Oscar Pettiford (September 30, 1922 – September 8, 1960) was an American jazz double bassist and composer. He was one of the earliest musicians to work in the bebop idiom.
Jazz bassist Christian McBride called Pettiford "probably the most important bass player of that bebop generation in terms of creating new language for the bass."
Early life
thumb|right|Pettiford (left) and Junior Raglin at the Aquarium of New York City, November 1946
Pettiford was born in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, United States.
He grew up playing in the family band, in which he sang and danced before switching to piano at the age of 12, then to double bass when he was 14. He first played the cello as a practical joke on his band leader Woody Herman. In the middle of a double bass solo, Pettiford surprised everyone by abruptly exiting the stage; soon thereafter, he further surprised Herman and the rest of his bandmates by returning to the bandstand with a cello, on which he played the remainder of his solo. Later, after suffering a broken arm in 1949, Pettiford found it impossible to play his bass, so he experimented with a cello a friend had lent him. Tuning it in fourths, like a double bass, but one octave higher, Pettiford found it possible to perform during his rehabilitation (during which time his arm was in a sling), and made his first recordings with the instrument in 1950. The cello thus became his secondary instrument, and he continued to perform and record with it throughout the remainder of his career.
Death
Pettiford died in 1960 in Copenhagen, shortly before his 38th birthday,