Few musicians have given back to their craft like Steve Bailey. For the past 15 years, the celebrated 6-stringer has made time for instructional books and DVDs, magazine columns, Bass at the Beach camps, and a steady stream of bass event appearances (most recently at Bass Player LIVE! 2007, where he gave a clinic and led the all-star jam). Then there’s the pairing with his “brother from another mother,” Victor Wooten, which has led to multiple shows and CDs with Bass Extremes, more camps, and the duo’s popular interactive website, The Bass Vault [www.thebassvault.com]. Little wonder it has taken Steve 14 of those years to return his focus inward and finally follow up his last solo CD, 1994’s Evolution.

So Low … Solo is indeed both introspective and fearless: It’s an unabashed, 12-track showcase of solo fretless 6-string (with some light percussion accompaniment) that is nothing short of a musical and technical marvel. For the listener, it’s a multi-sensory experience: While your midsection responds to the sympathetic vibrations of fret-liberated lows, and your ears delight in dancing artificial harmonics, your brain will keep interrupting with, “How’d he do that with only two hands?!” For Bailey, it’s a logical step after a robust run through so many musical and geographical settings.

Born in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on February 10, 1960, Steve began playing bass at age 12, in a local rock band. A few years later he discovered jazz and the upright (via Return To Forever’s Light as a Feather), leading him to North Texas State and the University of Miami. Through school connections, he landed in New York City, in the bands of Paquito D’Rivera and Dizzy Gillespie. A 15-year stint in Los Angeles followed, yielding studio and road time with artists like the Rippingtons, David Benoit, Larry Carlton, and Jethro Tull, and culminating in Bailey’s first two solo CDs. Now back in his native Myrtle Beach since 2000, Steve was able to record So Low at his own pace, in between his usual bass world commitments. We found him fresh from the surf and hit him with a wave of questions about creating his new 6-string soliloquy.

Given the long layoff between solo discs, what was your concept for the CD?
Bass Extremes has always felt like a solo venture for me, because of the musical freedom I have with Victor [Wooten]. All the while, though, I’ve been planning another solo CD—either an electric bass or upright project; a band recording didn’t interest me. I actually started this disc several times, only to abandon it because the performance just wasn’t there or I grew tired of the songs. Finally, I had amassed enough songs to select from and put out something I’m comfortable with. My concept was to supply melody, harmony, and rhythm simultaneously, unaccompanied, and with no overdubs. Although there are some very fine 6-string fretless bassists out there, I had never heard anyone else do what kept resonating in my head.

What was the greatest challenge in combining all of those elements, and what was the most difficult track to play?
Staying in tune and in time is the greatest task. Playing a note in tune is difficult enough, but two notes are much harder because they’re relative. It’s that split-second adjustment of, do I tune the lower note to the higher note or vice-versa? Three notes or more, well, that’s a crapshoot! Most of the tunes I wrote “over my head,” meaning I had to learn to play them, and as I did, they evolved and got harder. The cover of Charlie Parker’s “Scrapple from the Apple” was the hardest; keeping the harmonics pedal going with my right-hand index and middle fingers on the top strings, while playing the melody with my thumb on the B, E, and A strings, was very tough. Later, it switches to where I’m playing the melody in artificial harmonics on the higher strings, while keeping a low B ostinato going with my thumb.

For me, the key is to make it all sound musical, which results in it sounding “easy.” Virtuosos like Edgar Meyer or Yo-Yo Ma always sound like they’re playing at 75 percent, with plenty of headroom. That was my goal, though not necessarily my destination!

Robert Thomas Jr. plays light percussion on most of the tracks.
Bobby and I go way back—Jaco introduced us, and I’ve always been amazed at his concept of “hand drumming.” The more I recorded, the more I was hearing his subtleties in the music. If I couldn’t have had him, there would have been no accompaniment on the disc. His simple, musical approach works beautifully.

