That’s when the mission for a duets album began in earnest-though the massive undertaking of managing and revising the Berklee bass program and curriculum meant it would be until his first sabbatical, in 2018, when the bulk of the album would be recorded and completed. Then came Bailey’s giant leap for basskind into the edu world, upon his 2012 hiring as the Chairman of the Bass Department at Boston’s Berklee College of Music. All the while, the notion to be a complete accompanist on bass persisted, via countless practice hours, a successful duet gig with a singer while he was a student at the University of North Texas, through the aforementioned Bass Extremes, and on Steve’s 2007 baddass, bass-only album, So Low… Solo. This while his career went from playing jazz in New York City with Dizzy Gillespie and Paquito D’Rivera, to establishing a left coast legacy as a session player, member of the Rippingtons, solo artist, and instructor at Musicians Institute in Los Angeles, to forging a southern-based bass empire with his brother from another mother, Victor Wooten, via Bass Extremes records and tours, as well as camps and events.
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“Bar bands around here were quartets or quintets, and I remember thinking, Wouldn’t it be cool to be able to play all the accompanying parts behind the singer on bass? The fact that we would be able to split the money two ways instead of five also crossed my mind! But mainly it was the challenge I had no idea how to do it, nor did I have the tools yet, but I had the desire.” Over time, other Bailey tenets took hold, chiefly his unyielding commitment to the fretless 6-string bass guitar as his musical voice. The end result? Carolina takes the bass and the art of the duet a dramatic step forward.īailey’s concept for Carolina can be traced back to his high school days as a burgeoning bassist in his native Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Indeed, in his hands, six strings and a fretless fingerboard can become an orchestra, a big band, or a grand piano-all while adhering to his role as the foundation. Throughout, Bailey’s bass serves as both the glue that binds song, style, and artist, and the visionary voice that summons your ear. The 17-track album features genre-spanning duets with artists ranging from Willie Nelson, Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson, and Becca Stevens to fellow feel-keepers Ron Carter, Anthony Jackson, and Victor Wooten.
So it’s little wonder that Steve was able to corral a mind-bending lineup of partners for his latest effort, Carolina.
And it quickly expanded to drummers, masters of other instruments, and singer-songwriters-all talking music, life, and even social issues like racial injustice and women’s equality. Since the Covid-19-induced lockdown, Bailey’s globally-attended, weekly Berklee Bass Department/The Bass Vault Zoom seminars have brought together historic lineups of bass players you could never have hoped to get into a room together. Steve Bailey is all about reach, and that’s not even taking into account the handspan required to play his beloved fretless 6-string bass.
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