BassPlayer 2017-03

Jon D'Auria
Moogie Canazio, who mixed the album. He said it
reminded him of the sounds in a gafieira, which are
speakeasies in his native Brazil.
Credit for “Flamencocho” goes to my beautiful
wife, who makes an amazing half-flan/half-cake dessert
called a flancocho. When I brought a piece to my
friend, the great flamenco dancer Manuel Gutierrez,
he tasted it and jumped up in joy and started
doing some serious flamenco moves! That gave me
the song idea. I had my bass with me, so we started
working on it. Afterward he said, “I want to change
my artistic name to Flamenco-cho.”
“Mateo’s Lullabye” and “Alma Gemelas” feature
your fretless playing.
The lullabye, named for my son, came to me the day
my wife told me we were going to have a baby. Originally
I envisioned just the toy piano you hear at the
start, and fretless. Then I felt it was asking for more,
but I was too attached to the piece to do it justice. I
called my friend Franky Suarez, who writes for the
symphony orchestra in Puerto Rico, and he created a
beautiful arrangement with strings and French horns.
“Alma Gemelas” means twin souls or kindred
spirits, which is how I feel about pianist Carlos Rodgarman—I
co-wrote this with him, and he included
the same version on his excellent upcoming album,
The Rodgar Band. The piece is like a classical work,
where it’s all about the interpretation of the melody.
I used my fretless Mayones Patriot on both songs;
it has a semi-hollow body with magnetic and piezo
pickups that you can blend, all of which give it a
unique, singing tone.
You reach for your Kala U-Bass, your Baby
Bass, and your upright on “Los Del Sur,” “Tumbao
Cachao,” and “Get Up.”
“Los Del Sur” is my anthem for young immigrants,
utilizing various South American rhythms. It was
inspired by a news story in which homeless children
from across Latin America were bused to Arizona
only to face picketers and opposition. I couldn’t find
a bass that sat in the track right until I thought of
my U-Bass, and it fit like a glove. “Tumbao Cachao” is
dedicated to the one and only Cachao. The melody is
typical of him, zig-zagging through the rhythms and
the clave and tying them all together like a needle
and thread. I played my prototype Lemur Stanley
Clarke upright, which was a gift from Stanley. “Get
Up” is a live party track, to close the album on a high
note. It has a boogaloo groove, which was the mix
of Latin and soul music that was happening in the
’60s, before salsa arrived in the ’70s.
Stanley guests on bass guitar on “A La ’70s.”
What can I say about Sir Stanley? He’s the Lord
of the Low Frequencies, and he’s been such an
important mentor to me in and away from music.
That song started with the little Stanley-like phrase
that opens the track, and it built from there into
a tribute to the early days of fusion. I asked Chris
Coleman to channel Billy Cobham for his part, and
it was fun adding all the keyboard sounds of the
bassplayer.com / march2017 31
WW_CS_LTD2017_2,375x9,75_USA.indd 1 08.01.17 11:52