March 23, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: webmaster@clevelandeaton.com

Concert to Benefit Bassist Cleveland Eaton

Jazz bassist Cleveland "Cleve" Eaton will perform at 6:30 pm at a benefit concert on Saturday, March 28, 2009, at Open Door Cafe in Birmingham, Alabama.  Admission is $20.00. Bands will play throughout the day beginning at 2 pm. Proceeds from the concert will assist Mr. Eaton with treatment for oral cancer.

Eaton, 69, is a veteran of the Count Basie Orchestra, the Ramsey Lewis Trio, and countless sessions and tours with other artists. He is also known as a producer, arranger, composer, publisher, and head of his own Birmingham-based record company. Born in Fairfield, Alabama, he now lives in Birmingham and performs with his group, Cleve Eaton and the Alabama All Stars. He was inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 2008.

Eaton began playing piano at age five, took up the bass at fifteen, and after earning a degree in music from Tennessee A and I State University, he embarked on a career that has spanned more than four decades. He was nicknamed "The Count's Bassist" during his 16-year stint with the Basie band. He joined Lewis in the 1960s and appeared on 30 of the band's recordings, including hits like "Hang On Sloopy" and "Wade in the Water."

Eaton has accompanied scores of other performers, including Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Minnie Riperton, Bunky Green, the Ike Cole Trio, and the Donald Byrd-Pepper Adams Quintet. His own recording of "Bama Boogie Woogie" became a major hit in Europe and Australia.

For more information about Cleveland Eaton, visit http://www.clevelandeaton.com.