John William Pate (born December 5, 1923) is an American former musician, a jazz bassist who became a producer, arranger, and leading figure in Chicago soul, pop, funk and rhythm and blues. He learned piano and tuba as a child and later picked up the bass guitar. He learned arranging while serving in the United States Army. == Career == === The jazz era: Early works === Pate served stints with Coleridge Davis and Stuff Smith in the 1940s, before... [more on Wikipedia]