Updating the sounds of 1990s Madchester for the 21st Century, Leicester lads Kasabian continue to forge a mesmerizing meld of hard rock, psychedelic and electronica.
Among modern rock’s most spirited live ensembles, bassist Chris Edwards anchors bandleader Sergio Pizzorno’s sprawling, ambitious compositions with crunchy, in-the-pocket grooves and countermelodies abetted with a myriad of effects which solidify the band’s signature din. His primary weapons of choice are the Fender Deluxe Jaguar, Fender Jazz, and the Gibson EB-2.
Since their formation in Omaha, Nebraska in the late 1980s, there has been no genre left untouched by the remarkable 311 and their virtuoso bassist Aaron “P-Nut” Wills.
Plying his craft with his signature Warwick extended range bass replete with illuminated fretboard markers, Mr. “Nut” seamlessly alters his tone, technique and harmonic range to fit the composition. His solo segment, which often features a myriad of effects, are among the many highlights of 311 concert performances.
Tim Lefebvre is among the most in-demand bassists on the contemporary rock, jazz, jam-band, experimental and electronica scenes … and permutations thereof. He adapts to every genre he works in – stretching his harmonic and melodic chops as an improviser / catalyst – or simply laying down the groove and working the pocket.
Using a wide array of instruments, from vintage Fender Jazz and Precision, and Moollon, to extended range and upright, Tim’s stage and studio credits include David Bowie (Blackstar /2016), the Tedeschi-Trucks Band (Let Me Get By/2016), Donald Fagen, Dave Binney, the Saturday Night Live Band, Donny McCaslin, and Mark Giuliana, to cite a few.
A prolific hit songwriter (“Free Ride,” “I Can Dream About You,” James Brown’s “Living In America,” “Instant Replay,” Black Box “Ride On Time” among others), producer, multi-instrumentalist, and recording artist, the late Daniel Earl Hartman anchored the most commercially successful incarnation of the Edgar Winter Group in the early 1970s, which also featured a couple of other legends: Rick Derringer and Ronnie Montrose.
A pocket player (“Frankenstein”) given to the groove, Hartman also plied his craft (s) with Tina Turner, Nona Hendryx, Joe Cocker, The Plasmatics (Metal Priestess) and Steve Winwood, to cite a select few. Hartman was a prolific solo recording artist, waxing eight slabs from 1976 through 1989.
In 1989 Dan released New Green Clear Blue – an ambient instrumental album inspired by Vangelis and Harold Budd.
Dan was also renowned for his design and use of the infamous “bass suit” with the Edgar Winter Band, which set him back $5000 – a small fortune in 1974. Note: the instrument’s controls are on the sleeve attached to an aluminum plate. The guitar neck ends in a Crescent Moon and the suit itself has moons on it.
Said Hartman “The bass suit was actually one of the first cordless guitars in existence, and I invented it. It was built right into this silver bodysuit so it looked as though the bass was coming out of my body, and the volume and tone knobs were on the sleeve. When it worked it was great, but the tunings were a little strange, plus I can’t tell you how many times I got shocked. It wound up being just one more thing that we had to worry about on tour…’well, I wonder if this will work tonight.’ After a while I couldn’t stand wearing it anymore so I gave it up.”
He is a preeminent educator, exemplary session player, Kiesel Signature Bass artist, solo recording artist, and virtuoso sideman. With great insight, humor, humility, and depth of knowledge – Roy Vogt was among my favorite teachers for any subject at the University of Miami and other learning “institutions.”
How many people can lay claim to a career so varied that it includes appearances on MTV’s Headbanger’s Ball, Montreaux Jazz Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival, the London Palladium, the Grand Ole Opry and the Kremlin? From Punk to Funk, the simplicity of Country and Blues to the complexity of HyperJazz and World Beat? Not many. Yet premier bassist and educator Roy Vogt has done all that and more.
The first person to receive a Masters degree in Electric Bass Performance – from the University of Miami’s prestigious music school – Roy has been pursuing the art of bass for more than forty years. In addition, he is recognized as one of the finest educators in the world, mentoring dozens of successful professionals, including the legendary Willie Weeks. Electric, fretless, upright, you name it. If it plays low notes and has strings, Roy is a master at playing it, and in teaching others to do the same.
Over his four-decade career, Roy has recorded or performed with an amazing list of top stars, including Larry Coryell, Victor Wooten, Dave Weckl, Tom Scott and the LA Express, Chester Thompson, Miroslav Vitous, Glenn Campbell, BJ Thomas, Chet Atkins, Englebert Humperdink, Dickey Betts, Tony Joe White, Charlie Daniels, Jerry Reed, and dozens more.
Roy has been teaching at the university level for thirty years. Since 1983, he has held the Bass Professor chair at prestigious Belmont University (Nashville, TN), one of the very few schools to offer a commercial music degree program designed to turn students into professional musicians working at the top of the industry. Roy’s students have toured and recorded with such notable stars as Trisha Yearwood, Faith Hill, Little Texas, Michael W. Smith, Lady Antebellum, Chick Corea, Sir Tom Jones, Blood Sweat and Tears, Yanni, and countless other music icons.
“I have to be on the stage. That’s when it comes to me… period.”
He started out on clarinet, then took up the doghouse at age seventeen, honed his craft in military bands in the 1950s, paid his dues as Dinah Washington’s musical director for a few years, migrated to Detroit’s burgeoning jazz scene in the early 60s, then relocated to New York City a few years later to emerge as one of the most versatile and prolific bassists in modern jazz.
