Temporarily sidelined by a 2007 bout with bone cancer, Tisdale followed his brief hiatus with this year’s aptly titled Rebound. The disc handily reflects his multiple musical influences, with a rousing remake of smooth soul singer Barry White’s hit “Never Gonna Give You Up,” sung by country star Toby Keith. Other highlights include the hardgrooving title track, with saxophonist Dave Koz, and the rousing, spiritually oriented “Grateful,” featuring moving vocals by gospel powerhouse Marvin Sapp.
Tisdale, inducted into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame in 2002 and honored with a nomination for the NAACP’s 2004 Image Awards, is as goal-oriented about music as he was about basketball. “I set my eyes on a Grammy, and that’s what I want,” Wayman says at the sprawling Tulsa farm he shares with his wife Regina, their four children, ten horses, chickens, and a fishing pond. “I’m looking for the nod. I’ve taken the same set of rules that made me successful in basketball and applied them to music. I’m relentless. I’m gonna come at you hard, I’m gonna come at you often, and we’re gonna have fun doing it.”
How long were you out of commission due to your health?
It took eight or nine months. It was definitely a shock, something that you’re not prepared for. But in life, there will be ups and downs and you’ve got to be able to handle it.
Did you ever feel like you might not recover or might not be able to play again?
I never thought about things that way. You’ve got to be stronger than that, mentally tough. I didn’t play bass at all for several months—I didn’t want to play, didn’t want to write, didn’t want to do anything except try to get healthy. But the layoff did me so much good, because I was hearing so many new melodies. When I started playing again in September, I started getting blisters again. I haven’t been able to be blister-free in a while.
Your dad gave you and your brothers Mickey Mouse guitars when you were about six. How did that lead to bass playing?
I didn’t like sports at the time, so I would sit around and learn bass lines. I broke all the strings except for the two lowest ones, so that’s all I could do. I’d listen to gospel music, and then I’d go home and watch [television’s] Hee- Haw and hear country. I listened to rock & roll, a lot of Beatles, James Taylor, and Paul McCartney. It kind of molded my sound. I’m funky, but I still know the importance of appealing to a mass crowd. You connect by just playing songs. The main thing is that I know how to sing a song with my bass. With a lot of bass players—all these guys with all these fancy licks—it’s like someone being able to spin two basketballs off his back and toss them to someone. You’ll never see that in a game. You have to entertain people for 90 minutes at a time playing bass.
Did you graduate to other bands when you were in high school?
I wasn’t allowed to play in bands. My father didn’t like that. I could play for the church band, but I couldn’t play for anybody else’s band. He didn’t like the long hours; he wanted me to stay home. I was a church player, one of the church boys, and that’s where I learned the foundations. I learned how to write songs, and how to structure them. You don’t want to peak too early.
What sparked you to get serious about bass again, after you’d enjoyed so much success in basketball?
I would say to teammates, “Hey, come to my room and watch me play bass.” They would be awestruck and couldn’t believe it; they’d say, “You’re really playing, for real.” When you’re so talented at one thing, nobody wants to hear about this other thing. I started playing live in clubs once I got in the league. I watched the reaction of people when I would sit in. One day one of the band members walked up to me and said, “Man, you’ve got something. You’ve got a different approach to your stories.” I was like, “Wow.” So I started making a demo, hoping that I could sell them out of the trunk of my car when I’d go to these clubs. It wasn’t for the money; it was like an experiment. That’s how it started. When I finished seven or eight songs, Motown heard it. That’s how I got my deal.
One reviewer said about your debut, Power Forward, “He’s not a virtuoso … yet.” How have you grown as a player since deciding to play music full time?
I’ve progressed by leaps and bounds. Then, I had never really recorded bass. Now that I’ve got a lot of man-hours in, I’m more fluent with the instrument. Once those things caught up, my sound got more defined. I had to get comfortable with the bass being the loudest thing on the track. We mix my bass very in-yourface. The piccolo setup allows that to happen, because it can be mixed so sweet.
How did you arrive at your sound?
The piccolo is like a baritone guitar. You can’t think like a bass player at all; you’re a lead instrument. My thing was, I could never get a clear tone on the bass, because of the way I play with my thumb, so when I played with bigger-gauge strings, it was just getting muddier and muddier. I used to watch Robert Wilson from the Gap Band, who played with his thumb. It was so funky. What distinguishes me from every bass player is my tone, my recognizable sound. If you hear me once, you’ll know who I am. That’s the advice that was given to me by Marcus Miller: I had to come up with a sound. That’s what makes an artist.
On Rebound, what made you decide to connect with Toby Keith on a Barry White hit?
That wasn’t my idea. He said, “We need to do this song.” I thought, Let’s burn it up and make sure that the song cooks. He knew exactly what I wanted. We’ve had a long relationship. We’re Oklahoma boys; I’m a huge country music fan. I’ve played on his television specials. He’s given me a couple of race-horses.
What kind of listeners come to your shows?
I see some smooth-jazz listeners, but I wouldn’t say I have a strictly jazz audience. I have more of an old-school funk/R&B audience. That’s my core crowd, a funk party type, a real party atmosphere. But I feel like I have music for everyone.
What’s next?
I just finished a funk record. I worked nonstop, and the record is complete. I’m doing all the singing. It’s gonna pretty much bug everyone out, so get ready.
CAN BE HEARD ON
Wayman Tisdale, Rebound [Rendezvous, 2008]; The Very Best of Wayman Tisdale [GRP/Mo Jazz, 2007]; Dave Sereny, Take This Ride [Nu Groove, 2007]; Brian Simpson, Above the Clouds [Rendezvous, 2007]; Keite Young, The Rise and Fall of Keite Young [Hidden Beach, 2007]
CURRENTLY SPINNING
Marvin Winans, Alone but Not Alone [PureSprings Gospel, 2007]; Marcus Miller, Free [Sony, 2007]; J Moss, V2 … The J Moss Project [Gospocentric, 2006]; Kirk Franklin, The Fight of My Life [Gospocentric, 2007]
GEAR
Basses (Left-handed, strung right-handed)
Piccolos MTD 535 5-string (converted from fretless to fretted), Tobias Killer B 5-string
Standard basses Fender Jazz Bass, Fender Precision Bass
Strings (on piccolos) DR Hi-Beams, .018, .025, .040, .050, .060
Rig SWR SM-900 amp with two SWR Goliath III 4x10 cabs in stereo
Effects EBS OctaBass, UniChorus, MultiComp, and BassIQ pedals; DigiTech Talker “The Talker is a funky piece that was overlooked when it first came out.”