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Influences
General - Present
4hero, Afronought, Aphex Twin / AFX / The Tuss, Autechre, Black Dog, Boards Of Canada, Bugz In The Attic, Burial, Ceephax, Cinematic Orchestra, Dapp Theory, Dieselboy, Gilles Peterson, Goldie, Hudson Mohawke, Jazzanova, Kaidi Tatham, KV5, Kyoto Jazz Massive, Luke Vibert / Wagon Christ, Mark de Clive Lowe / Bembe Segue, Meshell Ndegeocello / Transdub Massiv, Mira Calix, Mr Scruff, Mrs Jynx, Pivot, Plaid, Prefuse 73, Quantic, Return To Forever, Squarepusher, The Herbaliser, The Heritage Orchestra, Tim Exile, Ursula Rucker, U-Ziq.
General - Earlier
Amon Tobin, Andrew Weatherall, Andy C, Aphex Twin / Polygon Window / Richard D James, Artifcial Intelligence I + II, Asian Dub Foundation, Autechre, Banco de Gaia, Biosphere, Chicken Lips, Darren Emerson / Underwater, Dave Clarke, DJ Patife, 808 State, Erykah Badu, Faithless, Fela Kuti, Fernanda Porto, Four Tet, Groove Armada, Infected Mushroom, Ivan Smagghe, Jill Scott, Jimmy Edgar, John Digweed, Josh Wink, Layo & Bushwacka, LFO, London Elektricity, Massive Attack, Meshell Ndegeocello, Nostalgia 77, Orbital, Pendulum, Photek, Plaid, Plump DJs, Prefuse 73, Roni Size, Savath & Savalas, Si Begg, Soweto Kinch, Speedy J, Squarepusher, The Chemical Brothers, The Higher Intelligence Agency, The Orb, The Prodigy, The Rebirth, The RH Factor, Two Banks Of Four, Zero 7.
General - Retro
Miles Davis, George Duke, Herbie Hancock, Weather Report, Wayne Shorter, Trio Of Doom, Lee Ritenour, Larry Carlton, Yellow Jackets, David Sanborn, Roy Ayers, Lonnie Liston Smith, Arthur Baker, James Taylor Quartet, Incognito, Brand New Heavies, Mother Earth, Adeva, Inner City, Voodoo Ray, The Zawinul Syndicate, David Sylvian, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Bill Nelson, Jansen & Barbieri, Jon Hassell, Holger Czukay, Mark Isham, David Torn, Philip Glass, Andrew Poppy, Propaganda, Art Of Noise, Depeche Mode, Japan, Grace Jones, Pat Metheny, John Scofield, Freddie Hubbard, Donald Byrd, Jeff Tyzik, Casiopea, Sadao Watanabe, Pieces Of A Dream, Jeff Lorber, Jeffrey Osborne, Luther Vandross, Joe Sample, Crusaders, Wilton Felder, Paz, Paulinho Da Costa, Airto, Milton Nascimento, Tania Maria, Flora Purim, The Warriors, The BB & Q Band, New York Skyy, Windjammer, Omar Hakim, Steve Gadd, Harvey Mason, Alphonse Mouzon, Alex Acuna, Steve Gadd, Ricky Lawson, John Robinson, Vinnie Colaiuta, Ngugu Chancler, Dennis Chambers, Tony Williams, Hiram Bullock, Roland Bautista, John McLaughlin, Steve Lukather, Ronnie Laws, Ernie Watts, Earl Klugh, Bob James, Al Jarreau, Dave Grusin, Don Grusin, D Train, Cameo, Slave, Steve Arrington, Patrice Rushen, Stanley Turrentine, Larry Graham, Fuse One, Eumir Deodato, The Breakfast Band, The Jammers, Kleeer, Level 42, Stikki Stuff, Expansions, Spyro Gyra, Kool & the Gang, Tom Browne, Morrissey Mullen, Light Of The World, Beggar & Co, Central Line, Linx, Maze, SOS Band, Fatback Band, Quincy Jones, Patti Austin, Jocelyn Brown, Rick James, Lenny White, Jerry Knight, James Brown, Earth Wind & Fire, George Benson, Evelyn King, Ronnie Foster, MFSB, Touchdown, Atmosfear, Heatwave, Funkadelic, Narada Michael Walden, Edwin Starr, Jermaine Jackson, Freeez, Chic, Manhattan Transfer, Salsoul Orchestra, The Real Thing, Players Association, Bob Marley & The Wailers, Steel Pulse, Third World, GQ, A Taste Of Honey, Hi Tension, Brass Construction, Steely Dan, Yellow Magic Orchestra, The Isley Brothers, Stevie Wonder, Billy Cobham, Chick Corea, Return To Forever, Average White Band, The Police, Santana, Rush, Van Halen, Thin Lizzy, Robin Trower, Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Yes, Rick Wakeman, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Baker Gurvitz Army, Jeff Beck, Diana Ross, Jackson 5...
Bass
Me'Shell Ndegeocello, Mark King, Marcus Miller, Stanley Clarke, Jaco Pastorius, Byron Miller, Victor Bailey, Pino Palladino, Mick Karn, Melvin Lee Davis, Abe Laboriel, Paul Jackson, Freddie Washington, Louis Johnson, Foley (Joe McCreary), Anthony Jackson, Nathan East, Randy Hope-Taylor, Reggie Washington, David Dyson, Matt Garrison, Linley Marthe, Gary Willis, Richard Bona, Gerald Veasley, Anthony Tidd, Rich Brown, Lorenzo Feliciati, Victor Wooten, James Jamerson, Brian Bromberg, Jimmy Haslip, Darryl Jones, Will Lee, Andrew Levy, Gary Crockett, Percy Jones, Verdine White, Bernard Edwards, acid jazz, fusion, latin and p-funk.
Most Albums
Luke Vibert, Miles Davis, Weather Report, George Duke, Herbie Hancock, Stanley Clarke, Lee Ritenour, Marcus Miller, Meshell Ndegeocello, David Sylvian, Orbital, Aphex Twin, Squarepusher and other Warp Records/Ninja Tune.
Other
Pirate radio, '70s american detective series/movies, film music. |
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Biography
Early Days
Born in Essex in the U.K., the youngest of three children, Bassie grew up in a musical family. His father, a part time musician, was an avid fan of big band swing jazz, while his older brother and sister performed regularly on violin for local orchestras.
Early on, Bassie would search through the dial of the family's Sobell valve radio set for stations that played music he liked, typically then the medium wave stations like Radio Caroline and Radio Luxembourg. There was always music in the house.
Formal Tuition, Classical & Jazz
From the age of 8, inspired by orchestral film soundtracks, Bassie studied violin and theory at Saturday music school. He would frequently memorise pieces rather than read sheet music, from an ability to play by ear. Bassie's parents would often take him to jazz concerts, including Count Basie and Duke Ellington.
Rock, Fusion & Lead Guitar
By 12, Bassie had started to teach himself guitar and played with school and local bands. After a period playing rock and blues, influenced by players like Carlos Santana, Jeff Beck and Robin Trower, at 16 Bassie got into jazz-rock and U.S. fusion guitarists like Lee Ritenour, Larry Carlton and George Benson.
Soul, Funk, Disco & Analogue Synths
At 17, Bassie was also into soul, funk and disco and would record shows on Radio Invicta, Radio London and pirate stations LWR and JFM. At 20, he was moved by the keyboard wizardry of George Duke and Herbie Hancock. Excited by the sonic possibilities of synthesizers like the Roland Jupiter 8, Sequential Circuits Prophet-5, Oberheim OBX and the Mini-Moog, Bassie got his first synth, a Sequential Pro One. A Tascam Portastudio 244 multitrack recorder and a Roland TR606 drum machine followed to form a basic recording setup.
Persuaded by school and family, a first career led Bassie into the corporate world, but it was inevitable that all things music would continue to be a major part of his life.
Bass
On the wave of the Brit Funk scene Bassie took up bass with an Aria SB900 at 23. A period of listening to bass icons followed which enabled Bassie to build elements of the styles of funk/jazz players into his own playing, particularly Mark King, Marcus Miller and Jaco Pastorius, but also Louis Johnson, Victor Bailey, Byron Miller, Mick Karn, Pino Palladino, Stanley Clarke, Freddie Washington, Abe Laboriel and Nathan East.
During the mid to late 80s, Bassie got into Miles Davis, particularly the albums from his ‘comeback’ era (1980 on) and Weather Report, while also finding the eclectic output of avant garde/ambient artist David Sylvian.
Bassie’s bass playing developed further listening to acid-jazz in the early 90s, followed by Marcus Miller's 90s albums, which largely continued the later Miles Davis' sound. Then around 1998, he found the ‘sublime’ Meshell Ndegeocello who became and continues to be a major influence.
Groove-Based Music
Outside the world of bass greats, persistent exposure to the grooves predominant across the many genres of dance music has had a massive effect on Bassie's musicality.
Earlier times searching for groove-orientated musicians in suburban Essex had been mostly unproductive, but by looking to London Bassie found opportunities to get out and play.
London & Live
In May 2005, Bassie found a flyer in a Soho record shop for a jam in Brixton. He played and after a convincing performance, emerged knowing that this was the catalyst which would lead him to make more of his ability.
Regular jam and band appearances followed, when in February 2006 he was seen by freestyle dj Naph-Tali playing in a hip-hop/jazz/electronica collective at Café 1001 in London’s Brick Lane. Naph-Tali invited him to play at his event where a range of musical synergies unfolded between them.
The Naph-Tali Sessions
Between February 2006 and December 2007, Bassie played a total of 75 four to five hour improvised live sets with Naph-Tali at Exit in Brick Lane. Typically, Friday nights at Exit were an 'in the moment' journey through Fela Kuti, Marley, Roy Ayers, RH Factor and Mr Scruff with a splash of Photek, Subject 13, North Of Ping Pong and KV5.
During this period, this unique and unlikely partnership of dj and bass player gained much respect from music loving people, with some powerful performances using anticipation, intuition and an understanding of groove-based music.
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