Jazz bassist Leon Lee Dorsey's website features biography,videos, cds, press kit,etc ..
Bassist/Composer/Arranger Leon Lee Dorsey is indeed a triple-threat, handling bass-playing, composing and arranging tasks with equal aplomb. Never have these gifts been more abundantly evident than on his latest CD release, "Song Of Songs". Joined by Bryan Carrott-vibes, Carlton Holmes-piano, and Vincent Ector-drums, Dorsey and his intuitive cohorts take the listener on an adventure through nine tracks that alternately shine, soothe, smolder and burn, all while swinging incessantly as well as maintaining a supreme sense of melody throughout.
Leon Lee Dorsey's fluid and ubiquitous bass has energized Jazz masters Lionel Hampton, and Art Blakey with his Jazz Messengers, as well as Grammy winning Jazz vocalist Cassandra Wilson. In addition he has performed under the baton of conducting legends Lukas Foss and Robert Fountain. In September 1999 he made his solo recital debut at Lincoln Center.
A composer and arranger, he has performed with jazz luminaries that include: Dizzy Gillespie, Wynton Marsalis, Freddie Hubbard, John Lewis, Kenny Clarke, Jon Hendricks, Gloria Lynn, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Dorothy Donegan, Stanley Turrentine, George Benson, Ellis Marsalis, Neena Freelon and Terumasa Hino. He has also performed in big bands with the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, Benny Carter, the Duke Ellington Orchestra and Charlie Persip's Superband ...
Dave Holland's website features biography, complete discography, sound bites, recordings, itinerary, newsletter, publishing info, photogallery, etc ...
Dave Holland was born in Wolverhampton, England, on October 1, 1946. He was drawn to music at an early age, starting with the ukelele at age 4, moving to the guitar at 10 and then to the bass guitar at 13. Other than a brief period of piano lessons, in these years he was largely self-taught, learning the popular music of the day from song books and the radio. At 13 he and a few friends formed a band and began playing at the local clubs and dances. By the age of 15 he had joined another band, and as that group was starting to work regularly, he decided to leave school and try and earn a living as a musician. It was around this time that in a search to expand his ideas on the bass guitar, he began listening to jazz and heard on records the great bassists Ray Brown and Leroy Vinnegar. This had a profound affect on Dave and he quickly got a double bass and began practicing with the records. Although he was still working as a bass guitarist, he began going to jazz clubs with his double bass and sitting in with the local jazz players. In the summer of 1963, at the age of 17, he was offered a job playing double bass with a dance band that was working at a holiday resort for the summer season. This was followed by a short tour with a big band that was accompanying the singer Johnny Ray, and then came an offer of a job in London playing music in a restaurant.
As soon as he moved to London Dave began studying with James E. Merritt, who was the principal bassist of the London Philharmonic Orchestra and teaching at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. In the spring of 1964, on Mr. Merritt's recommendation, he applied for admission to a three year program at the Guildhall School and after taking the entrance exam, was admitted in September of that year with a full scholarship.
This began a period of intense musical experiences for Dave. By his second year at the school he was the principle bassist in the school orchestra and was also beginning to work with a wide variety of people in the London jazz community ...
Jazz bassist Maryann McSweeney's website features reviews, sound bites, itinerary,
biography, cds, educational activities, discography.
Mary Ann McSweeney's acoustic bass is found at the melodic heart of her jazz compositions. The California-born artist has developed a sound that is colored by her early classical roots and inspired by her mentors, Ray Brown, John Clayton and Richie Beirach.
McSweeney's performance work has taken her from jazz clubs and festivals in the US, Europe and Asia and onto the symphony stage. She tours with her own jazz quintet that includes Donny McCaslin on saxophones, Mike Fahn on valve and slide trombone, Henry Hey on piano and Tim Horner on drums. Thoughts of You, her debut recording as a leader with this quintet, will be released in early 2001 (Jazz Magnet).
