Rick Rosato Plays The Blues On His Own On “Homage”

by Kevin Johnson Tuesday, October 18th, 2022

Rick Rosato: Homage Rick Rosato has made his debut as a leader with a new solo bass album called Homage, which pays tribute to the blues while returning to his first musical influences. The record was recorded by Rosato alone with no overdubs.

“During the early parts of the pandemic, I was feeling depressed, scared, and uninspired, and I stopped playing for a month,” Rosato said. “I was used to playing as an accompanist in other bands. I asked myself, ‘How can I make music on the bass that feels whole?’ I dug deeper and began to think of what inspired me as a kid in Montreal. My father is a music lover and played blues guitar around the house and listening to the blues during the pandemic got me excited about music again.”

While stuck at home, the bassist began to listen to Something Inside of Me on New York’s WKCR, featuring the sounds of early bluesmen like Skip James, Muddy Waters, and Mississippi John Hurt. He started to work the songs out on bass, adapting the bass lines and melodies for the upright by adjusting tunings and arrangements.

Homage’s track list makes it seem to have an A-side and a B-side, with jazz-inflected blues in the first half and more traditional folk blues in the second half. Rosato begins with an original composition for the title track to set the tone before heading into a rendition of “Cherry Ball Blues” by Skip James, then Thelonious Monk’s “Crepuscule With Nellie,” and “Elvin’s Guitar Blues” by Elvin Jones and Richard Davis.

“Cherry Ball Blues” is a standout on the record for its energy and creativity.

“I first heard this song on WKCR’s Something Inside Of Me blues show, and the repeated guitar riff along with Skip’s haunting voice almost put me into a trance. It was the perfect song for me to get familiar with the Bentonia (open Dm) inspired tuning that I adapted for the bass which allowed me to access wide intervals easily while still keeping a low bass pedal going,” he explains. “I was also listening to a lot of Gnawa music at the time which inspired me to emulate the rattling sound of the metal rings used on the Sintir by clipping objects onto the bass strings.”

The second half of the album heads more towards the Delta with another Skip James tune, “Hard Time Killing Time Floor Blues,” then Muddy Waters’ “I Can’t Be Satisfied,” James’ “Devil Got My Woman,” and Mississippi John Hurt’s “Boys, You’re Welcome.”