A master of swing and the almighty groove on upright and electric, and a sharp dresser to boot, Tony Garnier’s remarkable career spans rock, folk, jazz, country, pop, and blues.

He is Bob Dylan’s musical director and longest serving sideman, and has plied his craft on stage and in the studio with several notable ensembles including Asleep at the Wheel, David Johansen/Buster Poindexter, the Saturday Night Live Band, Robert Gordon, Lucinda Williams, Tom Waits, The Lounge Lizards, and Paul Simon to cite a select few.

Tony’s grandfather, D’Jalma Garnier,  led the legendary New Orleans’ Camelia Brass Band. Garnier also works as a producer when he’s not anchoring Bob’s “Never Ending Tour” – helming slabs by The Lost Brothers among others. Tony’s numerous weapons of choice include Rickenbacker, Fender Precision and Jazz, Gibson and Lakeland basses.

Dig Tony with Dylan on this live version of “Things Have Changed” https://youtu.be/WJFkp9MGD8Y

Dig Tony with Asleep at the Wheel “Take Me Back to Tulsa” https://youtu.be/MUx-pq_OL3U

Dig Tony with Buster “Oh Me Oh My” https://youtu.be/Yj8TPqAxXqk

“Let’s do that one that sounds like The Byrds”, referring to “(The Angels Want to Wear My) Red Shoes”… while a novice songwriter was busy trying to cover his tracks…” – Elvis Costello.

 

 

 

Courtesy of Elvis Costello Com

He anchored the renowned Bay Area band Clover (which featured a pre-News Huey Lewis) and Declan McManus’ watershed bow My Aim Is True (1977).

 

 

 

 

An in-demand session ace on upright and electric with Lucinda Williams (Lucinda Williams, Sweet Old World, Car Wheels on a Gravel Road), John Prine, Nick Lowe, Norton Buffalo, Carlene Carter, and Jim Lauderdale, to cite a few, the late John Ciambotti plied his craft working the supportive pocket and emerging as a melodic foil with a warm, resonant tone. Attraction Bruce Thomas rendered John’s lines as does Imposter Davey Faragher whenever Elvis renders a song from his debut – that’s how vital John’s work remains.

Following his music career, John Ciambotti healed musicians as a specialized chiropractor.

 

 

John Ciambotti Sound & Vision…

 

With Clover:

“Chicken Funk” https://youtu.be/CH-YAj8eaIQ  

“Bad Is Bad” https://youtu.be/KoBQqd2x0XM

Clover (1977) https://youtu.be/LZAx5oNt_Is

With Elvis Costello:

“(The Angels Want to Wear My Red Shoes)” https://youtu.be/pS8oaMFsBEk

“Alison: https://youtu.be/XTtopI620ZU

With Lucinda Williams:

“Car Wheels on a Gravel Road” https://youtu.be/YgnnrZfoZS0

“Drunken Angel” https://youtu.be/9vdoJvNbY7Q

“Passionate Kisses” https://youtu.be/dEqXV9hGk-I

“Sweet Old World” https://youtu.be/BwGMJYszLMY

 

In a Big Country…Let My Love Open the Door…Back on the Chain Gang….My City was Gone…

 

He anchored some of the most enduring British pop hits of the 1980s with bass passages that were instantly recognizable and as memorable as the melodies and lyrics!

 

A bassist, vocalist, writer, solo recording artist, and educator (Livewire Youth Music Project), touted for his tenure in Big Country, Tony Butler was also an in-demand session player and sideman, rendering his dual melodic / in-the-pocket artistry in the service of Pete Townshend, The Pretenders, and Roger Daltrey among others.

 

Tony cites prog-rock icons Chris Squire and Mike Rutherford as his primary bass influences

 

Vintage Guitars issued a Tony Butler Signature Bass in 2011. Among Tony’s weapons of choice also include Fender Precision, Rickenbacker, Aria Pro (a former endorsee), and Washburn.

 

In 2017  Tony waxed his debut solo slab entitled My Time which features his Big Country bandmate Mark Brzecki on drums.

