I started playing bass guitar during my senior year of high school, and then was fortunate enough to break my leg at the beginning of the following summer, giving me lots of opportunity to practice along with my LP collection before heading to college. At college, there was no shortage of guitar players wanting a bass guitarist to accompany them, giving me as much experience as I could desire.
The bands that I have played in played mainly rock, pop, jam, reggae, blues, or some mixture of those. (Names of bands I have played in include The Geeks, Tralfaz, Conundrum, Film at Eleven, The Dogs, and currently I’m also with a jam/rock outfit – Dwarf Planets). Hooking up with Scott and Mike to create Bilbao has given me the opportunity to explore the increased complexity, musically and emotionally, of jazz, and for that I am forever grateful.
The word jazz has as many meanings as it does listeners, but for me, playing jazz with Bilbao means the opportunity of doing something different every time we play, and taking our listeners along for the journey. It means being brave enough to go out on a limb, knowing our fellow musicians are there to support each other if we lose our balance, and shine a spotlight on each other when we create something worthwhile.
Even though I make my living, financially, as a physician, I can envision one day the possibility of retiring from the practice of medicine. But they’ll have to pry my bass guitar from my cold, dead hands.
