Neville Whitehead (bassist)
Encyclopedia
Neville Whitehead is a New Zealand
bassist
and luthier who was an active member of the British jazz fusion
community in the 1970s.
Whitehead played at times in Keith Tippett
's sextet in the late 1960s, including alongside Elton Dean
. He appears on The Keith Tippett Group's Dedicated To You, But You Weren't Listening (1971). Whitehead played live with Elton Dean, Robert Wyatt
and Marc Charig
in late 1970 and again alongside Wyatt on Wyatt's own The End of an Ear
(1970). Both of them played with Jean-Luc Ponty
, Don "Sugarcane" Harris, Michał Urbaniak, guitarist Terje Rypdal
and others at the 1971 Berlin Jazz Festival's New Violin Summit. Whitehead also appeared on Soft Machine
's BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert (1971), Harris' Sugar Cane's Got the Blues (1972) and on some tracks of the Neil Ardley
/Ian Carr
/Don Rendell
album Greek Variations (1970).
Whitehead was part of the Elton Dean Quartet in 1971 and appears on Elton Dean (a.k.a. Just Us; 1971). Whitehead remained with the band for live shows as Just Us in 1972. He later appeared on Isotope
's Deep End (1976).
Whitehead now lives in Australia, working as bass luthier.
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
bassist
Bassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
and luthier who was an active member of the British jazz fusion
Jazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
community in the 1970s.
Whitehead played at times in Keith Tippett
Keith Tippett
Keith Tippett is a British jazz pianist and composer.Tippett, the son of a local police officer, went to Greenway Boys Secondary Modern school in Southmead, Bristol. He formed his first jazz band called The KT7 whilst still at school and they performed numbers popular at the time by The Temperance...
's sextet in the late 1960s, including alongside Elton Dean
Elton Dean
Elton Dean was an English jazz musician who performed on alto saxophone, saxello and occasionally keyboard....
. He appears on The Keith Tippett Group's Dedicated To You, But You Weren't Listening (1971). Whitehead played live with Elton Dean, Robert Wyatt
Robert Wyatt
Robert Wyatt is an English musician, and founding member of the influential Canterbury scene band Soft Machine, with a long and distinguished solo career...
and Marc Charig
Marc Charig
Mark Charig is a British trumpeter and cornetist.He was particularly active in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when he played in settings as diverse as Long John Baldry's group, Bluesology, Soft Machine, and Keith Tippett's group and his Centipede big band...
in late 1970 and again alongside Wyatt on Wyatt's own The End of an Ear
The End of an Ear
The End of an Ear is the debut solo album by Soft Machine's Robert Wyatt.-Background:It was recorded in August 1970, while on a leave of absence from Soft Machine . Containing mostly free jazz and experimental music, with no lyrics , it is an unusual album...
(1970). Both of them played with Jean-Luc Ponty
Jean-Luc Ponty
Jean-Luc Ponty is a French virtuoso violinist and jazz composer.- Early years:Ponty was born into a family of classical musicians on 29 September 1942 in Avranches, France. His father taught violin, his mother taught piano...
, Don "Sugarcane" Harris, Michał Urbaniak, guitarist Terje Rypdal
Terje Rypdal
Terje Rypdal is a Norwegian guitarist and composer. Most of his music has been released on albums of the German record label ECM. Rypdal has collaborated both as a guitarist and as a composer with other ECM artists such as Ketil Bjørnstad and David Darling...
and others at the 1971 Berlin Jazz Festival's New Violin Summit. Whitehead also appeared on Soft Machine
Soft Machine
Soft Machine were an English rock band from Canterbury, named after the book The Soft Machine by William S. Burroughs. They were one of the central bands in the Canterbury scene, and helped pioneer the progressive rock genre...
's BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert (1971), Harris' Sugar Cane's Got the Blues (1972) and on some tracks of the Neil Ardley
Neil Ardley
Neil Richard Ardley was a prominent English jazz pianist and composer, who also made a name as the author of more than 100 popular books on science and technology, and on music.-Brief biography:...
/Ian Carr
Ian Carr
Ian Carr was a Scottish jazz musician, composer, writer, and educator.-Early years:Carr was born in Dumfries, Scotland, the elder brother of Mike Carr...
/Don Rendell
Don Rendell
Donald Percy 'Don' Rendell is an English jazz musician and arranger, specialising on tenor saxophone, but also playing soprano saxophone, flute, and clarinet....
album Greek Variations (1970).
Whitehead was part of the Elton Dean Quartet in 1971 and appears on Elton Dean (a.k.a. Just Us; 1971). Whitehead remained with the band for live shows as Just Us in 1972. He later appeared on Isotope
Isotope (band)
Isotope was a British jazz-rock band based around guitarist Gary Boyle.Boyle founded the band in June 1972 and a first album, Isotope, was largely composed by keyboardist Brian Miller. Jeff Clyne was on bass and Nigel Morris was on drums. However, Clyne and Miller left in 1974 to be replaced by...
's Deep End (1976).
Whitehead now lives in Australia, working as bass luthier.