 

Tony Butler Sound & Vision:

 

Big Country:

 

“In A Big Country” https://youtu.be/657TZDHZqj4

 

“Fields of Fire” https://youtu.be/19eti8Lf2Zo

 

“Harvest Home” https://youtu.be/QByihCyvNJI

 

Live at Reading 1986  https://youtu.be/1UlnVnQ06ZM

 

The Pretenders:

 

“My City Was Gone” https://youtu.be/thu8DWsirJo

 

“Back on the Chain Gang” https://youtu.be/CK3uf5V0pDA

 

Tony Butler:

 

“Heaven Saved a Place for You” https://youtu.be/PcjJoCdpJgY

 

“Here Comes the First One” https://youtu.be/J29N6fWEEkg

 

Pete Townshend:

 

“Let My Love Open the Door” https://youtu.be/9dw29xpA0Qg

 

“Slit Skirts” https://youtu.be/nAL7RYHKrlA 

 

“My older brother is the reason why I play bass.  He brought a bass home one day and told me not to touch it.”

 

A genre traversing composer, recording artist, educator, singer, and virtuoso who masters extended range and fretless – Rhonda Smith is among the top session players and side-women on the planet.  Her credits span Prince, Jeff Beck, Chaka Khan, Beyonce, Lee Ritenour, Patrice Rushen, Patti Labelle, Erykah Badu, and George Clinton in addition to numerous television and film soundtracks cite a very, very few.

 

A Jazz Performance graduate from Montreal’s McGill University,  Rhonda nailed a  Juno Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album for her work with Jim Hillman and The Merlin Factor.

 

Rhonda’s weapons of choice include Fender Jazz, PRS basses, Mesa Boogie, Aguilar amps and cabinets, and D’Addario strings.

 

 

Rhonda Smith Sound & Vision….

 

Live with Prince “The Everlasting” https://youtu.be/o07Q25LXg4Q

 

Live with Jeff Beck “Solo + People Get Ready” https://youtu.be/A5tvrqJlcg0

 

Watch Rhonda slappin’ and poppin’ on her PRS with D’Adarrio strings: https://youtu.be/O6nGOhtZsUc

 

Rhonda from her slab RS2 “Grind” https://youtu.be/jVLzaYnS1rs

 

 

Bey who?

To my ears, this indie slab suitably titled Jubilant Newborn Alien Haze (2001) should have made Julia Brown a household name – and it still sounds fresh nineteen or so years after the fact. Multi-instrumentalist producer Christian Cassan helms the bass chair -save for “Eternity” by Alfredo Buonanno on fretless.

Cassan grooves mightily in the pocket while rendering motifs that also function as countermelodies for Ms. Brown’s riveting pop-folk-soul song-cycle as evidenced in choice tracks “Just Like That,” “Victims and Villains,” “Afterglow,” and “Miles from Home.”

Dig “Victims and Villians” https://youtu.be/vaS9UlM-Vxw

It is among the most astonishing bass passages in the history of pop music as it sounded like nothing before it; and nothing like it has been heard since. 

UK session ace Herbie Flowers blew minds (and home audio speakers) on David Essex smash hit “Rock On” (1973). Akin to his ingenious plot to earn twice his session wage for Lou’s “Walk on the Wild Side,” Herbie double-tracked his part.

Significantly detuning the E string of his blue Fender Jazz which the engineer further submerged with a wobbly delay effect, Mr. Flowers upped his remuneration for the day’s work from £12 to £24!

Herbie Flowers on “Rock On” https://bit.ly/2RUebt9

By the way, which one’s Pink?  With his former Joker’s Wild bandmate Rick Wills in the bass chair, David Jon Gilmour CBE waxed a classic slab whilst his Floyd co-workers were on hiatus in 1978. 

An in-demand session cat with Roxy Music, Kevin Ayers, Small Faces, and Peter Frampton, among others, Wills colored his warm, classic Fender Precision tone with flange and chorus as he plied fine counterpoint and harmonic extensions to enhance David’s guitar mastery.  

Of all the Pink Floyd solo slabs, this is the best, and would have made a remarkable Floyd album if only…

Dig Rick Wills on “Mihalis” https://bit.ly/2PQJUZl

More than a feeling? It was one of those rare times in life when you hear a record for the first time and your jaw drops! How did they do that?