Obituary

Playwright, Musician, Composer, Painter, and Renaissance Man of the Arts 

Ernest McCarty, Jr., a professional composer, musical director, performer, visual artist and sculptor, passed away on December 11, 2025. He was 84.

McCarty’s artistic journey took him from the jazz clubs of Chicago’s South Side to the world’s grandest stages. A musician of versatility and grace, he was best known as the steadfast bassist for jazz legend Erroll Garner, with whom he toured the globe for seven years.

Born in Chicago, McCarty was raised in a home vibrating with music. His mother, a pianist for the Thomas A. Dorsey choir, often hosted gospel giants like Mahalia Jackson and Sam Cooke for rehearsals in their living room. His formal training began at the legendary DuSable High School under the strict tutelage of Captain Walter Dyett.
Though he initially resisted the "big and physical" upright bass—preferring the piano or violin—he mastered the instrument to avoid a failing grade, a challenge he credited with teaching him to "embrace his obligations."

He studied composition at Roosevelt University and cut his teeth in the Chicago scene, playing in early bands alongside future Earth, Wind & Fire founder Maurice White. In 1962, he became the musical director for Oscar Brown Jr., a role that took him to Europe—where he once socialized with The Beatles—and sparked a lifelong passion for theater.

Ernest McCarty’s most celebrated musical chapter began in 1970 when Erroll Garner heard him play a single song at a New York supper club and hired him on the spot. Until Garner’s death in 1977, McCarty lived what he called a "blessed" life on the road, traveling in Rolls-Royces and performing on the same circuits as Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Ike and Tina Turner. He was a mentor to Gloria Gaynor. His steady, melodic bass lines provided the perfect anchor for Garner’s exuberant piano improvisation, a partnership immortalized on several classic recordings.

In the early 1990s, McCarty settled in Pittsburgh, the city of his late bandleader, and wove himself deeply into its cultural fabric. He played regularly with Paul Constantino and the Boilermaker Jazz Band. For twenty-five years, he served as the Artistic Director for New Horizon Theater, where he produced dozens of plays and musicals, often writing the scripts and composing the scores himself. His works include Dinah!, Eubie, Recollections, and his latest, A Dinah Washington Christmas, which opened the night of his death at the Pittsburgh Playwrights Cabaret Theater in Schenley Heights. His scripts and musicals were praised for their historical depth and lyrical richness, focusing on the triumphs and complexities of the African American experience.

His creative energy knew no bounds. In his later years, when the physical demands of the upright bass became taxing, he turned his hands to canvas and wire, emerging as a prolific painter and sculptor. His vibrant visual art, much like his music, was filled with rhythm and color, often depicting jazz scenes or abstract interpretations of sound.

Ernest McCarty was a recipient of the A.W. Mellon Jazz Living Legacy Award, recognizing his profound impact on the Mid-Atlantic jazz tradition. Friends and colleagues remember him for his humility and his distinctive laugh—a warm, knowing chuckle that seemed to invite everyone into the joke.

"Ernest didn't just play music; he lived it," said a longtime collaborator. "Whether he was bowing a bass, penning a script, or mixing paints, he was always telling a story about love, struggle, and survival."
Mr. McCarty is survived by his beloved wife and creative partner of over thirty years, Patricia Kearney; his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren; and a global community of thespians, musicians, and artists who continue to walk through the doors he opened.

Funeral arrangements are private.

In lieu of cards, the family requests donations be made to the Pittsburgh Playwrights Cabaret Theater, New Horizon Theater, WZUM Jazz Radio, or the Pittsburgh Jazz Society. A public memorial service is planned for the spring of 2026.

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