Charlie Biddle

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Charlie Biddle otherwise known as Charles Reed Biddle (July 28, 1926 – February 4, 2003) was a Canadian jazz bassist.

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, Biddle lived the majority of his life in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, however he did not become a Canadian citizen until his last remaining years. After completing military duties in the US Armed Forces during the second world war, he went on to study at Temple University in Philadelphia. In 1948, he toured with the group Vernon Isaac's Three Jacks and a Jill in Montreal. Fascinated by the fact that in Canada, particularly Quebec, you would see black jazz musicians playing along side white jazz musicians who were the best of friends. Not use to the opened mindedness of the people of Canada, the excepting of people of all colors and races, he decided to settle down in Quebec, and fell in love with a French Canadian woman. The two eventually married and raise four children, three daughters and a son.

Biddle was employed as a car salesman from 1954 to 1972, while performing with the pianist Charlie Ramsey, Milt Sealey, Alfie Wade, Sadik Hakim, and Stan Patrick in local Montreal nightclubs. As a promoter, he booked musicians Johnny Hodges, John Coltrane, Pepper Adams, Bill Evans, Art Farmer, Tommy Flanagan andThad Jones to perform in Montreal. He performed off and on with the guitarist Nelson Symonds between 1959 and 1978. Between 1961 and 1963 they performed together under Biddle's leadership at Dunn's, La Tete de L'art, etc.; and under Symonds' leadership at the Black Bottom from 1964 to 1968. As a duo they performed at several resort communities in the Laurentian's between 1974 and 1978.

He was a huge supporter and promoter, as well as pioneer, of Jazz music in Montreal. He frequently organized outdoor festivals of local jazz musicians particularly Jazz Chez Nous, a 3-day Jazz Festival in 1979 and another in 1983 which laid the foundation for the Montreal International Jazz Festival, the biggest Jazz festival in Canada, and one of the biggest Jazz festivals in the world.

In 1981 he lent his name to a Jazz club in downtown Montreal on Aylmer Street (corner President Kennedy), which became known as Biddle's (now known as House of Jazz) and was featured in the Bruce Willis film The Jackal. Because of the success that he made at the club named after him, Charlie Biddle and the club became synonymous with jazz in the city of Montreal during his lifetime and after it. When performing at the club he would use the title, 'Biddle on the fiddle', and led trios at the club on a regular basis. The pianist's he played with was the great Oliver Jones, Wray Downes, and Jon Ballantyne. He played at the club weekly up until and months before his death on February 4, 2003, in his Montreal home surrounded by his family. Ironically, he did not become a Canadian citizen until the year 2000.

He played on LPs with Milt Sealey, Ted Curson, and Oliver Jones. He also performed on the big-screen in such feature films as The Whole Nine Yards, 2000; The Moderns, 1988; and the French Canadian film Les Portes Tournantes, 1988.

Biddle received the Oscar Peterson prize in 2000, was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 2002, and was honored with the Prix Calixa-Lavallee in 2003. The Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society stated that: "Without him, Québecers might not have developed their love for jazz that has made Montreal a host of one of the greatest jazz festivals in the world."

1 Album or CD's
2 See also
3 External links
4 References

[edit] Album or CD's

Charlie Biddle: his first and only self-titled album

Live at the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal, 1983.
Live at Biddle's jazz and ribs. Oliver Jones trio, 1983.
In good company, Downes, Jones, O'Neal piano, Muhammad Drums, Ring guitar, 1996.