Dave Bass

Last updated
Dave Bass w/ Phil Woods (2015) Davebassphilwoods.jpg
Dave Bass w/ Phil Woods (2015)
Dave Bass
Birth nameDavid Ira Bass
Born (1950-06-21) June 21, 1950 (age 74)
Origin Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
Genres Jazz
Occupation(s)Musician, composer, lawyer
InstrumentPiano
Years active1968–present
Labels Whaling City Sound
Website davebassmusic.com

David Ira Bass (born June 21, 1950) is an American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and lyricist [1] who has released seven albums: Gone (2010), NYC Sessions (2015), No Boundaries (2019), [2] The Trio Vol. 1. (2021), [3] The Trio Vol. 2 (2022) [4] , The Trio Vol. 3 (2023), and Trio Nuevo (2024). Due to a wrist injury in the mid-1980s, Bass left music to become an attorney. In January 2015, he retired from his position as a Deputy Attorney General for the California State Attorney General's office to devote himself to music.

Contents

Early life and education

Bass grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, and began studying piano at the age of seven. He was accepted to the Berklee College of Music in Boston, but dropped out after a few months to study composition with George Russell, who had begun teaching his Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization at the New England Conservatory of Music and piano with Madame Margaret Chaloff. [5]

With a family to support, he chose to enroll in college at the University of California at Irvine, earning his Bachelor of Arts in social ecology and graduating summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa in 1989. He went on to attend the UCLA School of Law, where he was an editor of the UCLA Law Review , clerked in the Sacramento legislative office of the American Civil Liberties Union and, in 1991, served as legal extern to Judge David F. Levi. Bass earned his J.D. in 1992 from the UCLA School of Law.

Career

Early musical career

In 1974, he started touring internationally with singer Brenda Lee. He performed with Lee until 1975, after which he relocated to San Francisco. While in San Francisco, Bass performed with the young Bobby McFerrin and with vocalist Jackie Ryan, drummer/percussionist Babatunde Lea and others in various Bay Area venues, including the Keystone Korner. [5] Ryan joined Bass’ band "Ad Infinitum," which also featured Babatunde Lea who had a steady Wednesday night gig at a Mission District venue, Bajones, with a large, jazzy salsa ensemble with whom Bass played piano and wrote arrangements. Bass also had a steady solo gig at the Trident in Sausalito.

Ultimately, Bass moved to Maui to work with Ryan, remaining there from 1981 through 1984. During that time, Bass also served as the Entertainment Director for the Royal Lahaina Resort, where he performed with his Latin jazz group, his jazz trio, and as a solo pianist. In 1984, Bass relocated to Southern California, where he planned to continue his career as a pianist and composer. [6]

Immediately out of law school, Bass joined Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, where he practiced general litigation for four years. In 1996, Bass joined the California Office of the Attorney General. At the attorney general's office, Bass began in the Employment, Administration and Regulation Section, eventually moving to the Civil Rights Enforcement Section.

Return to music

In December 2008, after a few years playing casually with friends around Sacramento, Bass returned to the studio to record Gone, his first album as a leader. He recorded ten original compositions with saxophonist Ernie Watts, Babatunde on percussion, bassist Gary Brown, and vocalist Mary Stallings. The album reached No. 2 on the JazzWeek national radio play charts. [7] [8]

Bass returned to the studio in 2012 to record NYC Sessions (Whaling City Sound). The album includes saxophonist Phil Woods, drummer Ignacio Berroa, trombonist Conrad Herwig, and bassist Harvie S, with guest vocalist Karrin Allyson. [9] NYC Sessions reached No. 5 on the JazzWeek national radio play charts. [10] The album received a four-star review from DownBeat magazine in its May 2015 issue with the comment that the album "proves deeply satisfying in part because it does so may things so well [including] Bass' savvy as an arranger and programmer [...] not to mention his own sparking keyboard work." [11] DownBeat named NYC Sessions one of the Best Albums of 2015. [12] Jazz critic Ken Franckling named Bass' "Baltic Bolero" one of the Top Ten Jazz Songs of 2015.[ citation needed ] Latin-Jazz Network contributor Raul De Gama gave high praise to the album and Bass' piano skills. [13]

