CHRISTIAN MCBRIDE's Straightahead Masterwork

Sep 1,2009
HE’S 37 YEARS OLD AND HAS WON A GRAMMY, BEEN COMPARED TO RAY BROWN on upright, toured with Chick Corea and John McLaughlin on electric, gotten first-call treatment from both hardcore jazzers (Freddie Hubbard, McCoy Tyner) and pop More...

Flea Association

Oct 13,2011
If you were to imagine Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers to be a passionate, intense, high-energy dynamo of a person, you’d be right—to a point. Of course, as anyone who has seen him on stage can attest, the man plays with the More...

My Morning Jacket's Tom Blankenship

Oct 13,2011
“I’m not really of note as a bass player,” says humble Tom Blankenship. He may not be the most technically advanced bassist, but Blankenship’s balance of aggressiveness and delicacy works perfectly for My Morning Jacket’s More...

Miroslav Vitous Re-imagines A Different Weather Report

Oct 1,2009
IN THE TITLE OF VIRTUOSO JAZZ bassist Miroslav Vitous’s latest album, Remembering Weather Report [ECM, 2009], the word “remembering” carries a lot of weight. He was right there with Wayne Shorter and Joe Zawinul at the More...

Roland Guerin On Groove And Expression

Nov 1,2009
NEW ORLEANS SCENE STALWART Roland Guerin was an undeclared MVP at Jazz Fest this year, variously laying down solid jazz walking and spiky funk grooves with keyboard men Allen Toussaint, Henry Butler, and Ellis Marsalis. When More...

Jerome Harris On Acoustic Bass Guitar

Nov 1,2009
IT WAS ON A EUROPEAN TOUR WITH SONNY ROLLINS in the late ’80s when Jerome Harris first got turned on to the acoustic bass guitar. Jerome had been playing a Fender Precision Bass with the legendary tenor saxophonist, but after More...

John B. Williams : Basement Dwelling

Jun 1,2011
IN A CAREER THAT SPANS MORE THAN 40 years, John B. Williams has performed with some the world’s most renowned jazz artists—Nancy Wilson, Horace Silver, Count Basie, Louie Bellson, Billy Cobham, Dizzy Gillespie, Louis More...