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 ...
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 Bob Cunningham's website features jukebox, discography, itinerary, projects, biography.
Samadhi, that high meditative state whereby the human spirit realizes it's total oneness with the Creator, is deemed the greatest ecstasy one can experience. Bassist Bob Cunningham appears to reach, or closely approach that ecstatic state as he blends himself in oneness with his Bass and with the rich, luminous sounds he skillfully coaxes from it. He clearly enjoys and relishes every stroke and sound of the instrument, and this thorough enjoyment of his polished musical craft inevitably translates into the collective enjoyment and soul movement of each audience Cunningham musically serves.
Bassist Peter Ind and his record label Wave Records' website features reviews, sound bites, itinerary, photo and art gallery, Wave Record label, biography.
Peter Ind was born on July 20, 1928 in Uxbridge Middlesex. U.K. He played on the ship the Queen Mary (1949-51) before settling in New York (1951), where he taught, and performed and recorded with Lennie Tristano (1951), Lee Konitz (1954-57), and Buddy Rich (1957).
He established a recording studio in 1957, and in 1961 started his own record company, Wave. His album Looking Out (1958-61, Wave 1) includes solos, duos with Joe Puma and the drummer Dick Scott, and tracks recorded with a trio and with a quartet. While living in Big Sur, California (1963-6), he became the first double bass player to give concerts and broadcasts as an unaccompanied soloist. In 1965 he played with Konitz and Warne Marsh. Thereafter he returned to England and continued to perform, teach and manage Wave. He toured with Konitz and Marsh in 1975-6. In 1984 he opened the Bass Clef in London, which became one of the city's most popular clubs. The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz ...
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 ...
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 ...