Bassist (Upright & Electric)

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: When I’m a producer, I always ask people that I’m working with as the question, “if you had a magic button that immediately transferred to when your record is finished and it’s everything that you would ever hoped it would be, what do you want to do with it?” This doesn’t always give me the direction I need but it might provide some insight to me about the client’s aspirations. I am going give it the same amount of energy if it’s something that is partnered with a major record label and has great potential or a "vanity" project that won’t leave the house or is just for fun. Regardless of its intent, it’s a recording that will last forever and you have to put your best “ stamp” on it. As a bass player, I will often ask if there will be other musical elements that will be added after I add my part. This will determine how minimally or actively I might play. Also, knowing the instrumentation might determine what sonic properties I might want find so the parts will complement each other.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I have just started producing and playing on a record for Argentinian singer Gabriela Marrone. I first met Gabriela back in the late 90s with guitarist Bill Frisell as chief collaborator. The record that she and I are working on currently so far is a mixture of Jazz, traditional Argentina influenced music, as well as ambient and cinematic textures. I am also playing bass on a second trio album with saxophonist Jeff Coffin (Dave Matthews Band, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones) and drummer Jordan Perlson. The album will also feature guests such as Mike Stern, John Beasley, Jerry Douglas, Bob Lanzetti (Snarky Puppy), Leo Genovese and others.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: I do prefer still using as much analog on the front end of a recording. Whenever there’s an opportunity to use a real instrument as opposed to a software synth or any other kind of plug-in or emulation, I will tend to use a hardware piece. I think there is inherent individuality that comes with a physical instrument as opposed to a digital algorithm. The individual character or feel of each instrument will make you play differently. I do love using the current medium of digital recording though. I can’t imagine going back to a point where you couldn’t take advantage of all the offerings we’ve become used to over the last 20+ years ("undo" in particular) I do love the sound of analog tape though.

Q: What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?

A: I play on a lot of intimate records, either with one or two other instrumental components (lots of songs with acoustic guitars or piano/vocals). If it’s a jazz setting, it’s usually something that teeters in the Bill Frisell arena but there is an occasional more traditional jazz setting. Often there are acoustic progressive more complex instrumental tunes ala Jerry Douglas band.

Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?

A: Even though I’m seen most of the time with an upright bass. I love to play electric as well a synth bass.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I like to think that I am bringing a thoughtful arrangement in addition to a good part to any composition or song. I am also looking to find a particular sound that will fit within the parameters of the recording. The bass is fortunate instrument, every genre needs the bass. Through the years, I have felt fortunate to have the opportunity to experience a lot of interesting and inspiring music.

Q: Is there anyone on SoundBetter you know and would recommend to your clients?

A: Drummer Jordan Perlson. He is fantastic.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I cannot imagine ever being a time where I wasn’t a musician or lover of music. My greatest pleasure is figure out the way I can enhance a piece of music. How do I make it better? How do I navigate best through the chords harmonically? What note choices that I can do bring a certain emotion to the project? The bass instrument specifically has drama sonically. Even with its first entrance, what strategy can I bring that will achieve the most impact? Dynamics and range can often go hand-in-hand, does an octave choice bring another emotion? Is there a specific instrument that works better in the context of a tune just based on its tone? I feel what I might enjoy the most is just how I can be part of the ensemble that I am involved in allowing the recording to get to a better place.

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

A: In this platform offered with Sound Better, it is a wonderful opportunity to explore individual players. It’s like the biggest spice rack or color palette that could be offered. I would say, to do your research about who you might exactly want to complement your recording. Explore the soundbites that are available with each players profiles. If you do believe that I or anyone else is the right fit for your project, allow them to bounce ideas off of you just in case there’s something that didn’t come to mind right away.

Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?

A: Film composer, Thomas Newman would be one that I would love to work with. I am a great admirer of his film scores, particularly American beauty, Shawshank Redemption, In the Bedroom. I’ve had the opportunity to work with some of the instrumentalists that have worked on his projects. It’s a mixture of written scores as well as improvisation (one player said it was like being in a rock band). The opportunity to be in his crew would be incredible. I would also love to play bass behind Paul Rodgers sometime.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: For specifically, upright bass, the combination of using a direct signal with a pick up in conjunction with a mic helps tremendously with evening out all of the frequencies sometimes for a historically problematic instrument for recording. For cutting through the mix, I like to use the older designed Fishman BP-100 bass pick up, which is a very pointed and bright pick up. With engineering bass, it is much easier to create artificial low end than artificial high end. Adding top end can often create just as much hiss as the signal Allowing both signals complement each other and provide different sonic properties. If the recording recalls for high definition like an electric bass, treat the DI, the same way you would an electric bass with compression as well as hard limiting. For microphones, years ago, I did a “shoot out” at the infamous Blackbird Academy with a pile of cheap and ridiculously expensive microphones. A $89 Shure 57 almost beat them all out. Listening to the instrument carefully will determine the best placement of the microphone.

