In 1978, Cheatham was invited to lead the jazz program at
University of California, San Diego. In 1979 he began to direct the school's African American and jazz performance programs. He retired in 2005.[3]
Taking advantage of the
G.I. Bill, Cheatham was able to attend the
New York Conservatory of Modern Music in
Brooklyn from 1948 to 1950, then from 1950 to 1953 studied at the Westlake College of Music in
Los Angeles,[a] where he developed a lifelong friendship with one of his instructors,
Russell Garcia.[5][10] While at Westlake, a piece he wrote for
string quartet[b] was performed at a concert with
Paul Robeson, and he also received a scholarship to the nearby American Operatic Laboratory.[10] Amongst the visitors to the flat he shared with saxophonist
Buddy Collette in Los Angeles were
Charlie Parker, and the first
Gerry Mulligan quartet (including Chico Hamilton) who went there to rehearse.[13]
Cheatham met his wife,
Jean Evans, in 1956 in
Buffalo, New York, when the local
musicians' union chief called them separately to replace two musicians who could not make a job at the local Elks Ballroom. They married in 1959, and their son, Jonathan, was born the same year[14] His wife also had a daughter from a previous relationship, Shirley, who was born in 1951.[15]
In 1984, Cheatham and his wife won a bronze medal at the
New York Festivals Film and TV Awards for the 1983
KPBS television special Three Generations of the Blues, which featured
Sippie Wallace,
Big Mama Thornton, and Jennie Cheatham.[17]
Also in 1984, the Cheathams formed the Sweet Baby Blues Band,[18] reviving
Kansas City-style
blues.[19] The first of the eight
studio albums they released between 1985 and 1996, Sweet Baby Blues, was the sole recording to receive a Grand Prix du Disque de Jazz[c] from the Hot Club de France in 1985.[20][21] Their fifth album, Luv in the Afternoon (1990), was also voted amongst the best blues albums of the year in Down Beat magazine's 39th annual poll of international music critics, as published in 1991.[22]
In 1998, the band was described as "an earthy jump blues combo that plays funky, hard-swinging, boogie-busting music".[23]
Cheatham's legacy is carried on by several students who went on to become, like him, prominent composer/performer/educators: flutist
Nicole Mitchell,[24] bassist
Karl E. H. Seigfried, and drummer Vikas Srivastava.
^Opened in 1945, Westlake College was only the second institution in the United States to offer a university-level jazz program, after
Schillinger House in
Boston. It closed in 1961.[11]
^It is unclear if this referred to Menorah, a work for
flute quartet composed by (a) James Cheatham, which was played at a 1953 concert in Los Angeles involving
Elmer Bernstein.[12]
^This should not be confused with the Grand Prix du Disque Jazz, awarded by the Académie Charles Cros.
^Cheatham arranged two tracks on the album and conducted a third, but played (uncredited) percussion only. The final track on the original LP release, "Jim-Jeannie", was named after the Cheathams.[30]
^"Honours & Awards"(PDF). Bear Facts. Vol. 22, no. 6. San Diego, CA: Oceanids, University of California, San Diego. 1984. p. 15. Retrieved January 16, 2023.
^
abcdefLord, Tom (1992). The Jazz Discography. Vol. 4. West Vancouver, BC & Redwood, NY: Lord Music Reference & Clarence Jazz Books. pp. C276–C277.
ISBN1881993035.
OCLC1035901586. Retrieved January 13, 2023 – via Internet Archive.
^Lord, Tom (1993). The Jazz Discography. Vol. 5. West Vancouver, BC & Redwood, NY: Lord Music Reference & Clarence Jazz Books. p. D360.
ISBN1881993043.
OCLC1035903524. Retrieved January 14, 2023 – via Internet Archive.
^
abcLord, Tom (1994). The Jazz Discography. Vol. 8. West Vancouver, BC & Redwood, NY: Lord Music Reference & Clarence Jazz Books. p. H85.
ISBN1881993078.
OCLC1035920133. Retrieved January 14, 2023 – via Internet Archive.
^
abLord, Tom (1996). The Jazz Discography. Vol. 15. West Vancouver, BC & Redwood, NY: Lord Music Reference & Clarence Jazz Books. p. M930.
ISBN1881993140.
OCLC1035901585. Retrieved January 14, 2023 – via Internet Archive.