An educator, composer, and recording artist, Cecil McBee’s canon spans seminal works by Charles Lloyd, Wayne Shorter, Yusef Lateef, Pharoah Sanders, Alice Coltrane, Joe Farrell, Leon Thomas, Lonnie Liston Smith, and Norman Connors to cite an extremely select few.
McBee’s work in the late 1960s “soul jazz” movement was watershed, as he rendered melodic passages and deep grooves that inspired both upright and electric players.
A bassist, composer, producer, band-member, collaborator, and educator, among other titles – this Berklee College of Music alum cites Geddy, John Paul Jones, Sir Paul, Marcus Miller, and Jaco as his mentors. Chaney seamlessly blends his tone and approach to whatever the situation warrants – working alternative rock, pop, blues, funk, country, rhythm and blues, and country genres as a first call session player.
Utilizing trad four-string, extended range, fretless, and acoustic instruments, Chaney’s canon spans artists as diverse as Joe Cocker, Glenn Campbell, Jane’s Addiction, Alanis Morissette, Cher, Slash, Orianthi, Josh Groban, Sara Bareilles, Camp Freddy, Taylor Hawkins and the Coattail Riders, and Gavin Degraw to reference a very, very select few.
Courtesy of Camp Freddy Net
Chaney has also helmed the bass chair for numerous film scores and television soundtracks.
A Fender endorser, Chaney is a collector! Among his weapons of choice include vintage Fender Jazz and Precision basses, plus instruments and sound equipment from Fender Custom Shop, Lakland, Sadowsky, Guild, Gibson, Epiphone, Rob Allen, Aguilar, and Ashdown, to name a scant few.
Two 70’s seminal six-string slingers; Tommy Bolin and Peter Frampton, called upon Stanley Sheldon to anchor their ensembles and watershed slabs. A native of Ottawa, Kansas – Sheldon’s approach to the instrument draws from a wide array of influences including rhythm & blues, soul, jazz, Latin and permutations thereof . It was Stanley’s grooves and harmonic support which fortified his bandleaders’ artistry on record and on stage. A finesse player who rocks with the best of ’em, check out….
With drummer John Siomos, and keyboardist Bob Mayo, Stanley brought out the best in Peter Frampton on one of the greatest live collections committed to vinyl, 8-Track, cassette, and streaming: Frampton Comes Alive (1976). Throughout Alive! Sheldon works the lower-register pocket with a punchy soulful feel which complimented Frampton’s extended improvisations. Most players would have slid all over the neck given the instrument’s tendency to “encourage” gilssandos and harmonics – however Sheldon grooved with space aplenty, which is why those recordings still sound fresh nearly a half-century later.
Also note that along with Kenny Passarelli (who recommended Stanley for the Frampton gig), Boz Burrell, Rick Danko, and Bill Wyman – Stanley Sheldon was among the first bassists to utilize a fretless (Fender Precision) in a pop rock context.
Stanley Sheldon Sound & Vision…
Tony Senatore with his “Sheldon fretless P Bass” rendering a few of Stanley’s signature Frampton passages:
“What can I say about Peter that has not already been said? He was, and, continues to be one of the greatest inspirational figures in the world of music… to his countless fans in general… and to me in particular. We were both born in 1950, but on different sides of the Atlantic Ocean. I truly believe Peter and I came into this world as synchronistic musical soulmates… destined to play together from the beginning.” – Courtesy www.StanleySheldon.Com
An educator, devoted student of Latin American studies and world music, among other endeavors, Sheldon has also cut records and/or toured with Lou Gramm, Ronin (with Waddy Wachtel, Rick Marotta, Dan Dugmore), subbed for Mel Schacher in Don Brewer’s Grand Funk Railroad, anchored Delbert McClinton, and Warren Zevon to cite a few – and continued to work with Frampton on and off until his bandleader’s forced retirement due to illness.
Photo Courtesy of Stanley Sheldon Com
Be sure to check out www.StanleySheldon.Com – his Diaries are a fascinating glimpse into his career and artistry.
John Myung (Dream Theater)
As founding member of Dream Theater, John Myung is among the most revered progressive metal bassists on record and on the bandstand.
A harmonic, melodic, compositional, and technical master spanning traditional finger-picking, tapping, harmonics, and use of effects, Myung has greatly expanded the role of the bass much like the players in the bands he idolized growing up in suburban Long Island such as Sir Paul, Geezer Butler, Jaco, and Chris Squire to cite a few.
Inspired by The Beatles, Black Sabbath, The Who, Rush, Iron Maiden, Yes, Myung is Dream Theater’s lyricist. John reveals his approach to the instrument in his instructional video Progressive Bass Concepts.
Among Myung’s projects outside of Dream Theater include Platypus with Rod Morgenstein, Ty Tabor, and Derek Sherinian, and Jelly Jam with Tabor and Morgenstein.
An acclaimed British upright jazz cat, session player, bandleader, and member of Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated among other noted ensembles; rockers of a certain age revere Spike Heatley’s brilliant artistry in the service of Rod Stewart in the early 1970s.
Spike added harmonic depth and swinging grooves to Rod The Mod’s readings of Bob Dylan (“Mama You’ve Been On My Mind”), Sam Cooke (“Twistin’ the Night Away” “Bring It On Home/You Send Me”), Chuck Berry (“Sweet Little Rock ‘n’ Roller”), and the rooster haired rocker’s choice album cuts composed with Martin Quittenton (“Farewell”) and Ron “I’ve Got My Own Album to Do” Wood (“Dixie Toot”), among others.
Among Spike’s session credits include doubling the electric bass of John Paul Jones for Donovan’s iconic “Sunshine Superman.”