Mary Ann has performed with Dizzy Gillespie, Jimmy Witherspoon, Betty O'Hara, Stacy Rowles, Rick Margitza, Lynn Ariel, Maiden Voyage Big Band, and the Ed Palermo Big Band to name a few. She has recorded with the Jim Cifelli New York Nonet, the Diva Big Band, Gene Burkert, Nana Simopoulos and Manhattan Vocal Project among others. On the classical side, she has worked with conductors Leonard Bernstein, John Williams and Lalo Schifrin ...
Dwayne Burno made his entry into this world on June 10, 1970 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a city rich in its musical traditions and history. He gained his initial musical exposure to music through his mother. "My mother is my first musical influence. She told me of the times when she sat me on her lap while she accompanied, directed, and sang with the church choir which she continues to do to this very day."
Dwayne's first chosen musical instrument was the violin which he played until his unexpected first encounter with the double bass. "During my junior year of high school, I was told to begin learning and playing the bass. I was chosen because of my musical aptitude, knowledge and love of music, intellect, character, physique and the bottom line fact that a gig was scheduled to occur in one week's time. I had one week's time to begin 'gettin' it together' and have been a professional musician ever since."
Upon graduation from high school, Dwayne set off to continue his quest for a higher education at Boston's famed Berklee College of Music. There, he remained for three semesters before leaving once again for Philly. In 1989, while in attendance at Berklee, Dwayne began a personal and musical association with his first major employer, alto saxophonist Donald Harrison ...
Charles Mingus:
One of the most important figures in twentieth century American music, Charles Mingus was a virtuoso bass player, accomplished pianist, bandleader and composer. Born on a military base in Nogales, Arizona in 1922 and raised in Watts, California, his earliest musical influences came from the church-- choir and group singing-- and from "hearing Duke Ellington over the radio when [he] was eight years old." He studied double bass and composition in a formal way (five years with H. Rheinshagen, principal bassist of the New York Philharmonic, and compositional techniques with the legendary Lloyd Reese) while absorbing vernacular music from the great jazz masters, first-hand. His early professional experience, in the 40's, found him touring with bands like Louis Armstrong, Kid Ory and Lionel Hampton.
Eventually he settled in New York where he played and recorded with the leading musicians of the 1950's-- Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Bud Powell, Art Tatum and Duke Ellington himself. One of the few bassists to do so, Mingus quickly developed as a leader of musicians. He was also an accomplished pianist who could have made a career playing that instrument. By the mid-50's he had formed his own publishing and recording companies to protect and document his growing repertoire of original music. He also founded the "Jazz Workshop," a group which enabled young composers to have their new works performed in concert and on recordings ...
Bassist Andy McKee's website features sound bites, itinerary, projects, biography, reviews.
Andy McKee is an internationally acclaimed musician well known for his dynamic and inventive approach to the acoustic bass. His reputation stretches from his home base of New York, across the United States and Europe to the far jazz corners of the world. Andy's talents as a composer and accomplished instrumentalist have earned him critical acclaim and a prominent place on the world jazz stage.
Having performed extensively with many jazz greats, Andy McKee is as comfortable on the concert stage in front of television cameras as he is in the recording studio or intimate jazz club setting. He has been a longtime member of groups led by Philly Joe Jones, Chet Baker, Michel Petrucciani, and Elvin Jones, as well as the Mingus Dynasty and currently, the Mingus Big Band. Arriving on the New York scene in 1980, Andy worked the jazz clubs with the likes of Jaki Byard, Clifford Jordan, Sal Nistico, Charlie Rouse, Billy Harper and Brazilian drummer extraordinaire, Edison Machado. While living in Paris, France in the mid-80's, he performed and toured exclusively with Mal Waldron, Clark Terry, Steve Lacy, Don Cherry, Horace Parlan, Steve Grossman, and Barry Altschul as well as European greats Daniel Humair, Marcial Solal, Franco D'Andrea and others.
Any McKee's unique style and hard-swinging approach evolved naturally from his formative years spent on the Philadelphia jazz scene. Working with musicians like Hank Mobley, Johnny Hartman, "Cee" Sharp, Walt Dickerson, and Philly Joe Jones provided a nurturing environment for him and other young players cutting their musical teeth ...