DAVE BASS likes to quote legendary cellist Pablo Casals who, when was asked why he continued to practice at age 90, said, “Because I think I'm making progress.” Bass is a long way from 90, but the veteran pianist and composer maintains a rigorous practice routine despite his many accomplishments. His newest album, TRIO NUEVO, Vol 2, reveals an artist at the top of his form. TRIO NUEVO, Vol 2 is Bass’s eighth project as a leader and follows his 2023 release TRIO NUEVO. Like the first album, Vol 2 encompasses styles ranging from pop to Bach to bebop and comprises a mix of originals and standards. The band on the two TRIO NUEVO albums is the same, with TYLER MILES on bass and STEVE HELFAND on drums. While living in the San Francisco Bay Area in ‘70s and early ’80s, he led his own group, playing often with friends Bobby McFerrin, drummer Babatunde Lea, jazz vocalist Jackie Ryan, and others at the legendary Keystone Korner and other well-known venues. He accompanied Ryan on a jazz gig to Maui in 1981, which led to his becoming Entertainment Director at the Royal Lahaina Hotel. He also had a great stint as Brenda Lee’s pianist, joining her on multiple tours of Japan, Singapore and Malaysia. With his career in full swing, Bass had an accident that put his career on hold for nearly 20 years. In the mid-‘80s, a random slip and fall on the way to a gig caused a serious wrist fracture. The doctors did not offer a promising prognosis, and it seemed he would never play piano again. With his beloved music career behind him and needing to support his family, Bass enrolled at the University of California, Irvine, graduating Phi Beta Kappa and Summa Cum Laude. He went on to UCLA School of Law, becoming an Editor of the UCLA Law Review, and began a legal career in 1992 with a very prestigious law firm. Bass was offered a position as a Deputy Attorney General with the California Office of the Attorney General in 1996 and eventually joined the Civil Rights Enforcement division for which his work was honored with the 2009 Attorney General’s Award for Outstanding Achievement. In 2005, nearly two decades after his career-ending accident, he sat down at the piano again and was surprised to discover that his injury had healed. He was soon attending jam sessions, but after such a long hiatus, his chops were not up to the high level they had been. Despite working at his demanding day job, Bass began a rigorous practice routine, and by 2015, he had gotten skilled enough to retire from law and re-dedicated himself to a full-time music career. And like Casal’s quip, he has kept practicing and has kept making progress.
Bass released his first album, Gone, in 2010. Joined by Mary Stallings and Ernie Watts, the album featured ten originals in a diverse range of styles. Gone hit #2 on the national JazzWeek Radio Chart after only three weeks. His next six albums all received excellent reviews and national airplay. His first three releases featured vocalists, but in 2021, he turned his attention to the trio format. Bass says, “I think playing in a trio is one of the most challenging situations for a musician. There’s no place to hide. You have to play at the highest level. But it’s also very satisfying, because you can really develop a kind of telepathy with other musicians, especially if you’ve been performing together for a while. Tyler, Steve, and I have shared many gigs over the last year, and our playing has gotten even tighter. There’s almost a telepathic connection between us now.” Bass opens TRIO NUEVO Vol 2 with “Legrand/Lester Left Town,” a mashup of his original, “Legrand,” and Wayne Shorter’s homage to Lester Young, “Lester Left Town.” Bass explains, “I’ve played this great Wayne Shorter tune many times, but I'm never really comfortable just recording a song straight. I recorded “Legrand” on my first album with Ernie Watts, and I had always wanted to record it again in a trio setting. So I took the vamp from “Legrand” and bookended it with Wayne’s tune, and it worked great.” Bass always liked Johnny Mercer’s lyric to “Fools Rush In” and decided to name his original composition “Heart Above My Head” from the song’s lyrics. The composition itself, which has a spacy feel, was first inspired by Bela Bartok. Bass displays his considerable chops on Egberto Gismonti’s “Frevo.” There is a lot going on in this challenging tune. Especially of note is Miles’ bass solo. Bass read Gabriel García Márquez's “One Hundred Years of Solitude” in the 1970s when it was first released. After reading it again recently, Bass was inspired to record his Latin-inflected tune “Melquíades,” named after a character in the book who is a mysterious, traveling gypsy. Bass feels that Latin music is in his DNA, and he constructed “Latin Journey” based on excerpts from Isaac Albéniz’s “Asturias,” Ernesto Lecuona’s “La Comparsa,” and his own “Mi Montuno.” The next tune, “Questions,” opens with Bass playing solo piano. The intro has a classical vibe before bass and drums join in and turn the number into a gentle swinger. Bass based the arrangement of “Trinkle Tinkle” on a 1954 Monk trio album. He changes up the tune in the bridge with an extended bass solo and disco references. Although Johnny Mercer and Rube Bloom wrote “Fools Rush In” in 1940, many people of a certain age first heard Ricky Nelson’s version in 1963. Bass reworks this tune with a fast samba arrangement. Bass is a big Bud Powell fan and has recorded his compositions on other albums. The following number, “Dance of the Infidels,” is a blues with unusual, altered chords. Bass plays with the time, moving from 6/4 at the beginning to throwing in a measure of 7/8, creating very interesting and unexpected textures. Bass considers Bach the epitome of music and melds excerpts from Bach’s “Toccata and Fugue in D Minor” and his “Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue” to create “Journey with Bach.” He uses the chords outlined in "The Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue" as a point of departure for improvisation. Bass closes the album with Lennie Tristano’s “Lennie’s Pennies,” which Tristano based on “Pennies from Heaven.” Bass first recorded it with flutist Ted Nash, but he loves the song’s rhythmic eccentricities and wanted to tackle it in the trio format. Dave Bass is one of the most interesting piano players on the scene today. He is a true jazzer with the ability to seamlessly meld bebop, classical, Latin, and pop, creating richly textured, high-energy music that takes you on surprising journeys. With stellar accompaniment from Taylor Miles and Steve Helfand, TRIO NEUVO Vol 2 is another superb release from a piano master who keeps on making progress. # # # TRIO NUEVO, VOL 2 is available digitally on selected platforms on May 2, 2025. Physical copies are available at DaveBassMusic.com. Online: Davebassmusic.com Facebook.com/DaveBassMusic @DaveBassPiano (IG/Twitter) |
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Topic: Eclectic Pianist DAVE BASS' "Trio Nuevo, Vol. 2"
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