Reader Spotlight: Anthony Crawford

Anthony CrawfordMeet Anthony Crawford, our player in the spotlight for November 10th, 2009.

Bio:

Born June 29th, 1981, Anthony Crawford was raised in a family of talented musicians. His father, funk and rock drummer Hubert (H bomb) Crawford has played with notable greats like James Brown, Mothers Finest, Mark Farner of Grand Funk Railroad, The Bar-Kays, and was the original drummer for the Eric Gales Band. His uncle is the legendary jazz saxophonist Hank Crawford. With such strong musical influences in his life, Anthony began playing the drums at the tender age of 2. At about 6 years old, he began to attend his father’s performances. It was at this time that Anthony started to visualize and dream of being on stage and playing the drums like his father. Soon after, this young gifted musician entered and won several school talent contests.

It was not until Anthony reached his 12th birthday that he finally picked up the bass for the very first time. He knew, just at that moment that he was meant to be a bass player. He walked away from the drums, never looked back, and began practicing the bass night and day. When Anthony was 14 he began playing with his father and even sat in with the Bette Midler Band. As a freshman in high school, he then met keyboardist Derrick Dean, and drummer Trevor Taylor. The trio soon became good friends and decided to form a band. Together they performed at church and for a variety of Memphis community choirs. Through these experiences, Anthony was introduced to many forms of jazz and musical genres.

Musically, Anthony has been greatly influenced by rock bands and bassists like Doug Wimbish, Les Claypool, Doug Pinnick, Metallica, Deep Purple, and Ozzy Osbourne. But the turning point surrounding his musical influences was when he recalls, “I got ‘A Show Of Hands’ by Victor Wooten. That record completely changed my life. I must have learned that whole entire record from beginning to end. That record made me really explore my talent in ways I never thought possible.” It was after this musical experience that he began listening to other great bass players like Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller and Jaco, to name a few.

In 2000, post high school graduation Anthony flew to Los Angeles to play at the National Democratic Convention for Bill Clinton. Two years later, he appeared in a Burger King commercial with the basketball star, Shaquille O’Neal. The following year, Anthony released his first record entitled “Satisfied”. Anthony began playing with the legendary R&B group Shalmor in 2004 and shortly after with Howard Hewett. He also performed with Justin Timberlake. Later, after meeting kazz saxophonist Kirk Whalum, the pair performed a few shows and collaborated to create the music for a movie commentary filmed in South Africa.

On January 1st, 2008, Anthony moved to Los Angeles and has been actively performing within the L.A. scene, steadily working on a solo CD titled “Urban Jazz” (released October 27th, 2009). This album is a rare mixture of musical genres including pop, funk, fusion, hip-hop and smooth listening.

Location:

Los Angeles, CA, USA

Day gig:

Bass player, producer and songwriter.

Years experience:

15 years

Bands & Gigs:

I am gigging around the Los Angeles area with different bands and artists. Also I am starting to pursue a solo career as a soloist bass player.

Gear:

I am using a 6-string Roscoe bass. I am using an SWR cabinet. G-T 10 boss pedal board.

Why I play the bass:

I started playing the bass because I always loved the presence of bass in music.

My bass superpower/claim to fame

Just released my solo bass album.

My influences

Geddy Lee, Victor Wooten, Jackie Clark, Jonathan Richmond, Marcus Miller, Eddie Van Halen, Doug Wimbish.

More on the web:

MySpace

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Leave a Reply to tonydelgado Cancel reply

  1. tonydelgado

    Very nice Anthony!

  2. tonydelgado

    Very nice Anthony!

  3. […] “Anthony Crawford is voted most popular player in the “player spotlight” of 2009 o… […]