Bassist Julian Euell is one of the excellent players who came up studying modern jazz at New York City's Third Street Settlement House in the second half of the '40s. He might not be the first name to be dropped when jazz buffs begin a discussion of rhythm section players, but that type of patter is trumped by the fact that Charles Mingus -- one of the greatest bass players in the genre's history -- was a big fan of Euell. The Euell career starts off impressively with the bassist backing up brilliant players such as tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins and alto saxophonist Jackie McLean, sometimes in the company of drummer Art Taylor. But Euell also soon began a kind of on-again, off-again relationship with professional music that continued through his life, leaving the ranks of the gigging from 1949 through 1952 for a steady post office job.

He was also involved in music only part-time during some sections of the '50s, receiving a sociology degree from Columbia University during this decade as well as working as a counselor in Newark, NJ, youth programs. The former interest highly influenced his son, also named Julian Euell, who eventually became a sociology professor at Cornell University. Still, the bassist had time to play on great records and gigs in the '50s as well as to study with Mingus himself. In the late '50s Euell was active with two great pianists, Mal Waldron and Randy Weston, creating modern jazz that the bassist told critic and biographer Leonard Feather represented a high point in his career. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, Rovi