Hall Of Fame Jazz Musician Cleveland Eaton Was A Member Of Kappa Alpha Psi

Did you know that Hall of Fame jazz bassist Cleveland Eaton was a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.? Eaton was initiated through the Alpha Theta chapter at Tennessee State University in 1958, while earning his music degree at the historically Black institution.

Cleveland Josephus Eaton II was born on August 31, 1939, in Fairfield, Alabama. A natural musician, he mastered the piano, trumpet, and saxophone as a child before discovering the instrument that would define his career, the double bass, while in high school. He went on to study music at Tennessee State University in Nashville, then known as Tennessee A&I, where he played in the campus jazz group.

After college, Eaton moved to Chicago and broke into the professional scene with the Ike Cole Trio before joining the Ramsey Lewis Trio. His decade with Ramsey Lewis brought him national recognition, multiple gold records, and a Grammy for the 1974 hit “Sun Goddess.” He later spent 17 years anchoring the Count Basie Orchestra, where the bandleader famously dubbed him “the Count’s Bassist.”

A prolific artist in his own right, Eaton appeared on more than 100 albums and composed roughly 300 songs. His 1975 recording Plenty Good Eaton became a jazz-funk classic that artists still sample today, and his single “Bama Boogie Woogie” found a devoted following on dance charts overseas. Across his career he recorded with a who’s who of music, including Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, Dizzy Gillespie, Minnie Riperton, and the Chicago group Rotary Connection.

Eaton’s brilliance earned him lasting honors. He was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame in 1979 and the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 2008. He died on July 5, 2020, at the age of 80, leaving behind a legacy that embodies Kappa Alpha Psi’s founding aim of achievement in every field of human endeavor.

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