Alabama Music Hall of Fame, 2/22/08
Photos courtesy of Dave Swan and Janet Stevenson
Bassist Cleveland "Cleve" Eaton is a recognized name in the jazz world, as a producer, composer, arranger, and for his incredible performances with the Ike Cole Trio, Donald Byrd-Pepper Adams Quintet, the Larry Novak Trio, and over thirty recordings in his ten years with the Ramsey Lewis Trio, which included four gold singles, including Hang on Sloopy and Wade in the Water. There were four gold albums, including Solar Wind and Sun Goddess.
Eaton has played on notable recording sessions with nearly all genres – jazz with John Klemmer and Bunky Green, R&B with the Dells and Bobby Rush, pop with Minnie Riperton, Jerry Butler and Rotary Connection, big band with Henry Mancini, Frank Sinatra, Joe Williams, Billy Eckstein, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald and many more. During his stint with Count Basie Orchestra, Eaton was dubbed “the Count’s Bassist†and made more than ten recordings with Count Basie. Since 1974, he has performed and toured with his own group, Cleve Eaton and Co. Since 2004, the name of the band has been Cleve Eaton and the Alabama All Stars.
Eaton’s numerous honors include his induction into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, the Playboy Jazz Poll, Canada’s Cultural Enhancement Award and the Achievement Award at the Count Basie Tribute Concert. He was nominated to the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 1993 and inducted in 2008. He received the Governor’s Arts Award 1995 (Alabama) and the Don Redman Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004.
Cleve resides in Birmingham, Alabama, and is available for gigs worldwide. For further information or to contact, see his website http://www.clevelandeaton.com