How did you get the sitar-like sound on “Bombz Over Baghdad”?
The song’s Middle-Eastern vibe got in my head, so in certain sections I tried to explore quarter-tones—putting other notes between traditional half-steps. On fretless it’s possible, but tricky. Technique-wise, I didn’t do anything different with regard to right-hand position or attack, but in addition to fingering the in-between tones, I used a quicker vibrato with my left hand, to approximate a sitar or Indian violin approach. The slides, chords, and “bombs” on the track still freak me out when I hear them. I’ve never been able to recreate them since the day I recorded them. I remember being pissed at something I saw in the news that day about Iraq.

Speaking of sonic darkness, what’s going on in “Blink”?
That’s built around an Em9 tonality. I’ve got an open E ostinato pedal going on, and I’m sliding in and out with Em9, Fm9, and Dm9 chords, but playing only the minor 3rd and the 9th—which creates a major 7th interval. Then the solo gets really weird; my mistakes are my favorite parts. That was probably the second-hardest piece to play.

What led you to cover Pat Metheny’s “Last Train Home”?
I’ve always loved the tune [from 1987’s Still Life (Talking), Geffen], and what stuck in my head is how much it sounds like a guitar player who wants to play fretless bass! Between the sound Metheny used on his guitar synth and the way he lays so far back on the melody and his solo, it really spoke to me. As with most of the songs on my disc, I learned the melody first and then worked on finding a way to get the harmony and bass line under it.

You’ve been playing your new fretless Fender 6.
My goal was simple: Get Fender to create a 6-string Jazz Bass with a 24-fret neck. Well, it turns out it’s not that simple to maintain the J-Bass template while adding two strings and several frets, but Michael Braun at Fender is a genius. I am very excited by the tone, feel, and look of the bass. It’s light, balanced, and “authentic.”

You and Victor Wooten probably meet more bassists and bass students each year than anyone. What trends do you see among young players?
The vast majority are still more technique-oriented and less time-oriented. That’s why I teach the “Five T’s”: Time, tune (if you play fretless), tone, technique, and taste. Also, there’s so much spoon-feeding available in the form of instructional books, DVDs, the Internet, and so on, that many younger players never develop their ears through transcribing and similar studies on their own. And for some reason, many miss the significance of learning to read notation. These are both necessary skills if one wants to work consistently and in a variety of situations.

Selected Discography

Solo albums
So Low... Solo, BATB
Evolution, JVC
Dichotomy, JVC

With Victor Wooten
Palmystery, Heads Up
Soul Circus, Vanguard
Yin-Yang, Compass

With Bass Extremes
Just Add Water, Tone Center
Cookbook, Tone Center

With Jethro Tull
Roots to Branches, Chrysalis

With David Benoit
Inner Motion, GRP

With the Rippingtons
Curves Ahead, GRP

With Paquito D’Rivera
Live at the Keystone Corner, Columbia

With Tab Benoit
What I Live For, Justice

With Kitaro
Dream, Geffen

With Ray Price
Prisoner of Love, Justice

With Billy Joe Shaver
Highway of Life, Justice

CURRENTLY SPINNING

Miles Davis, Miles Smiles, Columbia
Victor Wooten, Palmystery, Heads Up
Ron Carter Nonet, Eight Plus, Dreyfus
Collective Soul, 7even Year Itch, Atlantic

GEAR

Main basses Fretless Fender SRB 6-string, 1964 Fender Jazz Bass, Michael Kelly 6-string acoustic bass guitar, circa-1910 Juzek upright
Basses on So Low … Solo Fender SRB 6, Aria AVB-SB 6, Ibanez custom SDGR 6, all recorded through a Radial J48 Active DI into Tube-Tech MP1a or Avalon VT-737SP mic preamps, into Pro Tools HD2 (at 24-bit/96kHz).
Strings D’Addario XLS (.032, .045, .065, .085, .105, .135)
Amps SWR SM-1500 head and two Goliath 4x10 cabinets; Ampeg PB-800 PortaBass head and BXT410 cabinet; Radial Bassbone DI (for no-amp gigs)
Effects Boss RV-3 Digital Reverb/Delay