This is an ambitious effort. This will be a fascinating conversation. Our goal at Groove is to build the largest oral history of bass players. Join our host, Mitch Joel, on this adventure.
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From a commercial standpoint, Gary Willis is mostly known as the co-founder of Tribal Tech (the jazz fusion band that includes Scott Henderson). The life of a jazz musician is never easy… no matter how much hype and excitement there is surrounding your band (and, Gary had plenty of that with Tribal Tech). Like most bass players, Gary has paid...
“Who is that bass player with the long beard?” That was my initial reaction when I first saw the video for Phil Collins’ smash hit, “Sussudio”, in 1985. I did not know Leland Sklar’s pedigree as a bass player before that (and, what happened after is a journey of impressive artists and songs that continues to expand to this day...
There is a memorable scene in the Modern Electric Bass instructional video from 1986, when Jerry Jemmott asks Jaco Pastorius who really influenced the development of his playing style. Without missing a beat, Pastorius starts riffing on some of Jemmott’s classic funk bass lines. He talks about how he would listen to the radio, and try to emulate the sounds...
Robert Trujillo is known to millions of people – all over the world – as Metallica’s bass player. Fans of Metallica know Trujillo as the guy who replaced Jason Newsted in 2003. Both Trujillo and Newsted had tough boots to fill after original Metallica bassist, Cliff Burton, was killed in a tour bus accident in 1986. Prior to Metallica, Trujillo...