Donald Bailey (musician)

Biography

Donald Bailey was born on March 26, 1933, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and taught himself to play the drums. His major career breakthrough came in jazz, and he is most recognized for his time as the drummer in Jimmy Smith’s organ trio from 1956 to 1964, as well as his contributions to The Three Sounds on Blue Note Records. While living in Los Angeles, he performed as a sideman with artists such as Sarah Vaughan, Carmen McRae, Hampton Hawes, Kenny Burrell, and Red Mitchell.

In the mid-1970s, he relocated to Japan and stayed there for five years. His 2006 recording, Blueprints of Jazz, Vol. 3, was released by Talking House Records in 2008, featuring trumpeter Charles Tolliver, saxophonist Odean Pope, pianist George Burton, and bassist Tyrone Brown. This album was part of the Blueprints of Jazz series, created and produced by Talking House Productions to highlight the histories and current work of significant but often overlooked jazz musicians who shaped the sounds of legends from the 1950s through the 1970s.

Producers Marc Weibel and Stephen Smith handled the recording and production. Bailey’s drumming also appeared on the soundtracks for the films Buck and the Preacher and Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. He continued performing in the San Francisco Bay Area into his late seventies, then moved to Montclair, California, not long before his death at age 80 in October 2013. He had struggled with asthma, seizures, and back problems.