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

A: It’s typically a mixture of Singer-Songwriter, Americana, Jazz, Alternative Rock, Soundtrack, Cinematic, Ambient.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: I feel that I have been most complemented as being distinctive player and that my additions to a song are appropriate and conscientious. I like to think that I am providing an arrangement as well as an individual bass part that is complementary to the song or composition. When I was first playing the bass in middle school (around age 12), I played my first concert in the jazz band (electric bass). I was so excited to prepare and play the bass part note for note. I felt like a really "nailed" the part in the show but soon after playing the song, the band director came over to tune the bass (I had forgotten or didn't know how). Since that time, I have had the strongest desire (almost to an obsession) to be in as tune as an electric bass on the upright bass.

Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?

A: I am very proud of the work that I did with Bill Frisell in the mid 1990s through to the mid-2010s. James Taylor was incredible as well. My tenure with Lyle Lovett and his recordings are also milestones for me. Working with Robert Plant and Alison Krauss on the most recent recording was a dream. A couple of years ago, celebrated producer Kyle Lehning asked me co-produce a couple of tracks on a posthumous record for Kenny Rogers. There were some existing vocals of his that I needed to have new tracks built around him. We worked with just his lead vocal and a click track and created a few 'beds" in which I am proud to say that I created. I use this opportunity to take advantage of an extensive collection of vintage synthesizers that I’ve acquired overtime. These included a vintage TR 808 drum machine, Oberheim OB8, Roland Jupiter 8 and a Sequential Circuits Prophet 5. Eventually, a small string ensemble was added to the tracks.

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

A: I will send you something you can work with.

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

A: 1946 John Juzek Upright Bass, 1961 fender jazz bass, 1963 Gibson SG/LP, Electro Harmonix 95000 looper, Roland Jupiter 8

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Creative but almost thought as minimalist at times. I look for the sonic properties of the instrument to be as pleasing or more pleasing than a specific line. I as a player, I am not necessarily looking to find the most fun part for me to satisfy me internally but I am looking for something that is going to complement the recording.

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

A: I started playing piano at the age of 5, trumpet and fourth grade and then at age 11 I saw somebody playing upright bass in a school orchestra performance. I was immediately captivated by the look and sound of the instrument. My sister had already been playing in Bluegrass fiddle competitions and it because easy for me to figure out how to play “root/fifth” within the context of the tunes. I became glued to the instrument and started taking lessons from a few jazz basisst in Champaign, Illinois as well as participating in the school orchestras. I was fortunate to have a couple of wonderful teachers that made significant impressions on me. By the time I reached high school I started playing in jazz clubs professionally. In 1983. I heard Led Zeppelin for the first time in completely lost my mind. I had been playing electric as well and at that time fully thought of myself as a rock musician but was still playing, classical, jazz, Bluegrass). I entered the University of Illinois as an Applied Bass Performance major (classical), but quickly transferred to Composition/Theory with an emphasis on electronic music. After graduating college, I moved to Nashville in 1992. It is interesting, to this date, jazz musicians think of me as a bluegrass player and bluegrass players think of me as a jazz player. I still think of myself as a rock player. I do believe this perception of what I do is actually been helpful over the years whereas either genre has wanted a taste of the other genre or influence on their recordings. This explains the possibility of my contribution to the Bill Frisell material made sense. Also, because of my jazz and, folk, Bluegrass background it was a natural fit for me to work with genre bending artist Lyle Lovett for so many years. Over my 30+ years of living in Nashville, I have been very happy with the specific artists that I’ve been paired with to work on their recordings. It has allowed me to be immersed with creative and intelligent music. I believe when people call me, they are familiar with what I have already done in the past and want me to be myself. It is the greatest compliment for someone to want what you do because you do it a certain way.

Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?

A: I grew up listening to classical and films score music. I loved creating my own stories in my head that corresponded to what I was hearing. Film scores in particular are always interesting to me because when you remove the dialogue it creates very odd and unique phrases to accommodate the dialog or action. The design of film scores are to guide someone’s emotion (whether or not it is appearing on screen). Thomas Newman, John Williams, Wendy Carlos are a few that come to mind. Oscar Peterson’s “Night Train” album was daily listening for most of my middle school years. I’ve always gravitated to toward what’s now being thought of as classic rock. I always think my era was from 1969 to 1984 but I’m particularly fascinated with the period from 1979 to 1982. It was such an era of exploration with coming out of disco and guitar oriented rock to pre-sequenced synthesizer music. It was almost like pop music was finding its way with highly experimental tendencies. The thought of what could be done with new technology while still maintaining all of the influences from the previous two decades. Talking Heads “Remain in Light” is one of my favorites from this era but I love AC/DC just as much. Individual musicians include John Paul Jones, Steve Morse, Ray Brown, Jeff Beck.

