Soul of the Bass John Patitucci

• 1 Soul Of The Bass 02:23
• 2 Seeds Of Change 02:37
• 3 Morning Train (Spiritual) 02:00
• 4 The Call 03:30
• 5 Mystery Of The Soul 03:40
• 6 Morocco 01:44
• 7 Elvin 02:27
• 8 Earth Tones 03:14
• 9 Seeds Of Change Reprise 02:48
• 10 Allemande in D minor 05:44
• 11 Sarab 03:51
• 12 Trust 01:47
• 13 Truth 01:54
• Total Runtime 37:39

Info for Soul of the Bass

Take a look at the long musical lineage paved by the titans of bass, and invariably there’s a point where each turns inward to express themselves with just their hands and their instrument, unaccompanied. For John Patitucci that time is now. Soul of the Bass, Patitucci’s 16th solo record, is his most intimate and revealing. Centered around melodic, concise improvisations on acoustic bass, the sound of wood, skin on string and open air serve to heighten the expressiveness of the melodies. Patitucci explains, “I think as you get older you prioritize the sound and the feel of everything you play, which if rendered with integrity, will result in a clarity that communicates to the listener and draws them in.”

Patitucci continues his trailblazing ways on his 6-string electric bass guitar, offering a stirring interpretation of the Allemande from Bach’s “Cello Suite No. 5,” and exploring new sonic terrain by applying his six as a color to some of his acoustic bass inventions. In the record’s most dramatic departure, John throws down an R&B groove with drummer Nate Smith, layering additional bass guitars on top, in a historic nod to the instrument.

Living in a musical household also impacts the album. Patitucci enlists daughters Gracie (greisun) and Bella in a vocal-and-6-string meditation rich in tension and resolution, and he further pushes harmonic and orchestrational boundaries with his cello/bass choir, featuring his wife Sachi. Another key to the proceedings is engineer and co-producer John Davis, a former student of Patitucci’s, who built and runs The Bunker Studios in Brooklyn, where the 13-track album was recorded. Enthuses Patitucci, “John knows my playing and my music, and he came up with some terrific ideas that enhanced the album musically and sonically.”

Inspiration for the project initially arrived in 1979, when Patitucci bought Dave Holland’s acclaimed solo side, Emerald Tears. “I was taken by Dave’s solo bass recording, but I guess I knew instinctively I had to wait until I was quite a bit older to make my own.” Patitucci is calling the album a sequel to his landmark 1991 effort, Heart of the Bass—which featured acoustic bass and 6-string in an orchestral setting—and a contrasting minimalist bookend it is. Of the cover image, a lone, exposed Acacia tree in Kenya, Africa, he offers, “It’s a fitting symbol, because the Acacia is the most durable of trees, able to survive all kinds of weather and climate, and it also replenishes the soil. The connection for me is that the soul of a bass is in the wood. The wood evokes the spiritual sound of the player. And the instrument lives on, long after the player is gone, ready to reflect the soul of the next owner.”

Patitucci admits the current political climate impacted the record, with titles like “Seeds of Change,” “The Call,” “Truth” and “Trust.” “Right now it seems like we’re at a low point when it comes to topics like truth and care and empathy for the poor and for immigrants. As a person of faith, I’m committed to fighting against racial and social injustice. I like to use the artistic platform I’m fortunate to have to speak out, engage people and try to be uplifting.”

From his transformative playing on both basses in such lofty settings as the ensembles of Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter, Michael Brecker and Herbie Hancock, to his leading-edge solo career, to his highly-respected works as a commissioned composer in the modern chamber music realms, Patitucci has put in the requisite time and effort to finally make his solo bass statement. Soul of the Bass speaks volumes.

John Patitucci
was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1959 and began playing the electric bass at age ten. He began performing and composing at age 12, at age 15 began to play the acoustic bass, and then started the piano at age 16. He quickly moved from playing soul and rock to blues, jazz and classical music. His eclectic tastes caused him to explore all types of music as a player and a composer.

John studied classical bass at San Francisco State University and Long Beach State University. In 1980, he continued his career in Los Angeles as a studio musician and a jazz artist. As a studio musician, John has played on countless albums with artists such as B. B. King, Bonnie Raitt, Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Michael Brecker, George Benson, Dizzy Gillespie, Was Not Was, Dave Grusin, Natalie Cole, Bon Jovi, Sting, Queen Latifah and Carly Simon. In 1986, John was voted by his peers in the studios as the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences MVP on Acoustic Bass.

As a performer, John has played throughout the world with his own band and with jazz luminaries Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Stan Getz, Pat Metheny, Wynton Marsalis, Joshua Redman, Michael Brecker, McCoy Tyner, Nancy Wilson, Randy Brecker, Freddie Hubbard, Tony Williams, Hubert Laws, Hank Jones, Mulgrew Miller, James Williams, Kenny Werner and scores of others. Some of the many pop and Brazilian artists he has played with include Sting, Aaron Neville, Natalie Cole, Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Milton Nascimiento, Astrud and Joao Gilberto, Airto and Flora Purim, Ivan Lins, Joao Bosco and Dori Caymmi.

John has also worked with film composers Jerry Goldsmith, Ry Cooder, James Newton Howard, Dave Grusin, Henry Mancini, John Williams, Mark Isham, Michel Colombier, Carter Burwell and Howard Shore and many others.

Since 1985, his association with Chick Corea has brought him worldwide acclaim and put him at the forefront of the jazz world. His many recordings with Chick Corea’s Elektric Band and Akoustic Band, his six solo recordings for GRP Records and his subsequent recordings have brought him two Grammy Awards (one for playing and one for composing) and over fifteen Grammy nominations. In addition, his first solo recording, John Patitucci, went to number one on the Billboard Jazz charts. John arranged and produced all of his own records as well as those of other artists. In 1996, he signed with Concord Jazz and released seven records on their label: One More Angel; Now; Imprint; Communion; Songs, Stories and Spirituals; Line by Line; and Remembrance. Two of those releases were nominated for Grammy Awards in the composition category.

After exploring many different writing styles on his own records and those of Chick Corea’s, John continued to compose for many mediums. In 1994 he was commissioned to write a piece for six-string electric bass and string orchestra for the Italian chamber orchestra Suono e Oltre in Pescara, Italy. With John as soloist, the piece was performed in March 1995 in Italy and in August 1995 with the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra in Tokyo. John has also been commissioned to write pieces for the Turtle Island String Quartet, violist Lawrence Dutton of the Emerson String Quartet, classical piano virtuoso Ann Schein, and the string quartet Elements, among others. John has had several premieres of his other chamber music compositions, including at the Chelsea Music Festival in New York in July 2011 and BargeMusic in Brooklyn, also in 2011. In April 2012, John’s piece Fantasy on a River Theme was premiered at Jordan Hall in Boston with John as soloist with the Berklee College of Music Contemporary Symphony Orchestra. John continues to be commissioned as a composer and is a featured performer on many recordings.

In 2000, John began touring again with the legendary Wayne Shorter, and the Wayne Shorter Quartet, featuring Danilo Perez on piano and Brian Blade on drums, has received worldwide acclaim for its performances and recordings. Their live recording Footprints Live was nominated for a Grammy in 2001 and a studio recording, Alegria, won a Grammy in 2003. Another CD, Beyond the Sound Barrier, won a Grammy for Best Instrumental Jazz Album in 2005. In 2006, the Quartet won the 2006 Jazz Journalists Award for Best Small Ensemble. The quartet continues to tour extensively around the world to rave reviews.

When John is not touring with his own band or the Wayne Shorter Quartet, he has found time to perform in other ensembles, such as the an all-star quintet Directions in Music, in 2001, which was led by Herbie Hancock and featured the late Michael Brecker on saxophone with Roy Hargrove on trumpet and Brian Blade on drums. They released a subsequent live CD entitled Live at Massey Hall, which also won a Grammy award.

In 2009, John released his recording Remembrance, which features saxophone genius Joe Lovano and drum virtuoso Brian Blade and received rousing reviews. Remembrance was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album of 2009. The trio enjoyed highly acclaimed and well-received performances at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York and the Monterey Jazz Festival in California, among others.

In 2015, John released his fourteenth solo recording, Brooklyn, on his own label, Three Faces Records. The recording features his latest band, “The John Patitucci Electric Guitar Quartet”, with Adam Rogers and Steve Cardenas on electric guitars, Brian Blade on bass and John playing electric basses exclusively. A documentary filmed by August Sky Films was just released in early 2016 and combines performance footage, behind the scenes footage of rehearsals and the recording of Brooklyn. The film also takes a look at John’s early years in Brooklyn, his music career and his home life through candid interviews with family and musicians, including Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea and Wayne Shorter.

In 2015, John, Danilo Perez and Brian Blade released their first recording, Children of the Light, which is also the name of their new trio. Children of the Light toured extensively in 2015 and will continue to do so in 2016 and beyond.

John has always felt a call to mentor and teach young musicians and to help further and sustain the art of jazz and bass playing around the world. In 2002, following the retirement of Ron Carter, John began teaching at The City College of New York and was a Professor of Jazz Studies there for ten years. He has also been involved with the Betty Carter Jazz Ahead program in Washington, D.C. and the The Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz. John is a frequent clinician and guest lecturer at schools around the world and a regular featured performer at the International Society of Bassists conventions. In 2010, John began his involvement with the Berklee College of Music’s Global Jazz Institute, spearheaded by pianist Danilo Perez. He is currently a Visiting Scholar at Berklee, teaching in both the Global Jazz Institute and the Bass Department.

John currently resides in New York with his wife Sachi, a cellist, and their two daughters.

This album contains no booklet.