Milt Hinton is still regarded as the Dean of jazz bass players. He was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi in 1910 and at the age of eleven moved to Chicago. At thirteen he began studying violin, but while attending high school he played bass horn, tuba, cello, and eventually bass violin.
During the late 20s and early 30s, Milt worked as a freelance musician in Chicago, performing with all the legendary jazz artists of those days. In l936, he joined Cab Calloway where he remained for fifteen years.
After leaving Calloway in the early 50s, Milt began working as a studio free-lancer in New York City. For two decades he played on thousands of jazz and popular records, on hundreds of jingles and film soundtracks, and on dozens of radio and television programs. Milt has accompanied virtually every jazz and popular artist from Ellington, Basie, Goodman, Mingus, and Coltrane, to Streisand, Midler, Manilow, and McCartney.
Milt also gained recognition as a photographer. He began snapping pictures of his friends in the 30s and over six decades his collection grew to more than 60,000 images. His photographs have been featured in dozens of shows around the world.
Milt published two books, "Bass Line: The Stories and Photographs of Milt Hinton", and "OverTime: The Jazz Photographs of Milt Hinton". A third will be published in the Fall of 2007. The documentary film "Keeping Time: The Life, Music and Photographs of Milt Hinton", was completed in 2002 is currently showing at film festivals both here and abroad.
Most importantly, Milt was a true humanitarian who dedicated his life to passing on what he had learned to younger generations. Milt became a pillar of the jazz community for the last half-century of a career which spanned more than seventy years. His generosity, his values, and his spirit touched thousands of people around the world. Our goal is to celebrate the essence of Milt Hinton's unique life and contributions.