Charles Fambrough

Charles Fambrough (August 25, 1950 – January 1, 2011) was an American jazz bassist, composer, and record producer from Philadelphia.

Having played together in a previous cover band, Fambrough joined Grover Washington Jr.'s band in 1970. Five years later, he transferred to Airto Moreira's band. After two years with Moreira, he joined up with McCoy Tyner to become anchor of Tyner's band, until 1982, when he joined Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers whom with he performed during the early 1980s. When trumpeter Wynton Marsalis left the Jazz Messengers to form his own band, Fambrough followed him.

In the liner notes of his 1991 album The Proper Angle, Fambrough mentions the lessons he learned from McCoy Tyner and Art Blakey. The latter taught him to play behind a horn player and within a rhythm section.

Suffering from kidney failure, congestive heart failure, and pulmonary hypertension, he died on January 1, 2011, at the age of 60.

With Kei Akagi

• Mirror Puzzle (1994)

With Art Blakey

• Live at Montreux and Northsea (Timeless, 1980)
• Art Blakey in Sweden (Amigo, 1981)
• Album of the Year (Timeless, 1981)
• Straight Ahead (Concord Jazz, 1981)
• Killer Joe (Union Jazz, 1981) - with George Kawaguchi
• Keystone 3 (Concord Jazz, 1982)
• Oh-By the Way (Timeless, 1982)

With Craig Handy

• Introducing Three for All + One (Arabesque, 1993)

With Roy Hargrove

• Diamond in the Rough (Novus/RCA, 1990)

With Wynton Marsalis

• Fathers and Sons (1982)
• Wynton Marsalis (Columbia, 1982)

With Eric Mintel

• Impressions of Jazz (Jazz Lions, 1996)

With Pharoah Sanders

• Crescent with Love (Venus, 1992)

With McCoy Tyner

• Focal Point (1976)
• The Greeting (1978)
• Horizon (1979)

With Roland Kirk

• Boogie-Woogie String Along for Real (1977)