George Cables

George Cables is one of the pianists who helped define modern mainstream jazz piano, a fluidly harmonic post-bop stylist prized as both a leader and a sideman. Born in 1944 in Brooklyn, he studied at the High School of Performing Arts and Mannes College before coming up in the New York scene of the 1960s, playing alongside Billy Cobham and Lenny White in the group The Jazz Samaritans. He became one of the most sought-after accompanists of his era, holding chairs with Art Blakey, Sonny Rollins, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Dexter Gordon, Woody Shaw, and Bobby Hutcherson, and earning renown as Art Pepper's favorite pianist during their late-1970s partnership. As a leader he recorded dozens of albums, among them Cables' Vision (1979) and Phantom of the City (1985), and his compositions have been widely covered by other jazz musicians. He is also a longtime member of the all-star group The Cookers.