THIS IS A BASSIST ALBUM FOR BASS PLAYERS!
By Paolo Coccina
How did an album like this come about?
The idea was born quite a while back when Stanley and I talked about it some time ago. Because of busy schedules, it took us a very long time to finish – It took us five years, with getting all the different musicians to participate. A lot of overdubs were made possible thanks to the internet. Steve Bailey and Victor Wooten recorded their parts at their own studios and uploaded the tracks that I included in the mix. Others like Armand Sabal-Lecco recorded at my studio (Gigi’s Studio) where most of the album was recorded, but we also used Stanley’s studio for most of his parts, as well as Billy Sheehan’s. Recording at those different studios also helped contribute to the extra time spent finishing up the project.
Besides Josquin Des Prés and Hadrien Feraud, who reside in California, I guess that for all the French musicians involved everything was done through the internet?
That’s right! I wanted to have Marc Berteaux; he is a fantastic bass player that never got the attention that he deserves. He plays a long solo at the end of “Freedom Jazz Dance.”
I wanted to do something special for the city of my birth place “Nice” with the title “Bay of the Angels” that is the name of the the bay in the front of Nice. For this title, I asked some musicians from Nice to play, including Alex Perdigon (trombone), Eric Giausserand (trumpet), and the bassists Tony Bonfils, Fifi Chayeb, and Dominique Bertram; as well as the drummer Steve Ferrone, who used to live in Nice. We went to the classical conservatory together.
Why two versions for that title?
Stanley wanted to have a shorter version for radio air play.
You co-wrote a title with Victor Wooten and Stanley. How did you do that?
If we take the first title “Nothing But The Bass,” which is a play on words on “Nothing but the best,” Stanley came up with some chords on the piano that I took and made the title using each of the different parts and solos sections. My daughter Gigi helped me with the melody of the bridge, that is why her name is mentioned in the credits.
On “Bass Ball” we also found a new version of “For You To Play” that was originally record on the album of the same title back in 1994.
That’s right, this tune was composed by my ex-wife Nicol Mecerova, an opera singer that made the melody of “For Me to Play.” Because I composed it on the Piccolo Bass Synth, I thought that it would be great to record it again with Stanley on the piccolo [bass] as well. He overdubbed the melody on the upright bass with the arco, and played a great solo with it.
My piccolo bass is a 5 string tuned E-A-D-G-C, it’s great to play chords.
Aren’t you afraid that people will say: It’s a bass player album for bass Players?
No, on the contrary; this IS a Bass player album for bass players! That is why we called it “Bass Ball.” There are going to be a Bass Ball 2 and 3 because there are more bass players that need to be presented to the public.
We are happy to hear that. You are doing a great job producing this. Nobody will complain!
This type of album helps connect the new generation of talent with the already established talent. I think that this is very important. I remember when I discovered Eddie Gomez on the live recording of Bill Evans at the Montreaux Jazz Festival, he showed me that I was in the right direction and that it was possible to do what I wanted to do. After that, there were many more for example such as Stanley Clarke who was with the original band Return To Forever; and also . . . it was Jaco Pastorius that offered me the challenge of playing melodies.
It looks like you play a lot of fretless on this album?
I do play fretless most of the time. If I don’t slide it sounds like a fretted bass but I do play my 4-string fretted on Gigi, for example.
Yes, lets talk about equipment. You left Carvin to play ESP now?
Carvin makes fantastic instruments but the problem is that they only sell in the US, they do not really distribute around the world; and they never copied my original design that I made for Gibson in 1986. By the way, my longtime student Kyle Eastwood has 3 or 4 of those Bunny Brunel Gibsons.
ESP, on contrary, agreed to make my basses exactly the way I designed them. They are making a 5-string fretted, a 5-string Fretless, and a 4-string Fretted. All the ESP basses I designed have Aguilar pickups and electronics. I do not have any 6-string basses. I don’t like the sound of the hi C. I’d rather go up on the G string to play the high notes; the sound is better.
And for the amplification?
In the studio I use the ART preamp for my mixing board; and on stage I use an EDEN Amp system. I used to have a lot of effects a long time ago, but now I only use Digitech pedals such as PB 200 and for intimate venues PB80.
Did you plan to tour to advertise the album?
We are giving some concerts this summer. But we are thinking of getting to different place with a rhythm section, and inviting some bass players who are in the area to join us.
Interesting. Do you have any plans with the group CAB with Tony MacAlpine and Dennis Chambers?
Not right now, but I started recording an album with Patrick Moraz and Virgil Donati for a new group called “INOW.” I am very excited about the project. Patrick’s music is complicated, but very beautiful.
It’s reminiscent of when it all started for me. Remember . . . it is because of Patrick Moraz that I ended up with Chick Corea in 1978 when I was playing at the Ronnie Scott Club in London with Tania Maria and André Ceccarelli.
You’ve been really involved in writing a lot of books and videos, teaching the bass. What are you doing now?
I always give lessons, and because of the internet I can give lessons to anybody anywhere in the world now, using Skype. I am in the process of developing an app [for bass lessons] for smart phones and tablets
Like any aspiring bass player, I went through a “fusion phase” (otherwise known as college). I spent countless hours infatuated with complicated harmony, the wild and masterful displays of technical ability, and the jammiest of jams. It wasn’t long before I discovered the CAB albums featuring Tony MacAlpine, Dennis Chambers, Brian Auger, and bass player Bunny Brunel. This quickly sent me down a rabbit hole of fast paced licks, chord extensions, and the world of instrumental music. Years later, I’ve had an opportunity to revisit some of the CAB records and dig a bit deeper into Brunel’s catalogue of work with artists including Chick Corea, Mike Stern, Herbie Hancock, Stanley Clarke, and countless others. Between his signature basses, educational books and DVDs, and extensive career as a composer and producer, Brunel is an obvious choice for a Bass Player To Know.
The French-born jazz bassist has teamed up with Stanley Clarke to produce a new album, Bass Ball, that’s centered around a top-notch roster of bass players from around the world. Five years in the making, the album features impressive solos by U.S. bass stars Billy Sheehan, Victor Wooten, Steve Bailey and Cameroonian jazz phenom Armand Sabal-Lecco, as well as some of Brunel’s compatriots from the land of the Eiffel Tower.
“I composed and named the tune ‘Bay of the Angels’ and decided to have musicians from my hometown perform on the song,” says Brunel. “They were trombonist Alex Perdigon, trumpeter Eric Giausserand, bass players Tony Bonfils, Dominique Bertram, Fifi Chayeb.”