In October 2018, Dave returned to the studio to record his third album, No Boundaries. Multi-instrumentalist and Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra member, Ted Nash, co-produced No Boundaries and played on all but one track, featuring Bass in the classic piano trio setting with Bud Powell’s "Hallucinations." The band includes Carlos Henriquez (also from JALCO) on upright bass, Jerome Jennings on drums and Ted Nash on flute, alto flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, soprano sax, alto sax, and tenor sax. Vocalist Karrin Allyson returns to work with Dave singing one of Dave's originals, "Time of My Life" and Dave's arrangement of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s "If I Loved You." On three Afro-Cuban cuts three native Cubans appear: Carlos Caro (bongo, perc.), Miguelo Valdes (conga, bata) and Mauricio Herrera.

No Boundaries was played nationally and internationally, with a 15-week span on the JazzWeek charts, peaking at #13. [14]

No Boundaries received positive reviews from critics for the composition and musical style. [15] [16] [17] [18]

On July 11, 2021, Bass released The Trio Vol.1 featuring Kerry Kashiwagi on bass and Scott Gordon on drums. [3] Chris Spector of the Midwest Record said Bass was "showing just how furious a jazzbo he can be as he leads his piano trio through a veritable wing ding of epic proportions." [19] The album spent 13 weeks in the Top 50 on the national JazzWeek charts, peaking at #15. [20]

On July 17, 2022, Bass released The Trio Vol. 2 featuring the same lineup. Glide Magazine's Doug Collette remarked, "ranging from sources including Denny Zeitlin, Bud Powell, Andrew Hill and Bass himself (in four instances), spare takes on unorthodox material sound like an unending exposition of imagination; with consummate grace and alacrity, the musicians contour their motion through the twists and turns of convoluted material commencing so emphatically with Annette Peacock’s”El Cordobes.” Bass invariably leads the charge with his assertive piano work, but he is otherwise hardly more authoritative or lithe of touch than his counterparts Kerry Kashiwagi and Scott Gordon on bass and drums respectively." [21]

On May 12, 2023, Bass released The Trio Vol. 3 w/ the same personnel as Vol.1 and 2 and received wide and sustained nation-wide radio play as shown its reaching #7 on JazzWeek, where it was in the top 20 for 10 weeks. " [22]

The Trio Vol.3" hit #41 on JazzWeek's Top 100 albums in 2023 for nation-wide radio play; it was on the charts for 24 weeks with 2,840 spins. " [23]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Folds Five</span> American alternative rock band

Ben Folds Five was an American alternative rock trio formed in 1993 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The group comprised Ben Folds, Robert Sledge and Darren Jessee. The group achieved success in the alternative, indie and pop music scenes. Their single "Brick" from the second album, Whatever and Ever Amen (1997), gained airplay on many mainstream radio stations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chick Corea</span> American musician and composer (1941–2021)

Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea was an American jazz pianist, composer, bandleader and occasional percussionist. His compositions "Spain", "500 Miles High", "La Fiesta", "Armando's Rhumba" and "Windows" are widely considered jazz standards. As a member of Miles Davis's band in the late 1960s, he participated in the birth of jazz fusion. In the 1970s he formed Return to Forever. Along with McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock and Keith Jarrett, Corea is considered to have been one of the foremost pianists of the post-John Coltrane era.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antonio Sánchez (drummer)</span> Mexican drummer and composer

Antonio Sánchez is a Mexican drummer and composer. He is best known for his work with jazz guitarist Pat Metheny and as a composer of the film score for the 2014 film Birdman. The score earned him a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score and BAFTA Award for Best Film Music; he won a Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media, the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Score, and the Satellite Award for Best Original Score.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Slackers</span> American ska band

The Slackers are an American ska band, formed in Manhattan, New York in 1991. The band's sound is a mix of ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub, soul, garage rock, and jazz. The Slackers' notability is credited to their prolific career, tours of North and South America, Europe, and elsewhere, and signing to notable punk label Hellcat Records.

