Career
A close contemporary of fellow African American Jimmy Blanton, Crosby is less considered as a pioneer, but his interactive playing in Jamal"s trio and that of George Shearing shows how easily and fluently he displayed a modern approach to jazz double bass. He is credited with taking the first recorded bass solo on his 1935 recording of "Blues of Israel" with drummer Gene Krupa (Prestige Puerto Rico 7644) when he was only 16. Crosby died of a heart attack at just forty-three two months after joining the Shearing Quintet.