Bass CDs
Bassist Danielle Nicole to Release Cry No More
Danielle Nicole’s Cry No More Takes The Singer-Bassist-Songwriter Into Creative New Territory…
“I’m definitely taking more chances now,” Danielle Nicole says of Cry No More, her second solo album and the follow-up to her widely acclaimed 2015 solo debut Wolf Den. “I grew up playing the blues, and the blues is still a big part of what I do. But now I’m reaching out more and trying different things. It still sounds like me, but I’m stretching out a lot more than I have previously.”
Indeed, while Wolf Den served as a powerful intro to the young singer-bassist-songwriter’s funky, blues-steeped songcraft, Cry No More, set for release on February 23rd, 2018 via Concord Records, takes the artist into fresh new creative territory, delivering 14 emotion-charged new songs whose rootsy musical edge is matched by their air of hard-won personal experience. Guitar World has the track premiere for “Save Me” here.
Danielle Nicole’s expansive approach yields deeply compelling musical results throughout Cry No More. With seasoned veteran Tony Braunagel (Taj Mahal, Bonnie Raitt, Eric Burdon) producing, such heartfelt, groove-intensive new tunes as “Crawl,” “How Come You Don’t Call Me Anymore,” the Bill Withers-penned “Hot Spell” and the heart-tugging title track find Danielle cutting loose and focusing on the storytelling and character-development aspects of her songwriting.
“I wanted to open up more about myself, and I think it shows in the songs,” Danielle asserts. “I thought really hard about the stories I wanted to tell in these songs. I really dug into my personal experience, and worked to be more open and expose more of myself than I have in the past.
“There’s a song there about my father, ‘Bobby,’ who passed away a long time ago,” she continues. “That was a big one for me, because I’d never gone there before. And I’ve had lots of changes going on in my life, so the title track, ‘Cry No More,’ is about moving on and letting go, and about getting over things and moving past them. There are a lot of songs on this album about moving on, although that wasn’t a conscious direction. Every song is a different story, and every song has a purpose and a perspective.”
While Danielle wrote or co-wrote nine of Cry No More‘s 14 songs, the seductive “Hot Spell” was given to Danielle by its author, long-retired R&B legend Bill Withers.
Withers was a surprise visitor to the album’s recording sessions at L.A.’s Ultratone Studios, and was so impressed with Danielle’s singing that he dug into his archives and offered her the song, which he wrote back in the ’70s, but which had gone unrecorded since then.
“Bill is one of my all-time musical heroes,” Danielle notes. “We played him a couple of the songs we’d been working on, and he said ‘Come on, let’s go out to my car for a minute.’ So we were hanging out in his SUV, and he’s shuffling through his glovebox and he pulls out this disc and says ‘I’ve got this song; it’s a bit risqué, but if you don’t mind, I’ll play it for you.’ It was this demo that he’d done, with his daughter doing the vocals. It was real moody and had a great groove, and it was Bill all the way. He told me that if I liked it, I was welcome to record it.”
She didn’t have to be told twice. “There was a section on the demo where Bill’s scatting where the guitar solo would be. We asked him to do that on my version, but he’s retired, so he respectfully declined to sing on it. So I sang the scat line and harmonized to it, in his honor. He dug it!”
Danielle enlisted an old friend, Braunagel, who also produced the last two albums by her old family band, Trampled Under Foot, to record the album. The pair’s longstanding creative rapport is apparent throughout Cry No More, on which Braunagel co-wrote five songs with Danielle.
“I really wanted to work with Tony on this record, because I knew that he would get the best out of me,” Danielle explains. “We’ve really developed a great working relationship and we write together really well, and I knew that Tony could help me develop these stories into songs.
“This whole record was like a dream come true,” she adds.
“I got to do the songs I wanted to do, work with the producer I wanted to work with, and record in the studio I wanted to record in. It was really cool how everything fell into place. All of the songs were what I wanted them to be, and all of the players were perfect for the songs. Every aspect of this album, from the birth of the songs to the mastering, was really free and organic.”
In addition to Danielle on bass, producer Braunagel on drums and longtime Bonnie Raitt guitarist Johnnie Lee Schell (who also engineered the sessions), Cry No More features appearances by such notable guitarists as Kenny Wayne Shepherd (on “Save Me”), Luther Dickinson (on “Just Can’t Keep From Crying”), Walter Trout (on “Burnin’ for You”), Sonny Landreth (on “I’m Going Home”), Danielle’s touring guitarist Brandon Miller (on “Baby Eyes”), and her brother and former bandmate Nick Schnebelen (on “Crawl”).
