My
earliest exposure to influential bassists came by way of listening
to my father's jazz records of the fifties and sixties. Paul
Chambers and Ron Carter with Miles Davis, Ray Brown with Oscar
Peterson, and Sam Jones with Cannonball Adderley were but a few
who caught my admiring attention. Being foremost a guitarist,
I decided that bass would be a natural second instrument. Some
books were indeed helpful, but over the years I've always learned
the most by listening and observing, and this case was no different.
I began transcribing and analyzing what I had been enjoying hearing,
and soon the harmonic foundation I sought came into focus. While
my understanding of bass concept was growing, so was my ability
to arrange compositions for solo guitar. It wasn't long before
the too skills began to merge, and when I first heard guitarist
Joe Pass playing what I had been imagining, the dream became
a reality!