Ben Tucker

Benjamin Mayer "Ben" Tucker ( born December 13, 1930 in Nashville, Tennessee, † June 4, 2013 on Hutchinson Iceland, Georgia ) was an American jazz bassist and composer.

Career

Tucker studied 1948/49, tuba and joined the Tennessee State University with a Master's from. He then went back to his native town, where he played two years in the club. In the 1950s, he worked for several years in Los Angeles, initially in the band of Warne Marsh, short for Art Pepper, and then with Carl Perkins. He went in 1959 to New York, where he played among others with Roland Hanna; then he accompanied singer Chris Connor and formed a duo with Freddie Gambrell. In the 1960s he worked with Herbie Mann and Billy Taylor in the 1970s with Yusef Lateef, Marian McPartland, Illinois Jacquet and Pat Martino. He also took on record with Gerry Mulligan, Lou Donaldson, Dexter Gordon, Grant Green, Gil Evans, and under his own name. His biggest hit was Comin 'Home Baby! 1961; the song he wrote with Bob Dorough, was a success title for Mel Tormé and was also recorded by Quincy Jones, Hank Jones and Michael Bublé.

Besides music was Tucker's golf great passion. He died in June 2013 in a traffic accident when the driven him golf cart was rammed by another vehicle.

Lexical entries

• Carlo Bohländer et al: Reclams jazz leader. Stuttgart, Reclam, 1977