The musical expertise and emotional depth of Cry No More reflect of a lifetime’s worth of music-making.
Born Danielle Nicole Schnebelen, Danielle comes from a long line of singers and musicians, and showed an affinity for singing almost from birth. Growing up in Kansas City, Missouri, she performed in public for the first time at the age of 12, singing Koko Taylor’s “Never Trust a Man” as part of a Blues for Schools program at her elementary school. In her early teens, she began singing in local coffeehouses and at open mic events, often jamming with her parents at clubs that would allow minors. At 16, she became lead singer in her father’s band, Little Eva and the Works. In 1999, she started her own band, Fresh Brew, with some older local musicians. Fresh Brew performed for four years and represented Kansas City in the prestigious International Blues Challenge.
It was during this time that Danielle and her brothers Nick and Kris launched a family band, Trampled Under Foot, relocating to Philadelphia in the process.
To maintain the family concept, Danielle learned to play bass, eventually mastering the instrument. Trampled Under Foot traveled the world and recorded several self-released albums, building a sizable national fan base through years of nonstop roadwork. For their 2013 album Badlands, produced by Braunagel, Trampled Under Foot moved to the Telarc label, a division of Concord Music Group. Badlands debuted at #1 on Billboard‘s Blues Chart.
As Trampled Under Foot wound down after an eventful 13-year run, Danielle formed her own band and signed with Concord Records, releasing a self-titled EP and the Anders Osborne-produced album Wolf Den in 2015. Those releases established Danielle as a formidable solo artist and bandleader.
“I learned a lot from the last album,” Danielle states. “It was the first time I was writing and recording and choosing all of the material on my own, which was a big thing for me. I had been in a band with my brothers for 13 years, but it’s a whole different thing when it’s your name that’s on the line. That aspect feels a lot more comfortable now, and I can make decisions without worrying about what everybody else will think.”
Nicole’s distinctive, inventive bass work—which resulted in her becoming the first woman to win the Blues Foundation’s 2014 Blues Music Award for Best Instrumentalist, Bass—is the product of years of intensive roadwork.
Although she had no experience with the instrument when she became Trampled Under Foot’s bassist, now she can’t imagine life without it.
“Playing the bass definitely influences the way I sing, the way I write and the way I approach music,” she says. “As I’ve progressed more, the bass lines have been getting a lot more intricate. It’s still a challenge to sing while playing bass, because it’s very rare that the bass line and the vocal go together. I still get tripped up sometimes, but at this point I’d never give up the bass.
“When I started doing my solo thing,” she continues, “someone asked me if I was gonna hire a bass player.
No, of course not! I originally picked up the bass to keep Trampled Under Foot a family band, but I really fell in love with it. It was a huge challenge, and it still is. But I really love being part of the groove and getting to sing on top of that. I had learned some stuff on acoustic guitar before I started playing bass, but I never really felt connected to it the way I do with the bass. It’s empowering, walking onto a stage full of grown men who can play their asses off, and it’s ‘OK, I’m gonna play this bass, we’re gonna do this, and it’s gonna rock.'”
With Cry No More marking a substantial creative step forward, Danielle Nicole is ready to reap her musical destiny.
“I think that it’s a good time for the kind of thing I’m doing,” she states. “From my years of playing blues festivals, I’ve seen that younger and younger audiences are getting into the blues. I think that people want to hear authentic music again.”
Visit online:
- Website: daniellenicolekc.com
- Facebook: facebook.com/DanielleNicoleBand
- Twitter: twitter.com/danielle_nicole
- Instagram: instagram.com/daniellenicoleband
Danielle Nicole is excited to announce the release of her new album Fireflies, arriving August 28 via 40 Below Records. Pre-order here. Alongside the announcement, Nicole is sharing the album’s powerful new single, “Tug Of War,” a soulful anthem about reclaiming strength in the face of imbalance and emotional exhaustion.
“I wrote ‘Tug Of War’ for anyone finding themself no longer willing to accept the terms of a one way relationship,” says Danielle.
Long celebrated for her commanding voice, masterful bass playing, and emotionally fearless songwriting, Danielle Nicole traces the beginning of her musical journey back to a transformative moment in her teenage years: seeing Etta James perform live in Kansas City.
