Courtesy of Doug Wimbish Com – Photo Karstens Staiger

By Thomas Semioli

“I’m not just a bass player, I’m a sound-system…”

What James Jamerson is to Motown, Doug Wimbish is to Sugar Hill Records….

Among the most versatile, accomplished, and influential players ever to pick up the instrument, Douglas Arthur Wimbish’s body of work spans funk, hip-hop, dance, rock, pop, metal, blues, soul and permutations thereof.

Inspired by the sounds of his 1960s youth blaring from AM/FM radio – Sly Stone, Miles Davis, and George Clinton – Doug immersed himself in music theory studies at Hartford Conservatory. At Jackie McLean’s Artist Collective workshops, Wimbish began to collaborate with guitarists Skip McDonald and Barton Campbell, drummer Harold Sergeant, keyboardist Hubert Powel,l horn players Randy Boss and Otha Stokes as the Wood Brass & Steel ensemble.

With Skip, drummer Keith LeBlanc as the house band rhythm section for Sugar Hill Records, Doug commended to anchoring several watershed sides including Grandmaster Flash’s “The Message,” and “White Lines” to site two…and the rest, as they say is history.

With his Sugar Hill pedigree, Wimbish migrated to London in the early 1980s, founding TackHead – a highly acclaimed ensemble which was an innovative meld of industrial, hip-hop, hard rock, and electronica.  Though their commercial success was limited, they were role models for platinum selling rap metal rockers Rage Against the Machine, and Faith No More, among others.

In the UK, Doug’s visibility blossomed and he began to work on stage and in the studio with such high-profile artists including Jeff Beck, Mick Jagger, Seal, Madonna, Joe Satriani, Annie Lennox, Ron Wood, Billy Idol, Lauryn Hill, and Mos Def, to cite a few.

Doug replaced Muzz Skullings in Living Color in 1991 for several tours and slabs. A composer, solo recording artist, producer, and arranger, Doug is an exemplary soloist, pocket player, and melodic catalyst – his weapons of choice include Spector 4 and 5 string instruments.

Doug Wimbish Sound & Vision

Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five “The Message” https://youtu.be/PobrSpMwKk4

Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five “White Lines” https://youtu.be/HB-Kkvf5j5Y

Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five “New York New York” https://youtu.be/Lecfn2D9Y94

The Sugar Hill Gang “Sugar Hill Groove” https://youtu.be/BZfz5VgsI0k

Afrika Bambaataa & James Brown  “Unity” https://youtu.be/16k-k29wA8Q

Madonna “Erotica” https://youtu.be/WyhdvRWEWRw

TackHead “Mind and Movement Control” https://youtu.be/GFmZsHLC1Wk

Living Color “Open Letter” https://youtu.be/aMJTGcG-sxc

Ron Wood “Testify” https://youtu.be/NP3u2A79yIg

Doug Wimbish “Revolution” https://youtu.be/jIEuonjB0Xc

By Tom Semioli

Visionary, sound conceptualist, innovator…

Producer, recording artist, label head, composer – and a bass player, Bill Laswell is a giant of American music. Spanning pop, new wave, no wave, punk, dub, avant-garde, jazz, rock, reggae, electronica, techno – and permutations thereof, there is nary a genre Laswell has not excelled in.

Laswell’s innovative production and collaborative efforts are the stuff of legend. His short list (pun intended) of credits include: Mick Jagger, Yoko Ono, Iggy Pop, Laurie Anderson, Brian Eno, Bootsy Collins, Nine Inch Nails, Motorhead, Peter Gabriel, Blur, The Ramones, George Clinton, Pharaoh Sanders, The Dalai Lama, Matisyahu, Angelique Kidjo, DJ Krush, Sting, The Last Poets, Afrika Bambaataa, Julian Schnabel, Whitney Houston, Manu Dibango, Fela Kuti, Herbie Hancock,  PiL, Ginger Baker, Tony Williams, Steve Vai, William S. Burroughs, Miles Davis, Carlos Santana, and Bob Marley, to cite a select few.

Akin to his peer bassists Jah Wobble, Jonas Helborg, and such luminaries as Bootsy, Jaco, Jamerson, Marcus Miller…. Laswell’s rhythmic and tonal vocabulary has expanded the language of the instrument.

As a bassist his seminal works include his “avant-funk” ensemble Material, progressive dub collective Method of Defiance, Massacre with Fred Firth and Charles Hayward, and Last Exit with Sonny Sharrock among others.

Bill Laswell Sound and Vision

“Beyond the Zero” https://youtu.be/ddjMHMuOE7Y

“Golden Spiral” https://youtu.be/XYixWnmv0YE

“Dread Iternal” https://youtu.be/aIzFfMslCQo

“Lightening Teleportation” https://youtu.be/ZlvrMBxM-jE

Photos Courtesy of Bill Wyman Com

Bob Dylan opined that sans the former William George Perks – aka Bill Wyman, the Rolling Stones were merely a dance band.

With all due respect to Bill’s fine replacement, Darryl Jones, and dance bands – Dylan is correct once again. Older and wiser than his band-mates, Wyman brought the aesthetic of the upright to the Stones – pulling the frets out of his Framus instrument and thus creating the first known fretless bass guitar.

An electrified disciple of Willie Dixon with a stage presence which exudes the essence of cool, Bill’s brilliance is founded in his intuitive use of rhythm and space. Wyman often played half-time on up-tempo songs – which, along with Charlie’s jazz chops, enabled the Stones to swing like no other rock band before or since.

An author, photographer, and amateur archaeologist, Bill fronted his versatile blues / jazz Rhythm Kings ensemble for the past few decades which featured a rotating cast of his famous friends including Eric Clapton, Peter Frampton, Mark Knopfler, George Harrison, Georgie Fame, Gary Brooker, Paul Carrack, Mick Taylor, Andy Fairweather-Low, and Gary US Bonds among many others – now in his 80s, Wyman is, for all purposes, retired.

Among the most influential bassists of the rock era, The Bass Centre in London crafted a Bill Wyman signature bass which looks as great as it plays. 

Dig this extraordinary clip of Bill with the Stones rendering “19th Nervous Breakdown” https://youtu.be/FoNSFFhyEi8

Bill Wyman as guest on David C. Gross and Tom Semioli’s NOTES FROM AN ARTIST Radio Show / Podcast