<i>A Charlie Brown Christmas</i> (soundtrack) 1965 soundtrack album by Vince Guaraldi

A Charlie Brown Christmas is the eighth studio album by the American jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi. Coinciding with the television debut of the Christmas special of the same name, the album was released in the first week of December 1965 by Fantasy Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Patitucci</span> American jazz bassist and composer

John Patitucci is an American jazz bassist and composer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Take Five</span> Jazz standard recorded by the Dave Brubeck Quartet

"Take Five" is a jazz standard composed by Paul Desmond. It was first recorded in 1959 and is the third track on Time Out by the Dave Brubeck Quartet. Frequently covered by a variety of artists, the track is the biggest-selling jazz song of all time and a Grammy Hall of Fame inductee.

<i>Trio</i> (1987 album) 1987 studio album by Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Emmylou Harris

Trio is a collaborative album by American singers Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Emmylou Harris. It was released on March 2, 1987, by Warner Bros. Records. The album has platinum certification in the U.S. for sales of one million copies, and has total worldwide sales of approximately four million. A second collaborative album, Trio II, was released in 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scott Colley</span> American jazz double bassist and composer

Scott Colley is an American jazz double bassist and composer. As of 2024, he has been nominated for 4 Grammy Awards, including Best Jazz Instrumental Album for Guided Tour in 2014 and Still Dreaming in 2019. Throughout his career, he has toured, recorded, and played with musicians such as Herbie Hancock, Jim Hall, Carmen McRae, Chris Potter, Julian Lage, Brian Blade, and Pat Metheny.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greg Kurstin</span> American record producer and songwriter

Gregory Allen Kurstin is an American record producer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter. He has won nine Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year, Non-Classical in 2017 and 2018, and contributed to four songs which peaked atop the Billboard Hot 100.

Doug Carn is an American jazz musician from St. Augustine, Florida, formerly married to Jean Carne and known for his several albums released for Black Jazz Records. Carn is a multi-instrumentalist known primarily for his work on organ and piano.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duduka Da Fonseca</span> Musical artist

Duduka Da Fonseca, born Eduardo Moreira Da Fonseca is a Brazilian jazz drummer who is a founding member of Trio da Paz with Romero Lubambo and Nilson Matta. He leads the Duduka da Fonseca Trio, with David Feldman and Guto Wirtti. Duduka is a resident of New York City.

<i>The Soul Sessions Vol. 2</i> 2012 studio album by Joss Stone

The Soul Sessions Vol. 2 is the sixth studio album by English singer and songwriter Joss Stone, released on 20 July 2012 by S-Curve Records and her own label, Stone'd Records. A follow-up to Stone's debut studio album, The Soul Sessions (2003), the album consists of 11 cover versions of soul songs from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, in addition to a cover of Broken Bells' 2009 song "The High Road".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Landrus</span> American jazz musician

Brian Landrus is a jazz saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, and educator.

<i>Wild Heart</i> (Mindi Abair album) 2014 studio album by Mindi Abair

Wild Heart is the seventh full-length solo studio album by American musician Mindi Abair. Released on May 27, 2014, Wild Heart marks Abair's fourth release on Concord Records imprint, Heads Up International. The album debuted at number 1 on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart, staying there for two weeks. Wild Heart received a 2015 Grammy nomination in the Contemporary Instrumental Album category, Abair's second Grammy nomination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florian Weber</span> German jazz pianist and composer

Florian Weber is a German pianist and composer of modern jazz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donna Singer</span> American jazz vocalist (born 1965)

Donna Singer is an American jazz vocalist. She has reached the top 50 charts for various national and international terrestrial radio stations. Her music has been recognized in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa, the Netherlands, Norway, and Japan. She performs a variety of songs from classic jazz composers such as George Gershwin and Arthur Hamilton, as well as original works by her husband, pianist and composer Roy Singer.