“We had a great blues festival in Kansas City,” Nicole recalls, “and I was able to see Etta James perform. She was fearless. My parents were musicians who played in cover bands, so music was always part of my family — but I didn’t realize I wanted to sing and perform, too, until I heard Etta.”
That reverence for the great soul singers, storytellers, and trailblazers who came before her has fueled a career spanning nearly 25 years, including 10 Blues Music Awards, a Grammy nomination, and international acclaim as both a songwriter and performer. With Fireflies, Nicole delivers what may be her most personal and musically adventurous statement yet — a raw, deeply felt collection recorded live to analog tape that explores grief, resilience, empowerment, and transformation through a rich blend of blues, soul, R&B, and roots music.
“There’s a lot of soul-driven music here,” she says. “A lot of storytelling. It’s a major step forward in my songwriting.”
Visit online at daniellenicolemusic.com/
Grammy Award-winning bassist, composer and cherished educator John Clayton — one of jazz’s most celebrated voices on the instrument — has released Two-o Duo, his 8th leader album exclusively via ArtistShare. This much-anticipated release features his longtime collaborator, vocalist and contemporary storyteller René Marie, and his son & frequent musical partner, 7-time Grammy-nominated pianist and composer Gerald Clayton. With a strong focus on duo playing, Two-o Duo presents 11 songs, spotlighting a range of material through different cultural eras, plus lyrical and compositional contributions from both Marie and the Claytons, respectively.
The worldwide digital release of Two-o Duo will be on July 3, 2026.
While the duo context and its many iterations shapes the project’s sound, Clayton seized the opportunity to explore further: “Since we were all there [in the studio], hanging out on the same day, why not do a few trio things as well?” Together, the three artists breathe through the repertoire, filling and leaving space and letting resonances linger. They embrace all that’s intimate and vulnerable. “Some really magical things happened,” he says. “If you’re close with somebody and you’re in the room with them, both of you feel the closeness that you share. There’s no word for it. It’s intangible. But it’s very real.”
When he began gathering ideas for the record, Clayton encouraged Marie to share repertoire selections that held meaning for her. His goal was to center her personal & eclectic musical tastes as part of the album’s character and development. “She’s not just singing jazz tunes,” says Clayton. “She’s singing songs that she would hear on AM radio, for instance, and pop hits. She’ll just walk around her house singing these tunes and the next thing you know, she’s asking her group if she can do these songs. She’s always been like that, which is a cool thing that I’ve always loved about her.”
The album opens on an utterly syncopated invention of “Blue Bayou,” the early ’60s ballad made famous by its co-composer Roy Orbison, then later by Linda Ronstadt. “We came up with this other vibe,” says Clayton. “I liken it to a cart that’s missing a wheel. It’s always just a little bit off.” With certain harmonic exceptions that allow the song to breathe through Marie’s treatment of the lyric, the Claytons keep it weird, anchored throughout by Clayton’s characteristically fluid yet propulsive bass lines. — even through Gerald’s piano solo. “It’s as if he didn’t want to destroy the weirdness.”
Two-o Duo’s first instrumental, Gerald’s blues composition “Nail… In Need” expands the album’s familial connection. When he performed it live at Pasadena’s Bacchus Kitchen, his godfather, drummer Jeff “Hammer” Hamilton fell in love with the aptly named tune and recorded it with his trio. Another deeply felt, intuitive gesture, “Beautiful” showcases Marie’s ability to embody a lyric’s poetry, musicality and stark humanness. “There’s a beautiful arc to this song where you feel René preaching with more intensity as the song goes on,” says Clayton. She amplifies that energy through her part-spoken, part-sung performance of “On the Day You Were Born,” taking her lead from Clayton’s melodic and conversational bass intro. After reading through Marie’s original lyrics ,and experiencing their dramatic yet intimate delivery, both John and Gerald contributed pieces of the composition, leaving plenty of room for the unfolding of Marie’s story. “I was frozen by its dramatic impact on me,” says Clayton. Together, they recorded a single take. “When it was over and we listened back, I said, ‘We could do another take, but it won’t be better. It’ll be different but it won’t be better.’ So we left it.”
