There’s a real intimacy to Rosetta’s sound. Was that intentional?
The intimacy was built into it. The recording was a product of September 11. We lost a good friend who worked in the Towers. From our rooftop, we watched the towers fall and they smoked for weeks after. Depending on the wind, the smoke cloud was usually blowing right through our neighborhood.

The music on this album is unlike my other albums. There was a period up to a couple of years after that day, that I spent time in our home studio, playing with our Rhodes piano and letting ideas come out. I recorded the ideas onto a cassette and later formulated them into the larger pieces that became the music for this album.

How did that music transition to a small-group setting?
Because the music was so personal, I wanted to bring in close friends to flesh it out. Jamie Fox and Liberty Ellman are very different guitarists, but I had a hunch that they would appreciate each other, personally and musically. The textures that those guys have, and the sound of the bass between them, was exciting to me and seemed to maintain the music’s intimacy. And since we recorded in my home studio, the whole project stayed very connected to its source.

You’ve contributed to jazz, fusion, alt-country, and folk recordings and performances. Are you surprised to find yourself playing in such varied musical environments?
No. It’s the way I need to be. A lot of different music excites me, and it’s very satisfying—even necessary—for me to communicate in different musical environments. I find that the various approaches enrich one another. The fundaments of my role are the same in any context: to make the music feel great and sound beautiful, while mining it for extra layers of meaning.

What is it that artists expect you to bring to their work?
I think it comes down to them knowing that I’m fully engaged in the search with them to find ways to expand the music each time a tune is counted in. It’s an active role. I’m not just trying to hit the right notes—I’m trying to shape those notes and the overall bass line through the course of the song, and thereby give shape and development to the song. That’s the strongest lesson I’ve taken from the bassists who’ve inspired me most.

CAN BE HEARD ON

Stephan Crump, Rosetta [Papillon Sounds, 2006]
Vijay Iyer, Reimagining [Savoy Jazz, 2005]
The Mahavishnu Project, Phase 2 [Aggregate, 2004]

CURRENTLY SPINNING

Various artists, Our New Orleans [Nonesuch, 2005]
Sinead O’Connor, Throw Down Your Arms [Next Music, 2005]
Tinariwen, Amassakoul [World Village, 2004]
Various recordings by Nick Drake and Mississippi John Hurt

GEAR

Bass Circa-1960 carved Saumer upright with Velvet Anima strings and David Gage Realist pickup and AMT S25B condenser mic, ’66 Fender Jazz, ’73 Fender Precision, ’60 Epiphone Rivoli, fretless ’78 Fender Precision, fretless ’76 Music Man StingRay, ’76 Music Man Sabre Bass, ’02 Reverend Brad Houser 5-string; D’Addario Chromes or D’Addario XL strings

Rig Aguilar DB 359 head and Aguilar GS 210 2x10 cab, Gallien-Krueger MB150E-112 1x12 combo, vintage Ampeg B-15 or B-12 combo for recording electric bass