<i>Miles at the Fillmore – Miles Davis 1970: The Bootleg Series Vol. 3</i> 2014 live album by Miles Davis

Miles at the Fillmore – Miles Davis 1970: The Bootleg Series Vol. 3 is a 4 CD live album compiling the four nights of Miles Davis's performances at the Fillmore East in New York City from June 17-20, 1970 and three additional tracks recorded at the Fillmore West two months earlier. The concert series was originally released in part as a double album Miles Davis at Fillmore but was given the first complete unedited release on this box set.

Anthony M. Monaco is an American jazz organist.

<i>Layers of the City</i> 2017 jazz album by Ben Allison

Layers of the City is the 12th album by bassist Ben Allison. It was released on Allison's own Sonic Camera label on June 22, 2017. The album reached #9 on the JazzWeek Charts in July, 2017.

References

  1. ↑ "Dave". Davebassmusic.com. Archived from the original on 2019-03-05. Retrieved 2015-03-31.
  2. ↑ "Dave Bass / No Boundaries - WCS 116 - Whaling City Sound". www.whalingcitysound.com. Archived from the original on 2019-10-14.
  3. 1 2 Widran, Jonathan (2021-07-28). "DAVE BASS, The Trio, Vol. 1". Music Reviews - JWV. Archived from the original on 2021-09-20. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
  4. ↑ Widran, Jonathan (2022-06-17). "DAVE BASS, The Trio, Vol. 2". Music Reviews - JWV. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
  5. 1 2 Jazz Inside magazine interview Archived 2015-04-07 at the Wayback Machine . April 2015. pp. 32-35.
  6. ↑ "How he got injured". Davebassmusic.com. Archived from the original on 2019-03-05. Retrieved 2015-03-31.
  7. ↑ "Jazz Week Jazz Album Chart" (PDF). www.jazzweek.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 August 2014. Retrieved 20 September 2010.
  8. ↑ Ackerman, Karl (11 August 2010). "David Bass: Gone". All About Jazz. Archived from the original on 20 May 2018. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
  9. ↑ "Dave as Deputy General". Wclk.com. 19 April 2014. Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-03-31.
  10. ↑ [March 16, 2015] http://www.jazzweek.com/pdf-archive/ Archived 2015-09-11 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ↑ DownBeat, May 2015, p. 56.
  12. ↑ DownBeat, January 2016, p. 48.
  13. ↑ "Dave Bass: NYC Sessions". Latin Jazz Network. 2015-02-09. Archived from the original on 2022-04-27. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
  14. ↑ "Charts". JazzWeek. Archived from the original on 2022-04-18. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
  15. ↑ "Dave Bass: No Boundaries album review @ All About Jazz". 29 November 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-12-10. Retrieved 2019-12-10.
  16. ↑ "DownBeat | Digital Edition | November 2019". www.downbeat.com. Archived from the original on 2021-05-13. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
  17. ↑ "Dave Bass: No Boundaries". Latin Jazz Network. 2019-09-14. Archived from the original on 2022-04-18. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
  18. ↑ "Ear to Ear: Here's What CapRadio's Jazz Hosts Are Loving This September". Archived from the original on 2019-12-10. Retrieved 2019-12-10.
  19. ↑ "06/05/21 - Midwest Record - Entertainment Reviews, News, and Views". midwestrecord.com. Archived from the original on 2021-09-20. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
  20. ↑ "Dave Bass: The Trio Vol. 1 (Dave Bass Music)". 20 May 2021. Archived from the original on 10 September 2021. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  21. ↑ Collette, Doug (2022-08-05). "Time Out Take Five: Charles Mingus, Frank Kimbrough, Dave Bass & More". Glide Magazine. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
  22. ↑ " "Dave Bass The Trio". Jazz Week. 6 May 2023.
  23. ↑ " "Year End Jazz Week".

Further reading


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.