2011 Bass Player LIVE! Artist List
Larry Graham
Beaumont, Texas-born, Oakland, California-raised Larry Graham forever changed the face of bass and music with his invention of slapping—or as he refers to it, “Thumpin’ and Pluckin’” Arguably the single most innovative and influential technique in the instrument's history developed when a teenaged Graham was forced to compensate for the absence of a drummer in his mother’s trio. Soon his booming bass and baritone voice caught the ear of Sly Stone, setting the stage for Sly & the Family Stone’s total dominance of the musical landscape from 1968-1972. Two years later, Larry launched the powerhouse Graham Central Station and then scored a #1 hit as a solo artist with “One in a Million You,” in 1980. All the while, bassists far and wide were grabbing J-Basses and arching their thumbs. Graham’s indelible impact has been acknowledged by such masters a Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller, and Victor Wooten. Larry remained the father of funk through the ’90s, gracing discs and tours with Clarke and Eddie Murphy, and joining forces with Prince in 1997. He continues as the ultimate showman and thumbslinger globally, both with the Purple One and with his reformed Graham Central Station, now working on a new CD. Congratulations on your long-overdue Bass Player Lifetime Achievement Award, Larry!
 
Jack Casady
One of the most original innovators in the sixty-year history of the bass guitar, Jack Casady made his sweeping melodic mark circa 1965, helping to create the “San Francisco sound” with legendary rock group Jefferson Airplane. Jack would go on to track with Jimi Hendrix, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Warren Zevon, members of the Grateful Dead, John Lee Hooker, Gov’t Mule, and Rusted Root. But it was his 1969 pairing with Kaukonen to found the archetype acoustic (and electric) Hot Tuna that has been his longest-running band and musical home. Along the way, Casady has been a diligent and discerning advocate for the art and craft of bass playing, drawing from such wide-ranging influences as classical music, Jelly Roll Morton, Eddie Condon, and Charles Mingus to master the subtleties and finer points of creating musical bass lines, developing grooves, incorporating dynamics, and shaping tone. His efforts are front and center on Hot Tuna’s first studio album in twenty years, Steady as She Goes, recorded at Levon Helm’s Woodstock studio and released earlier this year on Red House Records. Congratulations on your much-deserved Bass Player Lifetime Achievement Award, Jack!
 
James Jamerson
Who better to receive Bass Player’s very first Posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award than Motown master James Jamerson, who would have turned 75 this year. Over the course of his brilliant three-decade career the South Carolina-born, Detroit-raised session ace wrote the bible on bass line construction, grooves, fingerboard shapes, tone, touch, and phrasing, while raising the artistry of improvised bass playing in popular music to zenith levels. As Funk Brother #1 in Motown’s “Snake Pit,” Jamerson customized his approach to fit the style of each key artist he cut with, including Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross & The Supremes, Smokey Robinson, the Four Tops, the Temptations, and the Jackson 5. Relocating to Los Angeles in the early ’70s, he spread his legendary sound via numerous non-Motown hits like “Rock the Boat” and “Boogie Fever,” before his untimely passing in 1983, at age 47. In the ensuing years, Jamerson’s far-reaching influence on bassists globally, as well as his impact on modern music have come into sharper focus through such projects as Standing in the Shadows of Motown (Allan Slutsky’s book and film documentary), and his 2000 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Congratulations to the Jamerson family, and thank you, James!
 
Brian Bromberg
Top-selling bass solo artist and doubler extraordinaire Brian Bromberg maintains a first-call session career on upright for such artists as Michael Bublé, Dave Grusin, Lee Ritenour, Chris Botti, Patti Austin, and Andrea Bocelli, as well as appearances on numerous film and TV soundtracks, and sessions as a producer and arranger. He remains best known, however, for his over one dozen solo discs, including It Is What It Is, in 2009. Upcoming for Brian are his solo acoustic bass CD, Hands, and his electrifying Bromberg Plays Hendrix with drummer Vinnie Colaiuta.
 
Oskar Cartaya
Bassist, producer, film and TV composer Oskar Cartaya has become a mainstay in Los Angeles after years of recordings and road gigs with the likes of Spyro Gyra, Jennifer Lopez, Willie Colón, Tito Puente, Herb Alpert, and Steve Lukather. Of late, Oskar has toured with Playing for Change, recorded with India and Juan Gabriel, and is a consultant on Nickelodeon’s upcoming series, How To Rock. He is also working on his sophomore solo CD with his band Enclave. 
 
