Charlie Biddle

Charles Reed Biddle, CM (July 28, 1926 – February 5, 2003) was an American-Canadian jazz bassist. He lived most of his life in Montreal, organizing and performing in jazz music events.

Biddle was born and grew up in West Philadelphia. He joined the United States Army on January 26, 1945 and served in China, India and Burma during World War II. After the war, he studied music at Temple University in Philadelphia, where he started playing bass.

In 1948, Biddle arrived in Montreal while touring with Vernon Isaac’s Three Jacks and a Jill. Biddle was impressed by the fact that in Canada, particularly Quebec, black jazz musicians often played alongside white jazz musicians as friends and bandmates. He decided to settle down in Montreal, and fell in love with a French-Canadian woman, Constance. The two eventually married and raised three daughters – Sonya, Stephanie and Tracy – and a son, Charles Biddle Jr.

Share this post

Leave a Comment