Bassists - Page 60

Bass legend Louis Johnson, the funk session musician who played on Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean”, has passed away of undisclosed causes. He was 60 years old. Nicknamed “Thunder Thumbs,” Johnson was born in Los Angeles in 1955 and learned to play bass alongside his brother George. The duo would work alongside each other with Bobby Womack, the Supremes, and Billy...

Miles Mosley is a man that keeps busy. Since we last talked with the Los Angeles native, he’s done extensive touring and been featured on several albums including Kendrick Lamar’s chart-topping To Pimp A Butterfly. His most recent work can be heard on bandmate Kamasi Washington’s album The Epic, where Mosley supports a wall of sound in an innovative new...

Meet Lynne Davis, a musician who started young in her musical journey, and turned her focus to bass thanks to Pino Palladino’s work with Paul Young. Lynne has enjoyed a busy and fruitful career as a bassist and educator. She also says “crikey!” For most of those reasons, she was an easy choice for this week’s spotlight. Bio: I have...

Sometimes we get a submission on the Reader Spotlight, and I recognize the person. This was the case when I saw LeRoy Patterson’s story come through. I met LeRoy more than once – at Gerald Veasley’s annual Bass Bootcamp. But I didn’t know the complete story until now – and this bass player has a story to tell. LeRoy is...

Bassist Rutger Gunnarsson, who made waves with Swedish pop sensation ABBA, has passed away. He was 69 years old. Gunnarsson was born in Linköping, Sweden in 1946. Originally a guitarist, he was studying at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm when a friend convinced him to audition for the Hootenanny Singers, a folk band that included future ABBA frontman...

Bassist Craig Gruber, best known as an original member of Rainbow, has passed away from prostate cancer. He was 63 years old. Gruber’s rise in the rock world began when he joined Elf in late 1973. The band was fronted by Ronnie James Dio, who also covered bass duties before Gruber’s introduction. The bassist was featured on two studio albums...

Meet Declan Miers, a young bassist who has been playing music from a very early age. He has a great story, and one of my favorite parts is the beginning, when he “picked up [his] dad’s 1975 Rickenbacker 4001 and got to work.” At just 14 years of age, Declan is doing work beyond his years. This is a great...

Mike Montgomery first heard Stanley Clarke’s I Wanna Play For You and soon after heard Weather Report’s Heavy Weather (with Jaco Pastorius). That was all it took for him to want to switch from clarinet to bass. After a 15 year break from music, he stared up again. Mike is No Treble’s reader in the spotlight for the week of...

As a member of the Wrecking Crew, Chuck Berghofer helped change the sound of popular music. His big, warm bass sound has laid the foundation for artists from A to Z with recordings by Frank Sinatra, Glen Campbell, Christina Aguilera, Frank Zappa, The Beach Boys, Diana Krall, Robbie Williams, and more. It has also set the mood on over 400...

Meet Jared Lees, a 2nd generation bassist who credits his dad first in his list of influences, followed by Jaco. Jared is a bass player’s bass player, and he’s also the No Treble reader in the spotlight for the week of April 20, 2015. Bio: I’ve been a side man for most of my career, mostly in original groups, but...

While in the earlier part of his life, Sean Geist knew his dad was a bass player, but he didn’t exactly know what that meant. Fast forward to middle school, a band was formed without a bass player. Sean decided to follow in his dad’s footsteps, and the rest is history. Sean is No Treble’s reader in the spotlight for...

Steven Harrison brings us one of the more unique stories of this series. A long-time bassist, Steven doesn’t actually own a bass today (thanks to a series of life events). But he’s getting back into it. And that makes for one exciting story to us. Steven is No Treble’s reader in the spotlight for the week of April 6th, 2015....