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Jazz bassist
Henry Franklin was born in 1940, the son of West Coast jazz trumpeter Sammy Franklin.
Henry Franklin began his own career while he was still in high school, playing with his contemporary,
Roy Ayers, in the latter's Latin jazz quintet. This experience put
Franklin on the path to his work with Latin jazz bandleader and percussionist
Willie Bobo. His work with
Bobo in New York also led to
Franklin's playing with
Archie Shepp.
Franklin later played with
Hugh Masekela, appearing on the latter's number one single, "Grazing in the Grass," and the album
Promise of a Future (1968), which was among
Franklin's earliest official recording credits (and was one of the bigger-selling jazz albums of 1968). He got further exposure from his work with
Masekela when
Franklin played in the band that the South African-born trumpet player brought to the Monterey International Pop Festival in June of 1967 -- their appearance there was immortalized in the D.A. Pennebaker documentary film of the event, Monterey Pop.
In the decades since,
Franklin -- often referred to as "
the Skipper" -- has played and recorded with
Gene Harris & the Three Sounds,
Freddie Hubbard,
Bobbi Humphrey,
Hampton Hawes, et al., as well as releasing a brace of albums by his own band right into the 21st century. ~ Bruce Eder