Anthony Jackson
A Bass Player Lifetime Achievement Award recipient in 2004, Anthony Jackson has made an indelible impact on the bass and music world through his multi-faceted style on seminal recordings with the O’Jays, Chaka Khan, Chick Corea, Steely Dan, Paul Simon, Al DiMeola, Michel Camilo, and Wayne Krantz, as well as his landmark invention of the 6-string contrabass guitar, unleashing the ensuing wave of extended-range bassists. A student of his instrument’s history, Jackson has long preached the contributions of such plucking pioneers as James Jamerson, Jack Casady, and Joe Osborn. Anthonyís own envelope-pushing efforts can be heard on Interspirit, his recent solo debut in collaboration with Greek bassist/composer Yiorgos Fakanas.
 
James Jamerson, Jr.
James Jr’s prolific career has ranged from Motown recordings with Smokey Robinson, the Tempations, and the 4 Tops to L.A. session and road stints with the Crusaders, Chaka Khan, B.B. King, Bob Dylan, Teena Marie, the Pointer Sisters, and the Jacksons. A talented producer, singer, and keyboardist, he also formed one half of Chanson (with Michael Jackson guitarist David Williams), scoring the 1979 dance hit “Don’t Hold Back.” Currently, Junior is at work on his debut solo CD, having already released the iTunes single, “I’ll Be There.”Hadrien Feraud
Paris-born Hadrien has followed in the lofty footsteps of his main influences, Jaco Pastorius, Dominique DiPiazza, and Matt Garrison, to claim the mantle of fusion’s next forefront bassist. He began playing bass at 12, inspired by Jaco, and has already toured and recorded with Bireli Legrene, Chick Corea, and John McLaughlin (whose quartet he continues to anchor). His 2007 debut album, Hadrien Feraud, features fellow bassists DiPiazza and Linley Marthe, and his much anticipated follow-up will drop this year.
 
Abraham Laboriel
Studio legend Abraham Laboriel launched the so-called modern era of session bass aces that transformed the L.A. recording scene in the late-’70s (soon joined by Nathan East, Neil Stubenhaus, and “Ready” Freddie Washington). The Mexican-born, Berklee-trained musician has backed the best on the way to becoming one of the most recorded bassists in history, including Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Barbra Streisand, Miles Davis, Paul Simon, Joe Zawinul, Madonna, Donald Fagen, The Winans, Eric Clapton, Clint Black, Dave Grusin, Lionel Richie, and Sheryl Crow. In-between sessions he has been performing with his band, Open Hand.
 
JoStLe (Jonas Hellborg, Steve Bailey, Lee Sklar)
It sounds like a riddle, but what do you get when you combine the most recorded bass guitarist in history, the pioneering 6-string fretless player of our time, and perhaps the instrument’s preeminent global force? We’ll all be “jostling” to see what Jonas, Steve, and Lee have up their sleeves and down their fingerboards. Hellborg is fresh off his tour with Ginger Baker and the pending release of two solo CDs; Bailey has his recent solo CD, So Low… Solo, and a new Warwick signature 6-string; and Sklar, the recipient of a Bass Player Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007, keeps racking up the recorded grooves and road miles with artists like James Taylor & Carole King and Lyle Lovett.
 
dUg Pinnick & Blasko
Talk about a great way to start a rock bass roundtable. dUg Pinnick made his bones as the bassist, songwriter, and co-lead vocalist of the legendary prog metal band King’s X. His current project, Tres Mts., finds him on guitar along with Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament and Seattle drummer Richard Stuverud. Their debut CD, Three Mountains was released in March. Blasko forged his iron-clad rock and metal résumé with Rob Zombie and Ozzy Osbourne, most recently anchoring Ozzy’s Scream Tour 2011. A student of his craft, he released his instructional video, Behind the Player: Blasko in 2008, and recently interviewed Lemmy for Bass Player. No telling what tales and tones this pair will spin, or who they’ll invite to the table.
 
