Charlie Drayton

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Charlie Drayton (Charles Henderson Drayton) was an American jazz bassist from Brooklyn who played and recorded from the late 1930s until his death in 1953.

Career
Drayton performed with many famous jazz artists, including Louis Jordan, Benny Carter, Dizzy Gillespie, Billie Holiday, Coleman Hawkins, Louis Armstrong, Ben Webster, and others. He was active during the bebop era and played in Jazz at the Philharmonic in 1946. He appeared on about 52 recording sessions from 1938 to 1953. Notably, he was the bassist on Ben Webster’s first recording session on February 8, 1944, in New York City, with Hot Lips Page, Clyde Hart, and Denzil Best. That session has been released several times; a 1993 Progressive Records CD titled The Horn features material from that period.

Family
Drayton was born in Brooklyn on May 5, 1919, to George Leslie Drayton and Albertha Eugena Bynoe, both of Barbados, who immigrated to the United States in 1907. He married Lois Ola Robinson (1922–1997), who had been Pearl Bailey’s hairdresser. Their son Bernie Drayton became a studio engineer and producer, notably working on John Coltrane’s The Olatunji Concert. Another son, Leslie Clem Drayton (born 1950), is a trumpet player and was an early member of Earth, Wind & Fire. Charlie Drayton’s grandson Charley Drayton (born 1965) is a drummer.

Death
Drayton died in Los Angeles on July 31, 1953. His death certificate lists an apparent suicide by strychnine poisoning, which he ingested at his home in the South Park neighborhood of Los Angeles (451 East 48th Street). He died at the Los Angeles County General Hospital.