News & Updates — bassist

Phil Lynott / Aug 20, 1949 - Jan 4, 1986

Phil Lynott / Aug 20, 1949 - Jan 4, 1986

Thin Lizzy are one of my favorite classic rock bands and bassist/vocalist/songwriter Phil Lynott is a big reason. A black Irishmen, he was a composer, singer and poet who grew up in Dublin. He started singing in bands in '65. In the late '60s he learned rhythm guitar and bass, forming Thin Lizzy with ex-members of Them. Thin Lizzy recorded several great albums with their twin lead guitars and Phil's poetic street-wise, yet romantic lyrics. The band mixed hard rock, heavy metal, blues, Irish folk and funk and yielded several lasting hits. Ravaged by drugs, the band called it a...

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Charlie Haden / Aug 6, 1937 - July 11, 2014

Charlie Haden / Aug 6, 1937 - July 11, 2014

One of the greats, happy birthday to jazz bassist/composer/activist Charlie Haden. He was part of the revolutionary Ornette Coleman Quartet that took the jazz world by storm when they arrived in NYC in the late '50s. He grew up in Iowa from a professional country music family, singing with them until polio messed up his voice. After seeing Charlie Parker and Stan Kenton live in '54 he started playing jazz as a bassist. In '57 he moved to Los Angeles and started playing with Paul Bley, Art Pepper and Hampton Hawes. He was roommate for awhile with bass legend Scott...

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Juan Formell / Aug 2, 1942 - May 1, 2014

Juan Formell / Aug 2, 1942 - May 1, 2014

The great Cuban bassist and composer Juan Formell is best known for being the leader of Los Van Van, and for being the creator of the songo, a fusion of Afro-Cuban, són, charanga, jazz, salsa, soul, classical and pop. Born into a musical family in Havana, he started his career in the late '50s, eventually playing with Elena Burke. He formed Van Van in 1969 after leading Orchestra Revé (and turning them into Changüí '68) and set about becoming one of the most important figures in the history of Cuban music. Los Van Van were the leading band on the...

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Lloyd Brevett / Aug 1, 1931 - May 3, 2012

Lloyd Brevett / Aug 1, 1931 - May 3, 2012

Happy born day to the ex-Skatalite bassist Lloyd Brevett. He played the upright and was a founding member of the Skatalites, one of the most important bands the planet has ever known. One of their best albums came under the leadership of Brevett, the amazingly funky 1975 classic African Roots. He was a trained jazz bassist and knew how to build & repair them. With the Skatalites he provided backing to early recordings by The Wailers, as well as early Lee Perry and Alton Ellis records. He played with The Soul Vendors and Herbie Mann while the Skatalites were broken up,...

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Willie Dixon / July 1, 1915 - Jan 29, 1992

Willie Dixon / July 1, 1915 - Jan 29, 1992

One of the most influential of blues musicians, Willie Dixon was a composer, singer, bassist, guitarist and record producer who was responsible for writing (or modernizing) long-standing jams like "Spoonful", "I Just Wanna Make Love To You", "Evil", "I Ain't Superstitious", "Wang Dang Doodle", "Hoochie-Coochie Man", "My Babe" and many more. Born in Mississippi, he heard the blues on a prison farm in the late '20s and a few years later was singing the bass part in a gospel group and selling songs to local singers. In 1936 he moved to Chicago and was a successful professional boxer before dropping...

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