Janek Gwizdala Since arriving in the U.S. from his native England a dozen years ago, Janek has been burning it up both New York and L.A. as well as globally with such artists as Mike Stern, Randy Brecker, Hiram Bullock, Eric Johnson, Scott Kinsey, Peter Erskine, Gary Husband, Jem, and V.V. Brown. In-between regular road stints, Janek has been promoting his latest CD, The Space In Between, his loop project, The Fodera Sessions, and his website: www.janekbass.com

Hip Hop/Funk/R&B Roundtable
Anecdotes, advice, and *ss-kicking grooves are sure to abound from this gathering of top hip hop/funk/R&B pros led by rapping bass ace and Beyonce thumper Divinity Roxx. Norwood Fisher (Fishbone), Lige Curry (George Clinton & the P-Funk All-Stars), and Robert “Bubby” Lewis (Snoop Dogg & Lupe Fiasco) are among Divi’s tablemates, with more guests probable.

Tim Lefebvre
Veteran doubler Tim Lefebvre has made his indelible mark on both coasts with such diverse artists as Wayne Krantz, Chris Botti, Oz Noy, Elvis Costello, Chris Potter, Jamie Cullum, Nellie McKay, Michael Franks, the house bands of Saturday Night Live and The Caroline Rhea Show, and numerous film and TV soundtracks. He’s most at home, however, using his vintage-effected basses to steer Rudder, the acclaimed nu-jazz jam band with Keith Carlock, Henry Hey, and Chris Cheeks.
 
Marcus Miller
One of the most profound artists in the 60-year history of the bass guitar, Marcus Miller started out as a New York City session ace on hundreds of recordings and soon found his way to triple-threat status as a composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist with the likes of Miles Davis, Luther Van Dross, David Sanborn, Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, and Wayne Shorter, to name but a few. Enroute to a Grammy-winning solo career now ten albums strong, Miller redefined the art and sonics of bass playing with his singing, melodic phrasing and “thumbslinger” slap style. Having recently completed tours with Shorter and Herbie Hancock, and with Sanborn and George Duke, Miller is at work on his first solo disc since 2008.
 
Rickey Minor
The hardest working man in showbiz is at last front and center as Musical Director ofThe Tonight Show With Jay Leno. Of course, Rickey’s TV cred runs deep thanks to his M.D. roles onAmerican Idol,America’s Got Talent, VH1’sDiva’s Live, the Oscars, the Grammys, the Superbowl, and many other broadcasts. From his breakout gig with Whitney Houston to serving such giants as Stevie Wonder and Quincy Jones, there are few stars in any style that Rickey hasn’t thrown it down for. His book,There’s No Traffic on the Extra Mile: Lessons on the Road from Dreams and Destiny, was released by Penguin in 2009.
 
Adam Nitti
Nashville-based Adam Nitti is a triple-threat force as a solo artist, sideman, and educator. He has toured and/or recorded with Dave Weckl, Susan Tedeschi, Steven Curtis Chapman, Justice League, Heather Headley, Jeff Coffin Mu-Tet, Casting Crowns, and Treo Massiv (with drummer Kirk Covington), while also releasing four solo CDs, including his most recent, Liminal. Currently, Adam is also co-founder of MusicDojo.com, an online interactive music school. His debut instructional DVD, Power Tools for Bass, Vol. 1, will be released in December.
 
Pino Palladino
The ultimate groove master and creative sideman, Cardiff, Wales-born Pino Palladino emerged from the U.K. in the ’80s with the most distinct fretless style since Jaco on seminal sides by Paul Young, Don Henley, Tears for Fears, Oleta Adams, and many more. Reinventing himself in the ’90s with a fretted, flatwound-strung P-Bass, Palladino has since cast an even wider pocket presence with D’Angelo, the Who, John Mayer, Paul Simon, Eric Clapton, Herbie Hancock, Jeff Beck, Cee Lo Green, and Adele. Two of his most recent projects are the Gaddabouts (with Edie Brickell and Steve Gadd) and über-trio PSP (with Philippe Saisse and Simon Phillips). Pino will be introducing his signature Ashdown pedal at Bass Player LIVE!. 
 
Igor Saavedra
South Amercian 8-string bassist Igor Saavedra has been making his mark globally both as a solo artist and a recording and touring sideman with dozens of international artists, including David Garfield, Bob Sheppard, Fareed Haque, and Walfredo Reyes, Jr. A top teacher, clinician, and author of three instructional books, he developed a sweeping fingerstyle approach he calls “Vectorial Synthesis Technique,” as well as “Igor’s Mic Ramp,” a wooden ramp under his strings. Igor makes his return to Los Angeles having lived here for five years in the late ’90s.