Charles Reed Biddle was a jazz bassist who was born on July 28 1928 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Charlie had a hard life growing up, as both of his parents died at a young age. He was tasked with providing for his family as a young boy, in a time where money was scarce. When he grew older, he served in the US armed forces during World War II, and then when he was finished, he studied at Temple University.

In 1948, he went to Montreal as a member of Vernon Isaac’s Three Jacks and a Jill. When he was there he saw how the Black musicians played alongside the white musicians, and appreciated how he was treated there. He decided to stay, and ended up marrying a French-Canadian woman named Constance. They had 3 daughters; Sonja, Stephanie, and Tracy, and a son, Charles Biddle Jr. Stephanie and Charlie Jr. followed in his footsteps and performed music, including forming a family trio between the 3 of them. In 2000, he became a Canadian citizen.

Employed as a car salesman from 1954-1972, he continued to pursue his musical career by accompanying pianists such as Collie Ramsey, Milt Sealey, Alfie Wade, Sadik Hakim, and Stan Patrick in local nightclubs. He became a promoter and would book musicians like Johnny Hodges, John Coltrane, Pepper Adams, and Bill Evans to play in clubs in Montreal. He also worked intermittently with guitarist Nelson Symonds and drummer Marshall Villeneuve. He has recorded LPs with artists such as Milt Sealey, Ted Curson, and Oliver Jones. Biddle has even performed on screen in the films Les Portes tournantes (1988) and The Moderns (1988). He can also be heard in the movie The Whole Nine Yards (2000) alongside his daughter Stephanie Biddle, with a video of their performance in the end credits of the movie.

In 1981, a jazz club in downtown Montreal on Aylmer street opened, and was named ‘Biddle’ after him. He would play there regularly, introducing himself there as ‘Charlie Biddle on the fiddle’. He would lead trios there, and his pianists included players like Oliver Jones, Wray Downes, and Jon Ballantyne. The club remained open until the summer of 2020, however it was renamed as the House of Jazz.

Biddle was a big supporter and promoter of jazz in Montreal, and would organize festivals for local musicians in 1979 and 1983. These festivals were a precursor for the Montreal International Jazz festival, which is one of the biggest jazz festivals in the world. Without his influence and contribution to Montreal’s jazz scene, the jazz festival might not have grown as big as it did, or even at all.

Music was present in Biddle’s life until the end. He would play at his club until a few months before his death on February 4, 2003.

Awards

• 1989 Martin Luther King Jr. Award
• 2000 Oscar Peterson Prize
• 2002 Officer of the Order of Canada
• 2003 Prix Calixa-Lavallée