Buddy Collette - The Classic Albums (2024)

William Marcel Collette, born in Los Angeles on August 6, 1921, was raised in Watts, surrounded by people of all different ethnicities. He lived in a house built by his father in an area with cheap, plentiful land. For his elementary education, he attended Ninety-Sixth Street School because it allowed black students. Collette began playing piano at age ten, at his grandmother's request. His love for music came not only from his community, but from his parents - his father played piano and his mother sang. In middle school, he began playing the saxophone. That same year, he formed his first band. The following year, Collette started a band with Ralph and Raleigh Bledsoe. Together they played for less than a dollar each at parties put on by people in the area on Saturday nights. Between 1955 and 1960 Buddy Collette released a number of superb albums on which he acted as leader, put out by a range of different labels (unlike many of his contemporaries, Collette was never associated with one specific record company), such as Contempo, Bel Canto, Speciality, ABC, and EmArcy. He also worked alongside a number of back-up players on these records, but rarely worked with the same bands regularly. It is from this fertile period for Buddy Collette that the eight original albums that make up this collection are drawn. Featuring such fine works as, Tanganyika, Man of Many Parts, Calm, Cool & Collette, Everybody's Buddy and Nice Day with Buddy Collette, this 4CD set provides a great starting place for new adherents to this great man’s music and talents, as well as a delightful reminder for those already somewhat versed.