Legendary Jazz Musician Cleve Eaton Dies At 80

BIRMINGHAM, AL — National Jazz Hall of Fame musician and Fairfield native Cleve Eaton died Sunday morning. He was 80 years old.

Eaton was a staple in the Birmingham music scene and on an international level, with a career that spanned more than 60 years. Eaton, regarded as one of the best bass players of his time, wrote more than 300 songs, and accompanied legendary musicians such as Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Frank Sinatra and Sarah Vaughn.

Born in Fairfield, Eaton earned a bachelor's degree in music from Tennessee Agricultural & Industrial University, then moved to Chicago where he played with the Ike Cole Trio and the Ramsey Lewis Trio.

Eaton won a Grammy Award for the song "Sun Goddess" with the Ramsey Lewis Trio, and was part of multiple gold records with the band during his 10-year-stint. Eaton then went on to play in the famed Count Basie Orchestra for 17 years.

Eaton was inducted into the National Jazz Hall of Fame in 1979.

Longtime Birmingham DJ and music historian Lee Shook said Eaton's contributions go far beyond the Birmingham jazz scene.

"I’m just heartbroken over his death, even though I knew he had been in bad shape for a long time and was probably not long for this world," Shook said. "He’s just not the type of person or figurehead you can replace, and it’s just a tremendous loss for the music community here."

Shook said getting to know Eaton while working at Birmingham's Open Door Cafe where Eaton played every Sunday for more than five years was a true gift in his life. "Watching Cleve play was something else entirely, and a memory I will always cherish, not only because of how impressive he was as a bass player and musician, and the monumental musical vocabulary he could effortlessly employ at any given moment, but also just getting to be around him as a person and hearing him talk about his life. He was truly from another era, and had so many incredible stories, and when he spoke you felt like you were listening to some side stage conversation or 'jazz talk' that you might hear between musicians at the Village Vanguard in New York or the Blue Note in Chicago in the 50s or 60s."

Shook added, "He was our bridge to the giants of jazz, and was one himself, so it really feels like the end of an era, as he really lent so much gravitas to our entire city and so many of the amazing musicians from around here who got to play with him. Hopefully that legacy will live on through them as well, but there will never be another Cleve Eaton."