News & Updates — bassist

Born on this day was the great improvising bassist Sirone, who brought a highly intuitive, yet bluesy improvisational presence to the scene and contributing to several genre-defining classics of the '60s & '70s, not the least of which was his work with the collective Revolutionary Ensemble. From Atlanta, the former Norris Jones took up the trombone as a kid before moving to bass at 17. He started playing locally in the late '50s in a group with saxophonist George Adams. He was a sideman at sessions for Sam Cooke, Smokey Robinson and other R&B artists. In '65 he moved to...

The greatest. Bassist, composer, Cuban music figure, master of the tumbao, inventor of Latin jazz, fine-tuner of the charanga, Israel López "Cachao" Valdéz was born in Old Havana, into a family of bass players. He grew up in the house that Jose Martí used to live in. He started at 8 on bongos, and was playing bass by age nine accompanying silent films. He received classical training and as a teenager joined Orquesta Filharmónica de La Habana, which included guest conductions by Stavinski & Villa-Lobos. He stayed thirty years with the orchestra. Along with his brother Orestes "Macho' López, he...

One of the great left-field albums came from former Buffalo Springfield bassist Bruce Palmer, with his seemingly unmarketable (at the time) Eastern-tinged folk-jazz oddity The Cycle Is Complete, released in 1970 on Verve to little fanfare and nearly no promotion. Palmer's only album as a leader, he was given complete artistic control only for him to come up with an unexpected psychedelic improvisational (almost in the realm of "spiritual-jazz" a la Pharoah Sanders) spacey folk record with members of Kaleidoscope, Caribbean percussionist Big Black and young Rick James (billed as "Rick Matthews"). Verve had no idea what to do with...

The great jazz bassist Wilber Ware was born on this day. He only made one album as a leader but his unique style can be heard on many records, not the least of which are by Thelonious Monk. The Chicago native was largely self-taught as a bassist of unique and unorthodox talent. He dabbled with drums and banjo and sang gospel. He played in local swing bands in the '40s, as well as bebop. Some Chicago experience early on included work with Sonny Stitt, Roy Eldridge, Stuff Smith and he played on some early '50s recordings with Johnny Griffin and...

Happy earth arrival day to one of my favorite bassists, Malachi Favors Maghostut. Most famous for playing in my all time favorite group, the highly theatrical and musical Art Ensemble of Chicago, he's also played and recorded with all of the Art Ensemble members, as well as Kahil El'Zabar's Ritual Trio, Archie Shepp, Cheikh Tidiane Fall, Andrew Hill, Wadada Leo Smith, Sunny Murray, Dennis Gonzalez, Fred Anderson, Muhal Richard Abrams, Dewey Redman and many, many more. Born in Mississippi, he started playing bass as a teenager and in '53 made his recording debut with Paul Bascomb after which he found...