He has won the 1984 Olympic Gold medal, has played with the Phoenix Suns and in the NBA and decided to turn to Jazz in the 90s. Wayman Tisdale was diagnosed with bone cancer two years ago and although he recovered to record last year's Rebound CD and had part of his leg amputated and even recorded a video where he was in good spirits and ready to go on tour again after his treatments, he did not win the fight against cancer and died last Friday at age 44.

Tisdale played in his Fifth Quarter Band before releasing his debut CD Power Forward for the MoJazz label which is the former Jazz subsidiary label for Motown. One year later, in 1996, his second CDIn The Zone came out which is still featured here at JazzRadio. Two years later, Tisdale had shifted to Atlantic Records where he released two more CDs one of which went to Number 1 in the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Charts. He recorded a Gospel album in 2003. With Hang Time one year later, he was catapulted into the upper regions of the Smooth Jazz charts and with Way Up! and Rebound had his biggest successes.

Tisdale just finished a tour of the US and was about to go into the recording studio to work with guitarist Norman Brown when his wife had to take him to the hospital on Friday morning because he had trouble breathing. Tisdale's funky bass style certainly derived from his being a fan of 70s Funk and can only be matched by an artist like Marcus Miller.