Bass Faces

I have been definitely been very hard on myself over the years for not being able to document and/or record the experiences I have had that proved seminal in my approach; especially in music.

As regards books, a few books did a lot for me in the last few years; notably Hanif Querishi’s Buddha of Suburbia and Salman Rushdie’s The Moor’s Last Sigh. I know both these books reek of historicity, of inescapable and regrettable childhood errors; but I also dug Ludwig Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus and a lot of Sartre’s and Camus’ stuff, notably Being and Nothingness and The Outsider respectively while reading Philosophy in my university period.

It’s been a complex ride as far as music has been concerned. I have yet to find a seat of influences that can keep me motivically inclined. These days I listen to Uncle Moe’s Space Ranch, Herbie Hancock’s Thrust, Jaco Pastorius’ epic Word of Mouth, Miles Davis’ Tutu, and Trilok Gurtu’s and Robert Miles’ refreshing soundscapes in Miles Gurtu.

I can see that I’m longing but I’m quite happy to be where I’m while reflecting on the moods these artists graciously provide.

Almost half a year back, I got the opportunity to work as an onsite consultant dealing with some, let’s say, boring work. Chicago really is an amazing place and its perfect if you’re a bassplayer. I didn’t realize it then but Chicago is also home to a lot of progressive musicians who’re pushing the boundaries of a lot of genres. When I landed in Chicago, one of the first things I did was buy myself a Jazz Bass. This led to my having to search for setup assistance; I checked the newspapers. There was an ad for someone who could do it for $50. I thought that was fine and sent an email. It was set. I was going to get my bass set up and everything was going to be fine.

The incredible thing is the setup guy turned out to be none other than Jauqo iii-x. Currently, he is world renown for his extended range bass concepts which includes the iconic Low C# Theory and his adventures in the realm of the fretless sub contra bass and the 15 string bass.

In the short conversation that I had with him, I began to realize that this guy was the warmest, straight talking bassist I had ever met. He was humble and intelligent without external intent to. Even though his writings may seem spiritual, he is without doubt an explorer on a path that is both funky and furious as can be evidenced on his purely experimental disc.

I was blown out of my mind.

In the month that followed, I got many opportunities to speak to Jauqo over the phone and hang as well; and he explained many things, some of which were meant to be applied to life. I have thought about these conversations many times and I have come to understand that I truly did change as a bassplayer after meeting him.

Some instances where I realized that he was pointing to a more profound line of understanding were when he discussed about spending time on playing your own basslines instead of trying to copy a bassline verbatim only to lose the feel, the tone, and most importantly, the individuality.

Jauqo stresses a lot on individuality and he argues rightly that our status as human beings in the world is fraught with many difficulties of ego and social conflict that can well be erased with an assertion of our individuality. As musicians, it is our duty to be individualistic and still give out the essence of social harmony.

I later learned that he did apply this in principle because of his humility and knowledge hungry reactions to most concepts that we discussed from time to time. Jauqo was fascinated by the morality and the social law setup in India for instance and I wasn’t surprised because India is a very free country in many ways. Ways which wouldn’t benefit me to discuss really.

The most amazing thing that Jauqo did was he actually fulfilled this wish of mine. Like I said earlier, Chicago has many hidden musical monsters and one particular bass monster I wanted to see was Bill “the Buddha” Dickens. Jauqo and Bill are buddies and their association stretches basswise as well since Bill crafts some thumbdexterous lines on his 7 string Conklin bass (he tears it up equally badass on his Conklin Groove Tools 4, 5, and 6 string basses) through those incredible Accugroove amplifiers; basically extended range buddies ala Stew McKinsey, Garry Goodman and Al Caldwell.

Bill couldn’t really materialize since he was real busy tearing up Chicago and I knew Jauqo was really trying to get me to meet him.

Jauqo, I, and a common friend/bassist, Helena (she maintains a killer bass news site on www.24thstgeorge.com), went for dinner together to an Indian restaurant on the day before I was supposed to leave back to India. We had a great dinner with Jauqo nailing those Indian spices like nobody’s business and afterwards while walking along the pavement, we decided we’d check out Tower Records. I was again blown out of my mind with the breadth of the musical paraphernalia available. I keep walking corners and suddenly this big man in black is towering in front of me; its Bill Dickens. The Buddha. The Monster.

The look on my face was priceless.

I had been had. It was phenomenal. Bill is also a great person, really soft-spoken and very funny. We didn’t talk bass because you don’t talk bass to Bill. You hang. You let him be himself and he’ll shower you with knowledge beyond belief. In that short period of time we hung at Tower records, I learned a LOT about funk, groove, and most importantly, the value of listening to the source so that your music is full of context and not mere imitation. He convinced me to buy the Brothers Johnson, some Level 42, EWF, and some Donny Hathaway; I ended up buying a ton of cd’s.

The more I think about the days I was in Chicago, the more I begin to realize that my current pursuits with music, the complexities in my life, are all a big, big sound. I’m learning to organize them and as I go, I’m learning some wonderful things. Who knows? These cats leave an impression on you and fantastically enough, you get the magic guidance without feeling drastically out of the world, out of reality.

Meeting and hanging with Jauqo iii-x and Bill certainly opened up a lot of things; it cleared all the misconceptions I’d had about only bass players in the U.S being the real deal and making it; through them I realized that all our troubles are very much coexistent and that everyone fears for their lives. As Jauqo says in relation to the constant war between bass stylists and studio bassists, “Believe it or not Suicide is a very Natural Thought”. If there’s a Felix Pastorius in Florida playing his father’s and his own legacy, there’s also a Richard Bona from Cameroon who made it regardless of insurmountable odds. It wasn't supposed to be easy.

What I learned from Jauqo and Bill is that playing is everything. Don’t stop playing and follow Gerald Veasley’s funky path- The No Ego-No Competition path and you’ll have fun playing bass.