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

A: 85% of the time I get called to play the upright acoustic bass. I love the electric bass as well, but over time, I feel like I’ve developed a technique on the upright that brings a little bit of the same tonality and sonics from the electric. What often ends up happening on a session is that I will bring the upright and a bunch of electrics and the upright ends up getting used for the entire record. Because of the amount of upright work that I’ve done in the past, it lends itself to music that covers in the Singer-Songwriter, Americana, jazz, alternative rock idioms. Though I did study classical bass growing up, I will be quick to recommend someone more of a specialist to cover music that would require prominence with the bow (Arco) or orchestral work.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: If I am operating out of my studio for a remote recording, I typically ask the client to send either a full ProTools session of the multitrack recording or a WAV or MP3 format of the recording with a zero timestamp (starting at bar zero). I will ask for the bit and sample rates as well as the tempo or BPM number. A chart is wonderful if there’s some very specific bass notes to be played in a complex chord or if there are specific figures that need to be read. Most of the time I am OK just to write my own chart. I typically will do a number of passes/performances that I will include with either a comp track or indicate a favorite performance. I will send the other passes if the client wants to create a “Frankenstein.” The only time that I would send just one pass would be if the piece of music were completely Rubato or “free time” that requires me to punch in every phrase to be in sync. My signal path is usually using a condenser microphone (either a Neumann U67, AKG 414 or Ear Trumpet Labs Nadine) Into a Universal audio Apollo 16 X interface with a Rascal D2 Neve 1073 clone as well as a UA LA-3A compressor. I pair the microphone channel with a direct/Piezo pickup through a a designs preamp through a Demeter VTDI tube DI. My file sharing service of choice is WeTransfer. I will either send back every pass as individual wave files labeled with their corresponding direct and microphone channels or I will send the entire ProTools file.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: 1000 square foot dedicated studio space capable of 16 channels at once (UA Apollo 16x). Free standing building built in 2021 includes live room, vocal booth and control room/floor. Preamps include API 3124 (4), A-Designs Pacifica (2), Rascal D2 1073 Clone (2), c1979 Yamaha PM-2000 Console 32 x 8 (8 in use), 1970's Urei LA-3A. Avid Protools, Logic Software with a large library of software synths and plug-ins. Microphones include a 1966 Neumann U67, Neumann U87, c1983 AKG 414, assorted Audio Technica and Shure microphones. Basses include a 1948 John Juzek upright, 1800's Marchetti upright bass, 1961 Fender Jazz, 1962 Fender Jazz (flats), 1967 Gibson EB-3, 1966 Fender Precision Fretless, 1959, Fender Precision, Warwick Star Bass II (Fretted and Fretless), Warwick Triumph Electric Uprights, 1981 Steinberger L-2 headless, 1988 Jazz Bass Special (active), 1959 Danelectro 6 String Bass, 1960 DC Danelectro 6 String Bass. Hardware synths/keyboards include, 1981 Jupiter 8, 1979 Jupiter 4, 1974 Moog Minimoog, 1972 Arp 2600, Oberheim OB-8, Fender Rhodes 73 Stage, Wurlitzer Electric Piano, Hammond M3, Korg Delta String Machine, Roland Juno 6, Roland Juno 1, Yamaha DX7, Sequential Circuits Prophet 5, Roland JX8P, Roland XP-30, Hohner Clavinet D6, Hohner Planet, Mustel Celeste, Baldwin Hamilton Upright (felted), Ivers and Pond Baby Grand Piano, Arp Solina, Nord Piano 5, Korg SQ-10 analog sequencer. Rack synthesizers include: Yamaha Motif Rack ES, Yamaha TX81Z, Roland JV1080, Roland JV1010, Roland S-330, Roland MKS-20, EMU Vintage Keys, Roland R-8M, Yamaha TG55, Kurzweil Micro Piano Drum Machines include, 1981 Roland TR-808, Roland CR-8000, Roland R8, Korg KR-55, Univox Drum Machine. Over 200 pedal and rack effects including a Roland Space Echo RE-201, Maestro Echoplex, Boss CE-1 Chorus Ensemble, 1966 Arbiter Fuzz Face. Amplifiers include 1972 Orange OR80, Orange OR50, Orange AD30, Orange AD30r, Fender Princeton Reverb, 1966 Fender Super Reverb, 1972 Marshall JMP PA-20, Marshall JMP 100, Yamaha RA200 Rotating Speaker/Amps, Fender Vaporizer Prototype, Electric Guitars include 1963 Gibson SG Standard, 1965 Gibson SG Special, 1958 Danelectro 3022, 1960 Gibson Murphy Lab Les Paul Standard, 1961 Fender Stratocaster, 1963 Gretsch Duo Jet Reissue, 2013 Gibson SG Baritone, 1981 Gibson Explorer, 1996 Gretsch Malcolm Young, 1988 Fender HM Strat, Fernandes Retrorocket Sustainer, Steinberger GP, Fender Professional II Telecaster, 1967 Telecaster, Hammertone Electric Octave 12, Vox Octave 6, Galanti Grand Prix, John Gray ES-140. Acoustic guitars include 1943 Gibson LG-2, 1940 Gibson L-00, 1953 Martin 0-18, 1969 Gibson B-25 (high strung), 1933 National Duolean. Drums include a round badge1960's Gretsch kit with multiple snare and cymbal choices.