:21)
A5. “Cleve’s Jam” (5:51)

B1. “Whammy Ommy” (5:37)
B2. “I Feel Trouble on It’ Way Again” (5:08)
B3. “The Funky Cello” (4:19)
B4. “Bama Boogie Woogie” (5:29)
B5. “Natural Rhythm” (2:35)

Bama Music Inc. produced Instant Hip, and Judson photographed the cover package.

In September 1978, “Bama Boogie Woogie” reappeared as a UK Gull single (b/w “The Funky Cello”) and reached No. 35 on the Official Singles Chart.

Keep Love Alive

Cleveland Eaton and The Garden of Eaton released Keep Love Alive in November 1979 on Ovation Records. The album frames Eaton’s electric bass with talk box inside horn-and-string arrangements and vocal-led funk/soul material.

Eaton plays electric bass with talk box, with drummer/percussionist Alejo Poveda, guitarists Danny Leake and Stephan Harris, keyboardist Timothy Tobias, percussionist Atif Abdur Razzaq, and flutist/percussionist Derf Raheen. The expanded personnel includes violinist Ed Green, horn player Rodney Clark, saxophonist Sonny Seals, string player Edmund Bauer, The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and vocalists Beverly McLin, Cinnamon, Henry Hicks Jr., Kay Reed, Mae Koen, Mattie Butler, and Ricky Linton.

“The Birmingham Train” jolts through women’s chant replies and a train-whistle cue. “Get Off” struts past staccato chant phrases into a flute-marked main section. “Free at Last” glides through a lush instrumental chart and half-time sway. “I’m Lonely Tonight” breathes through close vocal placement and a slow-jog cadence. “Burnin’” rolls through weighty midtempo accents. “I Don’t Know” sways around harmony-led vocal phrases. “Flyin’ High” steps through compressed rhythmic patterns and Zodiac-sign voiceovers. The title song answers its vocal parts inside slow dramatic scoring.

A1. “The Birmingham Train” (6:10) – Eaton
A2. “I’m Lonely Tonight” (3:37) – C. Eaton, M. Eaton
A3. “Burnin” (4:48) – Tobias, Surrett
A4. “I Don’t Know” (4:50) – Razzaq

B1. “Get Off” (5:08) – Williams, Green, Hicks
B2. “Flyin’ High” (4:56) – Eaton, Tally
B3. “Free at Last” (3:53) – Eaton
B4. “Keep Love Alive” (4:55) – Green, Surrett, Hicks

Cleveland Eaton and Ed Green produced the album and arranged the rhythm-and-vocal material. Sessions occurred at P.S. Recording Studio in Chicago with engineers Danny Leake, Denby Allen, Paul Serrano, and Scott Rowley. Jimmy Dolan Jr. remixed the album with assistant engineers Carmen Halsell, Clyde Brown, and Greg Whitehead.

Jim Schubert and AGI designed the album package, with photography by John Alderson. Ovation issued “I’m Lonely Tonight” as a February 1979 single (b/w “Birmingham Train”). Ovation also issued “Get Off” as a 12-inch single (b/w “I’m Lonely Tonight”) on Ovation 5002.

“Flyin’ High” also appears on Bama Boogie Woogie, a UK Eaton compilation on Miracle Records with “Chi-Town Theme” and five Instant Hip cuts, plus one new track, “West Coast Disco.”

Discography: