Dave Bass/WCS

Dave Bass/WCS

Dave Bass

‘Dave Bass’ playing “reflects his quiet virtuosity, his deeply emotional expression and flawless Dynamics.”‘ –Raul Da Gama Latin Jazz Network

Whaling City Sound Website

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EPK
Press Release

Dave Bass Bio

Publicity: Wicked Local Cambridge, Jazz Journal, Davis Enterprise, ArkivJazz exclusive interview, Downbeat, WPKN 89.5, Midwest Record, Davis Enterprise, Jazz News, Latin Jazz Network, All About Jazz

Radio:

Listen: Time of My Life

Dave Bass YouTube Watch: Tango Adagio, Agenbite of Inwit, Lennie’s Pennies

Mixed Media Client since: 2014

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Click here to purchase tickets!

 

SUBMITTED FOR GRAMMY CONSIDERATION

BEST IMPROVISED JAZZ SOLO:  TED NASH (IN THE RAIN)

BEST IMPROVISED JAZZ SOLO:  DAVE BASS (LA MULATA RUMBERA)

BEST INSTRUMENTAL COMPOSITION:  SPY MOVIE END CREDITS

BEST ARRANGEMENT:  TED NASH & DAVE BASS (TANGO ADAGIO)

BESTJAZZ INSTRUMENTAL ALBUM:  NO BOUNDARIES

Some photos from the two sold-old shows at the Sequoia Room last Fri. and Sat. with the Dave Bass Afro-Cuban Jazz Quintet:

 

DOWNBEAT REVIEWS NO BOUNDARIES! 
“A highly effective bebop player, who also has a way with Afro-Cuban rhythms, Bass proves his mettle … displaying wit, arranging chops, and impressive pianoism…The unusual mix of bebop and Afro-Cuban music … [is] complimented by three expert Cuban percussionists, often making the album surprising and invigorating.”

#13, 3 weeks
Dave Bass No Boundaries Amazon 5-Star Review!
Climbing the Jazz Week Charts
International Airplay!

9.27, 28 Dave Bass Afro-Cuban Jazz Quintet, Sequoia Room, Fort Bragg, CA
10.1 7p-9:30p Cunha Big Band – The Clubhouse – 5150 Fair Oaks Blvd, CA 95608 – Free!
In the album No Boundaries, Dave Bass performs classic, beloved jazz songs on the piano, with a wealth of support from fellow musicians: two-time Grammy winner Ted Nash on a variety of instruments including flutes and saxophones; five-time Grammy nominee Karrin Allyson performing vocals; two-time Grammy winner Carlos Henriquez on bass; Jerome Jennings on drums; and more. No Boundaries is a vivacious album with a strong Latin influence, and a superb contribution to personal and public library jazz piano collections. Highly recommended! The tracks are “Lennie’s Pennies”, “Spy Movie End Credits”, “Agenbite of Inwit”, “If I Loved You”, “La Mulata Rumbera”, “Tango Adagio”, “Time of My Life”, “Siboney”, “Neither Have I Wings”, “Danzon #1”, “Swing Theory”, “In the Rain”, and “Hallucinations”.

Click here to listen to the full show!

Composer * Pianist * Arranger
Dave Bass
NO BOUNDARIES
Featuring:
Ted Nash, Karrin Allyson,
Carlos Henriquez, Jerome Jennings
& More!
Release Date: August 2nd

The saying goes that everyone’s got a story to tell. But chances are good that few, if any, have the kind of story Dave Bass has. Without resorting to detail, Bass’s rebirth as a jazz musician after decades away from the art is nothing short of astonishing. Having retired from the Office of the Attorney General of California back in 2015, Bass is back at the piano, where he promises to keep the torch burning for classic songs, elegant bebop and beautiful performance. NO BOUNDARIES features two-time Grammy® winner Ted Nash (flute, alto flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, soprano sax, alto sax, tenor sax), five-time Grammy® nominee Karrin Allyson (vocals), and two-time Grammy® winner Carlos Henriquez (bass) and Jerome Jennings (drums). Three great Cuban musicians join Dave on selected tracks: Mauricio Herrera, Miguel Valdes, and two-time Latin Grammy winner, Carlos Caro adding  bata, conga, guiro, bongo and timbales. Dave’s third album since his comeback, his second for the acclaimed Whaling City Sound label, is a celebration of gorgeous playing and lovely Latin influence. It’s also a dream come true, not only for Bass who is fulfilling his own lifelong dream, but also for his fans, who have waited a long time to hear this gifted musician-interrupted by injury and another incredibly successful but unrelated career – come into his own.

PERSONNEL

Dave Bass – piano 
Ted Nash – flute, alto flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, soprano sax, alto sax,  
tenor sax (all tracks except 13)
Karrin Allyson – vocals (tracks 4, 7) 
Carlos Henriquez – bass 
Jerome Jennings – drums (all tracks except 5, 8, 10) 

Carlos Caro – guiro, bongos, bell (tracks 2, 4, 5, 8, 10) 

Miguel Valdes – bata, conga (tracks 5, 8, 10) 
Mauricio Hernandez – timbales, maracas (tracks 4, 5, 8, 10)   
 
Produced by: Dave Bass and Ted Nash 
Recording Engineer: Marc Urselli, Eastside Sound
Mixing Engineer and Associate Producer: Ben Allison, Allisonics Studio 
Mastering Engineer: Alan Silverman, Arf! Mastering
Photography: Adrien H. Tillmann
DAVE BASS: Lennie's Pennies (No Boundaries)
DAVE BASS: Lennie’s Pennies
(No Boundaries)

 

http://www.DaveBassMusic.com
facebook.com/davebassmusic

Publicity & Media inquiries
Scott Thompson PR | www.scottthompsonpr.com
scott@scotthompsonpr.com | 203.400.181

Dave celebrates his new release NO BOUNDARIES, with a debut performance at the Auburn State Theatre (Auburn, CA) on August 10 with the Dave Bass Jazz Quartet featuring Jacam Manricks, (flutes, clarinet, saxes), Ben Kopf (bass) and Jim Frink (drums).  Dave will be playing standards and originals from his new CD.  The music ranges from swingin’ straight-ahead jazz and ballads to a taste of evocative Brazilian and Afro-Cuban music.

– Phil Woods (RIP) on NYC Sessions
“NYC SESSIONS covers a broad range of material for a unified whole…due in part to Bass’ savvy as an arranger and programmer, and his top-notch crew, not to mention his own sparkling keyboard work.”
– Jon Garelick / DownBeat
“Bass writes and plays in a style that is easily identifiable and relatable, yet sophisticated and operates on a very high level. Dave Bass is back doing what he was born to do and, in doing so, is keeping the torch burning for elegant songwriting and classic bebop in the process.”- Eric Harabedian / Jazz Inside“Not only is Mr. Bass in fine form…the music in all its diversity and passion [has] an unstoppable momentum under his leadership.”
– Raul Da Gama, Latin Jazz Network
WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT DAVID BASSE
“The soul of a bon vivant and the spirit of a hipster…Basse scats with insouciance, reels you into ballads with a raconteur’s charm.”
– George Kanzler / Hot House Magazine
“…the rich substance, clear intonation and sincerity of delivery that are all qualities of Basse’s style…shades of Eddie Jefferson all the way.”– Scott Yanow / LA Jazz Scene
“A hip and swinging singer who digs into the lyrics that he sings.” – Scott Albin / Jazz Times
“David Basse is the working man’s hi-tone remedy to a week spent fighting the boss, busting the hump, and dialing back stress.”
– Mark S. Tucker / Acoustic Music ExchangeCHECK OUT OUR NEW YOUTUBE VIDEO HERE
Screen shot 2015-12-04 at 1.05.53 PMDave Bass interviews with Fox 40 News in Sacramento!Screen shot 2015-11-16 at 10.08.09 AMclick above image to link to interviewDave Bass: THE SIXTIES with Phil Woods & Conrad Herwig https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUYLchM2RrM&feature=youtu.be

Dave Bass: LOST VALENTINE with Karrin Allyson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qpe-0pDivZk&feature=youtu.be

 

Dave Bass: LA COMPARSA/MI MONTUNO with Ignacio Berroa & Conrad Herwig https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOqs0saGrEE&feature=youtu.be _____________________________________________
Screen shot 2015-10-21 at 11.40.48 AM

 


Click here to watch “Lennie’s Pennies” on YouTube!
Updated Lineup for upcoming release:

1.     Lennie’s Pennies.  (Lennie Tristano; arr. by Dave Bass) 5:32

2.    Spy Movie End Credits  (Dave Bass)  7:12

3.    Agenbite of Inwit (Dave Bass)  4:39

4.     If I Loved You (Rogers & Hammerstein; arr. by Dave Bass)   6:20

5.     La Mulata Rumbera (Alejandro Rodriguez; arr. by Dave Bass)  6:04

6.   Tango Adagio (Dave Bass; arr. by Ted Nash and Dave Bass)  4:27

7.  Time of My Life (Dave Bass)    4:04

8.   Siboney (Ernesto Lecuona; arr. by Dave Bass    5:23

9.    Neither Have I Wings (Dave Bass)    5:43

 10.     Danzon #1 (Dave Bass)     7:02

11.    Swing Theory (Dave Bass)    5:09

12.   In The Rain (Dave Bass)   6:43

13.   Hallucinations (Bud Powell; arr. by Dave Bass)  3:50

“a thoughtful and singing improviser and a composer with a rare gift for form and melody”
“growing conviction in Bass’ playing”
“The independence of his right and left hands is frequently impressive, but Bass is not about shining a light on his growing technique.  What impresses most is his dramatic control, his new strength in telling stories and building climaxes.”
“A Dave Bass solo takes the listener on a journey, one made more fascinating by the terrain of his original compositions.”
“Dave Bass goes his own way, and as you will hear, his way is sweet.”

                                                             – Bob Blumenthal, 2 time Grammy winner
California show this Saturday, August 12 from 6p-9pat Mastroserio Winery in Somerset, El Dorado County.

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May 19-21 Bass & Basse do Basie & Beyond

51bbe7f1-04c0-45ea-aa4f-aaacf8e6e016

DAVE BASS: Lennie's Pennies (No Boundaries)
DAVE BASS: Lennie’s Pennies
(No Boundaries)
Publicity & Media inquiries
Scott Thompson PR | www.scottthompsonpr.com

scott@scotthompsonpr.com | 203.400.181

Dave celebrates his new release NO BOUNDARIES, with a debut performance at the Auburn State Theatre (Auburn, CA) on August 10 with the Dave Bass Jazz Quartet featuring Jacam Manricks, (flutes, clarinet, saxes), Ben Kopf (bass) and Jim Frink (drums).  Dave will be playing standards and originals from his new CD.  The music ranges from swingin’ straight-ahead jazz and ballads to a taste of evocative Brazilian and Afro-Cuban music.

May 19 Narrows Center / Fall River, MA

www.narrowscenter.org

w/ Bill Goodwin and Steve Gilmore

May 20 Shapeshifter / Brooklyn, NY
www.shapeshifterlab.com
w/ Harvie S and Paul Wells

May 21 Deer Head Inn / Delaware Water Gap, PA
www.deerheadinn.com
w/ Bill Goodwin and Steve Gilmore

 


Purchase Dave’s “NYC Sessions on Amazon
YouTube: If I Loved You (Live at Clara), DAVE BASS: Someday (Live at the Geery Theater), THE SIXTIES, LOST VALENTINE, LA COMPARSA/MI MONTUNO

EPK
Press Release

Dave Bass Bio

Publicity: Insight, Upcoming 2016 ShowsJazz-Quad Magazine, DownBeat, fox40newsImprovijazzation Nation, Jazz Life, Arts Journal Blog/ Rifftides Recent ListeningO’s Place Jazz Newsletter (4/15) , Celebrity Cafe, All About Jazz, Jazz Inside Review, Jazziz (featured track, next issue), DownBeat , Jazz Times (4/15), Critical Bop-N-Jazz, Buffalo NewsJazz-Quad Magazine, Jazz Notes, Jazz Examiner, Latin Jazz Network, Capital Public Radio (2/15), Jazz Society of Oregon, Chip Etier, Midwest Record, Jazz Weekly, Critical Jazz 

Radio promo by New World ‘n Jazz: 16 weeks on JazzWeek chart peaked#5 3/16/15Promo Photos: Dave Bass Promo photo1, photo2, BirdlandCDs: NYC Sessions Preview The great Count Basie said, “If you play a tune and a person don’t tap their feet, don’t play the tune.” He could have easily been referring to Dave Bass and David Basse. Each artist’s music causes countless toes to tap, and now, performing together, they present a night of the Count’s music, their own tunes … and beyond.
Composer, pianist, and arranger Dave Bass started his jazz career in the 1970s touring the world and performing with artists as diverse as Brenda Lee and Bobby McFerrin. After a 20-year break, and a successful legal career, he’s back with a vengeance. DownBeat gave Dave’s most recent recording, NYC Sessions, a coveted 4-star review and named it one of the “Best Albums of 2015.”
David Basse, much like Count Basie, has deep roots in Kansas City. His soulful vocals have drawn praise far and wide, and the great Maya Angelou exclaimed, “I love the soul that is your voice.”
Both artists recorded extensively with the late, great Phil Woods, and Bass & Basse are honored to include Phil’s long-time rhythm section, Bill Goodwin and Steve Gilmore, on their Narrows and Deer Head Inn gigs

WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT DAVE BASS
“Man! This is a helluva recording. I love it and am very proud to be on it. It’s swingin’ all the way!”

Listen to the “ultra cool and devil-may-care swing” of The Sixties (Jazz Inside) where Phil Woods takes a blistering solo. Jazz Inside also declares that “‘Lost Valentine’ is another sweetheart of a tune – again featuring Allyson’s dulcet tones. The romantic blend of melancholy and Chris Washburne’s muted trombone is a perfect match.” NYC Sessions is likely Phil Woods’ final studio album and this “Iconic altoist . . sounds big and bold, fully engaged with Bass’ tuneful charts.” (Downbeat – 4 Star Review)

PHIL WOODS [RIP] on NYC Sessions: “Man! This is a helluva recording. I love it and am very proud to be on it. It’s swinging all the way and the overall balance of material is exquisite.”

 

The music in consideration is available on Dave’s Youtube page. Click the link below to enjoy!https://www.youtube.com/user/DaveBassMusic/videosImprovijazzation Nation Review
Screen shot 2015-08-14 at 10.35.22 AM

Jazz Life Review

“Dave Bass (originally from Cincinnati, Ohio) came to Japan in the 1970s as Brenda Lee’s pianist. After injuring his right hand, he became a lawyer, and after a long hiatus finally reemerged on the music scene in 2008 with his first albumGone. NYC Sessions marks his return as a full-time musician. It features an exceptional blend of Bass’s delicate touch, a contrast with his tough appearance, and a modern vibe grounded in Latin jazz. An extraordinary lineup of guests, including Phil Woods, Conrad Herwig, and Karrin Allyson, help crown his belated return to life as a talented pianist.”

7/31: CHECK‬ OUT Dave Bass perform  at Cabana Winery with Mat Marucci & Kerry Kashiwagi
Screen shot 2015-07-29 at 8.13.21 AM(Click on image to read more)
DownBeatLayout 1With “NYC Sessions” about to release, amazing responds have already been noted!Bass “writes and plays in a style that is easily identifiable and relatable, yet sophisticated and operates on a very high level.” Jazz Inside“…a wonderfully swinging date…a killer, unexpected set that comes in from left field with all deliberate speed.  Hot stuff.”  midwestrecord.com“The tunes are varied, eclectic yet with a smoldering soul all their own. The intimate interpretation of “My Foolish Heart” works well against the more European influenced “Dark Eyes” which is drawn from the Russian / Jewish background that is Dave Bass.

An impressive and vibrant offering of styles including a plethora of Latin influences has NYC Sessions as one of those stealth releases that will work well in any library!” criticaljazz.com
“Dave Bass is back doing what he was born to do and in doing so, is keeping the torch burning for elegant songwriting and classic bebop in the process…” –Eric Harabadian / Jazz Inside
“This album is just plain sensational.  Not only is Mr. Bass in fine form, he also contributes wonderful charts to the proceedings. And the music in all its diversity and passion appears to have an unstoppable momentum under his leadership.”    NYC Sessions is “highly entertaining and gripping recording, crisply executed by the ensemble . . . with an energy, drive and polish entirely apt for the compelling admixture of Mr. Bass’ expressive musical language…”

CD release 2/10/15Layout 1Screen shot 2015-01-19 at 10.32.44 AM  “NYC Sessions” CD Release Party: Dave Bass Quartet w/ Karrin Allyson Thursday, February 12 TWO SHOWS:  8 PM & 10 PMKitano 66 Park Avenue (at E 38th St), New York City, NY 10016http://www.kitano.com/Jazz-Schedule212.885.7000$15 cover, $15 minimum drink and food per person, per setFeaturing:  Dave Bass – Piano, Harvie S – Upright Bass, Chris Washburne – Trombone, Richie Morales – Drums, Special Guest:  Karrin Allyson ###18647_VenueFeaturing Dave Bass – PianoSaturday, February 14 8 PM & 10:00 PM Scullers Jazz Club at the DoubleTree Guest Suites Boston400 Soldiers Field Rd Allston, MA 02134617.562.4111Info@ScullersJazz.com$35 cover, Dinner & show $75 ###Screen shot 2014-08-25 at 2.01.40 PMNYC Sessions” CD Release Party: Dave Bass Quintet With Special Guests Greg Abate  & Phil WoodsFriday, February 20 8 PM -11:00 PM Narrows Center for the Arts16 Anawan St. Fall River, MA 02721508.324.1926$35 cover, Dinner & show $75Featuring:  Dave Bass – Piano, Harvie S – Upright Bass, Chris Washburne – Trombone, Richie Morales – Drums Opening: Vance Gilbert###DAVE BASS / NYC SESSIONS
Catalog # wcs071
UPC / 687606007123========================================TRACKS:1.  The Sixties 6:02
2.  Lost Mambo 4.55
3.  Endless Waltz 5.05
4.  La Comparsa/Mi Montuno 7:17
5.  Lost Valentine 7:12
6.  My Foolish Heart 5:32
7.  Baltic Bolero  5:33
8.  Since I Found You 4:56
9.  Dark Eyes 6:12
10.  Silence 3:46
11.  Just A Fool 4:38Total running time: 60:02========================================All Music & Lyrics and arrangements by Dave Bass; Dave Bass Music, BMI, except where notedDark Eyes (traditional)
La Comparsa (Ernesto Lecuona) Edward B. Marks Music Co.
My Foolish Heart (Victor Young & Ned Washington) Patti Washington Music/Chappel & Co./Shapiro Bernstein obo Catherine Hinen Music, ASCAP.========================================MUSICIANS:Dave Bass, piano
Harvie S, acoustic bass
Ignacio Berroa, drums
Karrin Allyson, vocals on Endless Waltz and Lost Valentine
Phil Woods, alto sax on The Sixties, Lost Mambo, Baltic Bolero, Since I Found You, Silence, and Just A Fool.
Conrad Herwig, trombone on The Sixties, Mi Montuno, Baltic Bolero, Silence
Chris Washburne, trombone on Lost Mambo, Lost Valentine, Dark Eyes
Enrique Fernandez, flute on Lost Mambo, Mi Montuno, Dark Eyes
Carlos Caro, conga & percussion on Lost Mambo, La Comparsa/Mi Montuno, Lost Valentine, Baltic Bolero, Dark Eyes
Paulette McWilliams, vocals on Since I Found You, Just A Fool========================================CREDITS:Produced by Dave Bass
Executive Producer: Neal Weiss
Recorded December 4 & 5 2012 at MSR Studios, New York, NY
Recording Engineer and mixing: Todd Whitelock
Re-mixing: Michael O’Reilly
Re-mixing consultant: Suzi Reynolds
Mastering: Alan SilvermanCD Design by David Arruda Jr
Photography by Scott FeldmanPrint publicity etc.
GoMedia PR
Cary Goldberg
www.gomediapr.com
gomediapr@gmail.com
434.293.6633
Twitter: @gomediapr106 Melbourne Park Circle, Unit C
Charlottesville, VA 22901Neal Sapper/radio promoScott Feldman/social media and bookings
www.di-why.com
scott@di-why.com
(w) 781.333.8863
(c) 323.462.6969
P.O. Box 760817
Melrose MA 02176For Contact and Booking
Go to: www.DaveBassMusic.com========================================ABOUT DAVE BASS:This Cincinnati kid attended Berklee, studied with Madame Chaloff gleaning an exquisite touch on piano and an appreciation for the spirituality of music, opened for Captain Beefheart, studied composition with George Russell and toured the world with Brenda Lee before hitting 26. After an injury took him out of the music world for decades, Dave is back.  As Phil Woods says about NYC Sessions, “Man! This is a helluva recording. I love it and am very proud to be on it. It’s swinging all the way and the overall balance of material is exquisite. Let’s take this sucker on the road!”========================================BOB BLUMENTHAL NOTES:The road leading Dave Bass to his New York City sessions was long and winding to say the least. It has taken him across the US and over the Pacific Ocean, through a variety of styles, a change of careers and two decades where he appeared to put music behind him. Along the way, Bass mastered the language of modern jazz improvisation, the rhythmic secrets of Afro-Latin idioms, and both the melodic and poetic auras of the Great American Songbook. No late bloomer, Bass should be considered a hardy perennial whose talents, once dormant, have finally emerged.The jazz chops, heard on his hard-swinging “The Sixties” and delicate reading of “My Foolish Heart,” came first, and can be traced to the music he heard while growing up in Cincinnati. “A friend played John Coltrane’s Live at the Village Vanguard Again for me and it knocked me out,” Bass recalls. “I just went from there, with the goal of playing avant-garde jazz.” He enrolled at Boston’s Berklee College but dropped out after a few weeks, finding the curriculum of less interest than the contemporary music that had yet to reach the academy – the mix of freedom and intellect in Paul Bley’s music and the spontaneity of Keith Jarrett’s Facing You. Bass used his time in Boston to study with visionary tutors such as George Russell, who had begun teaching his Lydian Chromatic Concept at the New England Conservatory, and Madame Margaret Chaloff, the legendary piano teacher whose emphasis on sound can be heard in Bass’ beautiful keyboard touch.While these lessons were sinking in, and while his love of adventurous music never waned, Bass began to find his avant-garde focus insular and limiting. Mastery of the musical basics he had previously shunned now became a goal. “I didn’t want to be on this island, isolated from the rest of the world, and I wanted to prove that I could survive as a working musician,” he explains, “so I began answering ads for any kind of band that had an opening – blues bands, rock bands, groups accompanying Sinatra-style singers. I got pretty good and began to tour, and while my jazz playing definitely took a back seat, I’d still play things like Chick Corea’s `Spain’ when the rhythm section would be given an opening number.” One of those opening features led to a yearlong gig touring internationally behind singer Brenda Lee.By 1975 Bass was tired of the road and left Lee to settle in San Francisco.  ”The scene was really vibrant,” he says, “with bebop, more contemporary jazz styles and the emerging salsa scene.” It was at this point that he gained the feeling for the various Latin rhythms that inform “Lost Mambo,” “La Comparsa/Mi Montuno,” “Baltic Bolero” and his arrangement of “Dark Eyes.” “I got some Latin gigs,” he explains, “and when I wasn’t playing well enough on the bandstand the cats would just sing the right feeling into my ear.”San Francisco also gave Bass the chance to immerse himself in standards and try his hand at writing in that idiom. He accompanied the young Bobby McFerrin and developed a particularly close relationship with Jackie Ryan. “Jackie was in a band I formed called Ad Infinitum, which was named after the Carla Bley tune. When Jackie moved to Maui, she invited me over to accompany her and I ended up staying for four years. We became big local jazz stars over there, and I must have learned the changes to hundreds of tunes.”Bass finally returned with his family to Southern California, with every intention of continuing his career as a pianist and composer. Then one night, in the parking lot at a gig, he slipped on a pool of oil and fractured his wrist in an attempt to break the fall. “I actually played the gig with just my left hand,” he recalls, “and went to see a doctor a couple of days later. The diagnosis was that there was no guarantee that I’d be able to play again once my wrist healed.” With a family to support, Bass decided to become a lawyer, which meant completing the Bachelor’s Degree he had never earned before entering Law School. Ultimately, the career change led Bass to Sacramento and a position as a California Deputy Attorney General, and his musical focus dimmed. “I liked what I was doing,” he says, “and there weren’t any old friends around calling up and saying `Hey, let’s go hang out and hear some music.’ So I didn’t really look back on my life as a working musician. I still had a piano, but I resisted most requests to play socially. My musical activities were basically limited to accompanying my lawyer friends when they sang show tunes at parties, and teaching basic musical concepts to my kids’ elementary school classes.”All of this changed in 2005, after Bass shared his life story with a videographer he had employed for a legal deposition. The videographer invited him to a party where several bands played, and for once Bass did not decline the invitation to “play a couple of tunes” on the electric piano, which led one of the bass players to invite Bass to a jam session. “Jamming just felt so good,” he marvels, “and apparently I had a lot to say. I didn’t realize how much I had missed music; but once those stars had aligned, it just came pouring out.” While there was rust, Bass called upon one of his early teacher’s wisdom. “Madame Chaloff ‘s idea of playing from a deep place became my goal. I may have forgotten the changes to a lot of tunes, and my chops were down, but I realized that the content of what I could say in a solo does not depend on chops.”By the time Bass recorded his debut disc Gone in 2008 and 2009, both his playing and writing showed no signs of rust. With the support of California stalwarts Babatunde Lea (an old friend who was part of Ad Infinitum), Gary Brown and Ernie Watts, and with Mary Stallings interpreting two of his songs, the album brought Bass to the attention of a national audience and gained prominent exposure on jazz radio. The next step is NYC Sessions, with its cast of East Coast giants, seven instrumentals and four vocals.