Reader Spotlight: Jill Avilez

Meet Jill Avilez, a.k.a. Mizz Absurd, a bassist from Las Vegas who found her style after ditching the guitar and focusing on combining bass and singing in what she describes as “Soul Scat Slap Solo Bass.”

Jill is this week’s No Treble reader in the spotlight. Here’s her story…

Bio:

Mizz Absurd writes Jazz Philosophy, slaps the bass and plays with time, rhyme and funks with minds. Jazz/Cabaret vocals, improvisational scat singing, spoken word and percussive upright bass with effects. Jazz Mistress of the Avant-Garde often pairing with burlesque dancers and comedians. She is part raging circus sideshow and intimate siren of song. Bringing the upright bass to the front as a solo instrument adding wah effects and scat singing as her horns. This one of a kind one-woman show brings a new experience to the traditional singer/songwriter platform as Soul Scat Slap Solo Bass.

Location:

Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

Day gig:

(Night Job during the week) Graveyard Poker Cashier in a Casino

Years experience:

9 but seriously for 5

Bands & Gigs:

I perform solo as Mizz Absurd. I call it Soul, Scat, Slap, Solo Bass. There are plenty of singer/songwriters who perform solo with a guitar so I decided to bring a new experience with an upright bass. I like to play percussively on the body, often knocking and slapping the strings all while using a wah pedal. I sing torch/cabaret and improvise scat singing. I write original songs as well as selected covers and jazz standards and have spoken word poetry interludes. I often team up with burlesque dancers and comedians for a full live show.

Gear:

• 5/8 unlabeled Gamba-style Upright Bass
• Evah Pirazzi/Spirocore Strings
• Dunlop Crybaby Mini Bass Wah Pedal
• Blue Microphones
• Ampeg BA112 Bass Amp
• Fender Electric Precision Bass Special (PJ)
• LaBella Strings
• Kala UBass

Why I play the bass:

When I was young, I wanted to sing with the bass, but “no one” was doing it. Everyone played guitar and sang, so then I did too for like 10 years. Then my bass player got hurt and our band fell apart so I decided to just go ahead with what I really wanted to do, leave the guitar and just sing with the upright bass. This project will be 5 years old soon.

My bass superpower/claim to fame:

People often remember me for the slapping and the scatting live. I can be pretty aggressive at sometimes because it feels good to hit the thang.

My influences:

So many. Charles Mingus, number one, puts the fear of bass in me. Paul Chambers. I learned how to slap by listening to Milt Hinton. My bass teacher is Johnny Spazz Hatton from Brian Setzer Orchestra, but I don’t do the Rockabilly slap. Willie Dixon, Bootsy Collins, Miles Mosley, and Adam Ben Ezra.

Video:

More on the web:

• Website
• Facebook
• Spotify