Red Callender

Red Callender (Haynesville (Virginia), 8 March 1916 - Saugus (California), March 8, 1992) was a great jazz bassist and jazz-tubaïst. He is best known for his work for The Duke Ellington Orchestra and The Louis Armstrong all-stars.

In the early 1940s, he played in The Lee & Lester Young Band and later started his own trio. Later in the 1940s he works together with Dexter Gordon, Charlie Parker, Nat King Cole, Erroll Garner and many others jazz. After leading his own trio in Hawaii, Callender returned back to Los Angeles, where he was one of the first African American artists in commercial Studios.

Callender's highlight was Speak Low from 1954 which he as one of the first tubasolos played on a jazz album. His highlights were his recordings with Art Tatum, for The Tatum Group masterpieces (1955-1956) and his recordings with Charles Mingus at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1964.