b. 6 June 1964, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. Tisdale began playing bass as a child but, although quickly becoming an accomplished musician, a sporting career beckoned strongly. He played basketball at Oklahoma University, making All-America and becoming the first OU player to have his number ‘retired’. Tisdale became a member of the USA basketball team for the 1984 Olympic Games and thus became a recipient of an Olympic Gold Medal. In 1986, he became a professional basketball player, first with the Indiana Pacers, then the Sacramento Kings and the Phoenix Suns. This continued through into the late 90s. Meanwhile, Tisdale had continued to play bass, albeit as a very secondary activity.
In 1995, however, he released Power Forward, on Motown Records’ MoJazz label. The album was very successful, reaching number 4 on Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz chart, remaining there for six months. His follow-up, In The Zone, was similarly successful, spending 30 weeks in the charts. The popularity of his Fifth Quarter Band prompted Tisdale to bow out of basketball and make music his full-time career. As the only Olympic gold medallist in jazz, Tisdale has already earned a footnote in the history of the music.