“The more that I got back into the music, the more I realized that the cats I wanted to play with were in New York,” Bass notes. “I liked the idea of musicians who could play all of the music I wanted to play, whether Latin or jazz,” a description that nails the multi-faceted skills of Conrad Herwig, Chris Washburne, Harvie S and Ignacio Berroa. “And having Phil Woods participate was astounding. He was so warm and easy to work with, and his mere presence upped my game.” Woods, who takes his usual burning turns on “The Sixties,” “Lost Mambo,” “Baltic Bolero” and “Since I Found You,” also delivers one of his classic ballad readings on Bass’ beautiful “Silence.”The four vocal tracks confirm Bass’ claim that “my songs are different.” The melodies go to unexpected places, as do the changes, and the narrative tends to dictate form rather than vice versa. The songs also explore a range of feelings, which led Bass to call upon two distinctive vocal stylists. Karrin Allyson makes the heartbreak behind “Endless Waltz” and the bossa nova “Lost Valentine” all the more powerful through understatement, while Paulette McWilliams (like Bass a Californian) sinks deep into the Basie groove of “Since I Found You” and the soulful “Just a Fool.” Both “Lost Valentine” and “Since I Found You” can be heard in instrumental versions on Gone, where changes in tempo and mood yield different but equally compelling performances.Dave Bass’ piano playing is as multi-faceted as his writing. Whether grooving straight-ahead on “The Sixties” and “Since I Found You,” emoting an authentic Cuban feel on “La Comparsa” and “Baltic Bolero” or turning introspective for “My Foolish Heart,” Bass’ solos display melodic clarity, rich sound and impressive chops. His accompaniments, for both vocal and instrumental soloists, add context and detail while always remaining in service. The deep place he has sought throughout his singular career has only grown deeper in the musical soil of NYC.Bob Blumenthal========================================QUOTES:Ignacio Berroa:Dave Bass is “a beautiful person and great musician.”Phil Woods:“Man! This is a helluva recording. I love it and am very proud to be on it. It’s swinging all the way and the overall balance of material is exquisite. Let’s take this sucker on the road!”“Obviously Dave is a well-trained composer and pianist. Sophisticated. This is street music taken up to 5th Ave. High art but it’s still got a street value. You can still feel the blood in the body. It’s not elitist music. It’s for the folks. It’s for everybody. If you can’t dance to this, sit down.““I think that David Bass has captured the final, beautiful fusion of some of the best Latino musicians and the best American jazz musicians and he’s blended it: ballads, classical, and it comes out to be a beautiful buffet of music.  And I’m very proud, as an old veteran, to take part in this project because it was very exciting. And I think everyone’s gonna love it!Karrin Allyson:”I’m really impressed with Dave’s compositions.”========================================ENDORSEMENTS:Phil Woods plays a Yamaha 82Z alto sax and uses Van Doren ZZ reeds, and a K & M sax standIgnacio Berroa plays: Yamaha Drums, Sabian Cymbals, Evans Drum Heads, Vic Firth Sticks and L.P. InstrumentsConrad Herwig plays Michael Rath Trombones, England, exclusivelyHarvie S uses the Acoustic Image amplifier========================================THANKS:First, I wish to thank the owner of Whaling City Sound, Neal Weiss, that rarity in the music biz: a true gentleman and a man of his word.Second, thanks to my wonderful family, Nancy, Zoe and Carlin for supporting my re-entry into music.Third, I wish to thank all the extraordinarily talented musicians who breathed life into my compositions and lyrics; Karrin Allyson, Phil Woods, Conrad Herwig, Harvie S, Ignacio Berroa, Chris Washburne, Enrique Fernandez, Carlos Caro and Paulette McWilliams.Finally, thanks to Yas Rowan for his spot-on videos of the NYC recording session.

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