Bassist • Producer • Composer

Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?

A: My upright bass, my bow, my '66 Jazz bass, my Ampeg B-15, and an extremely large water bottle

Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?

A: I fell in love with the music of Stevie Wonder as a child and started piano around age 6. I've been making music ever since. But I was always drawn to the bass. I got my first electric bass at age 13 and played in rock and funk bands throughout high school. I began my journey with the upright bass in college. In 1994, straight from college, I moved to NYC with the goal of making a life in music, and I've been blessed to do so ever since. I've always been drawn toward different modes of making music, what is most often called genre. So, before I spent all night at the jazz jam sessions, meeting the players I would later form groups with, I could also be found gigging on the blues and R&B scene in the Village. Or in the daytime, doing film scoring sessions, and writing and rehearsing with songwriters. It's always been rich and diverse for me, even if in the last ten or so years there has been a deepening focus on my creative instrumental collaborations.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Especially with the tools of the digital realm tempting us to move everything around and line it all up, such notions of perfection can suck the life out of the music. As much as possible, I turn off my monitor, and I go for performances, for capturing the moment, and a presence within the moment. Perfection of intent.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: In most cases, I ask for a rough mix to work with. At times I'll need certain elements separated, such as vocals, so that I can have more control toward the focus I need on the track. I'll discuss with the artist any strong feelings about what is needed or desired, and I'll also share my own ideas, as they come. Sometimes what's called for is quite specific and clear, so we go that direction. Other times, it can be more open, and that's fun, too. I'll try one or two approaches and share them, often with a two or more mic and/or DI tracks, so that there are options for the mix. Then we discuss and take care of any changes that are needed. On the technical end, of course I make sure we're agreeing on what's needed, from sample rate to what zero is, etc...

Q: What type of music do you usually work on?

A: I work with a lot of singer-songwriters, but representing quite a diverse range of musical sources. And plenty of instrumental music, as well. I love to groove, but also find connectivity in very spacious music.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Sound, feel, and development. Sorry, was that more than one?!

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: First, I make sure to take care of business by finding a great sound and the right feel for the song. Beyond that, though, I look for ways to develop the song along its path, so that it really is a journey and not just "this happens here, then this happens here." Sometimes that means the line, the sound, and/or the feel really morph along the way, but it can also happen through quite subtle shifts in the approach to any of those elements. I'm just looking for ways to take it to another level.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: Over twenty years ago, we hired a studio builder to float this space within a large spare room in our Brooklyn apartment. It's a dream come true just to have this in the city, plus it turned out to be a great-sounding space. Over this time, I've been digging deeper into using our tools, producing albums for myself, numerous colleagues, and clients. We have a lot of different instruments, with a Schimmel upright piano, Rhodes, Wurlitzer, Prophet, Sonor drum kit, all kinds of vintage tube amps, dynamic mic's, ribbon mic's, small and large diaphragm condensers, a few great pre-amp options, outboard compression, tape delay, spring reverb, analog summing with the Chandler Mini Mixer, using Pro Tools with a Universal Audio Apollo system. I like our setup, as we have all we need to get beautiful and varied sounds, going in, then from there a good partnership of outboard and in-the-box mix tools.

Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?

A: I care about the music and always try my best.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I love to collaborate and interact with different creative spirits.

Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.

A: The most common is my receiving a rough mix of the song to which I can add an acoustic or electric bass line. I also get plenty of requests to arrange and even record other parts for the song, such as strings or horns. But I've also enjoyed jobs for which I was asked to compose, record, and mix the entire piece of music for a client's specific needs.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: I've been doing this long enough to appreciate what the all-analog world offered and required of us. Digital has come a long way, though, and there's so much to appreciate about it, along with plenty of pitfalls. I do my best to take the sonic and performance-based workflow ideals of the analog world into my work in the digital realm.

Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

A: It can be good to know what you want, but we should all remain open to discovery.