How did you develop your feel for Latin jazz?It was something I had an aptitude for. Because I liked music from the Caribbean, I had somewhat of a foundation already when I was getting settled here in New York. There was a lot of that stuff going on then, and a Brazilian scene was also happening strongly. I learned a lot about the way that the Brazilians swing their music, rather than the way that Americans interpret it.
How do you approach Afro-Cuban rhythms?It’s sort of in between a straight eighth and a triplet feel. There’s a certain way to approach it where there’s a three-over-four foundation, like a polyrhythm, that gives it this particular sort of swing.
How do you help your students achieve that?One thing that helped me a lot was to learn the drum parts, rather than just focusing on the bass. It’s a lot less linear—it’s about the way that the parts interact with each other, so you have to know what the percussionists are doing. It’s not so much like rules. You learn the language, the vocabulary of the rhythms, and you learn how to speak a little and mix it around. As I tell my students, even if you don’t have an immediate application for it—if you’re not going to play in a salsa band or Latin band—you can use the material to make your time stronger.
Is there a key to your success in mastering so many genres?I would say just to keep your mind and your ears and your spirit open to all types of music and try to learn about it, because you can use it all. It’s going to come up at some point; it certainly has for me. Carly Simon wanted some things to have a “Brazilian” flavor. I was able to do that for her in the context of what she was doing, because I had that in my arsenal.
You’ve played with several legendary players. What did you learn from your road work with Sonny Rollins?That was 1982. For about 12 months, on and off, I played a fretless electric 4-string with Sonny. I learned a lot about fitting in and doing what was needed, in terms of orchestrating and using pedal points and being attentive to telling a story on the bass rather than just going, “Here’s the head and here’s the 4/4 part.” I learned about breaking it up and providing the right background for him to do what he does, which is to interpret and tell a story and get his big sound over to the people. I learned how to focus my mind not just on the bass, but on the entire sound, and how to follow and complement the leader and create a nice, fat blanket for the sound to travel on. I learned a lot about how to make that happen.
CAN BE HEARD ON
Carly Simon, This Kind of Love [Hear Music, 2008]; Portinho Trio, Vinho Do Porto [MCG Jazz, 2008]; Yosuke Onuma, Beautiful Day [Sony Music Japan, 2007]; Jeff Golub, Grand Central [Narada, 2007]
CURRENTLY SPINNING
Music by Gustav Holst and Modest Mussorgsky; Durval Ferreira, Batida Diferente [Tratore Music Brasil, 2004] “Portinho has been laying some vintage Brazilian stuff on me to listen to, to hear how it swings.”
GEAR
Basses Three Fodera Signature Series Lincoln Goines Imperial 5-strings, 33"-scale fretted and fretless, and 34" scale fretted, with Fodera stainless steel standard roundwound strings (.045–.125); 1960s Johannes Wilfer e-size upright, purchased in 1972 at Paul Toenniges’s Studio 60 music store, with La Bella 7720s, an Underwood pickup, and a fiberglass French bow
Amps Walter Woods amp with two 8Ω Epifani NYC-112 1x12 bass cabs and one 4Ω NYC-210 2x10 “I’m an advocate of using as little tweaking as possible. If you get your hands right and your mind right, you can get a good sound.”