A song that touches so many listeners through so many generations, Martin Rojas’ “En La Orilla del Mundo” pays homage to Charlie Haden and features John and Gerald at their most tender and resonant. Opening on piano-arco duo, the artists treat the iconic melody with curiosity and care. “It’s one of those songs I’m jealous I didn’t write,” says Clayton. “I don’t know what I’m capable of but I wish I were capable of writing a song like that [laughs].” Back and forth between them, Clayton and Marie pass intimate energy, dream walking through Billy Joel’s timeless love song “For the Longest Time.”
Combining “When You’re Smiling,” “Smile,” “Make Someone Happy” and a sweet shadow of “Put on a Happy Face,” Two-o Duo’s “Smile Medley” shares a moment of joy, with an almost literal translation of something abstract: genuine connection between artists. Marie provided the song selections but the arrangement, according to Clayton, was a team effort. Of their approach to “Some Other Time,” he says, “I feel Rio in the air on this one.” Clayton’s tight arrangement creates the movement of brushes without the brushes. “It’s a samba but we allow the listener to provide the drums.”
The arco tremolo introducing Duke Ellington’s treasured ballad “Come Sunday” sets the tone for a fog lifting moment when Gerald’s piano enters. “There’s a completeness to this song that’s absent in the first A because it’s just René and me,” says Clayton. “And then when that A comes in again, it’s Gerald. And now he’s got the entire orchestra — the piano — to fill in the gaps that you weren’t getting when it was just us.”
Clayton and Marie deliver a contemplative, rubato verse and ending on “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” Her handling of the verse prompted Clayton, again, to pull out his bow. “René knows how to invite freedom and inspire creativity,” he says. “It’s what every artist wants to bathe in.” Two-o Duo concludes on Gerald’s layering composition “Forth,” performed as a duo with Clayton. The latter creates a bass orchestra in concert with Gerald’s piano and collection of keyboards. “I didn’t know what the song was about. I just had to read the music and watch it unfold. It wasn’t until the mix that I finally went, ‘Ahh…’ and heard how the pieces came together … It’s like unwrapping a gift.”
Dedicated to Clayton’s dear friend, the recently departed engineer Joel Moss, Two-o Duo is a gesture toward connection, in generous tribute to family, friendship and the sacred bond between artist and listener. “There’s always something spiritual about people who are related. It usually isn’t conscious and it doesn’t always have to be in your face. There’s some kind of line unspoken that’s going through there. I may not be related to René but we’re sharing energy. And the audience may not know what’s going on but they’re going to feel something, too.”
Bassist Chuck Bergeron has enjoyed working in a wide variety of settings over the course of his more than four-decade career, from hard-charging small groups to the boisterous big band swing of his South Florida Jazz Orchestra. But he has especially cherished his interactions with singers.
On his new album, Bass and Face, Bergeron realizes his long-held dream to pair up with some of his favorite vocalists for a set of intimate duets. Out June 5, 2026 via Summit Records, Bass and Face features a world-class roster of voices pairing with Bergeron on a diverse repertoire of songs. The line-up includes Janis Siegel of the legendary Manhattan Transfer, Pete McGuinness, Roseanna Vitro, George Rabbai, Lisanne Lyons, Deborah Silver (Grammy-nominated for her 2025 collaboration with the Count Basie Orchestra), Kate Reid and Nicole Yarling, as well as two iconic singers who are no longer with us: Sheila Jordan, who passed away shortly after the recording, and Kevin Mahogany, whose contributions stem from a 2005 session undertaken during Bergeron’s seven-year stint in the singer’s band.
Bassist Tony Saunders Reimagines Two R&B Classics on “Return of the Mack (I Like It)” with GRAMMY® Nominee Gerald Albright
During January’s NAMM Show, two?time EMMY?winning bassist Tony Saunders played a demo mashup of Mark Morrison’s “Return of the Mack” that weaves in El DeBarge’s “I Like It” for 9?time GRAMMY® nominee Gerald Albright. The saxophonist instantly heard its radio potential and agreed to play on the recording. The newly released single is now climbing the Billboard and Mediabase charts.
Joining Saunders and Albright on the track is GRAMMY®-winning keyboardist Michael Mani (Carlos Santana, Eric Clapton, Tori Kelly), who produced the single with Saunders along with playing keyboards, synths, key bass, vocal processing, drum programming, and guitar synths. John Mitchell added live drums to anchor the rhythm track.
“I’ve always loved ‘Return of the Mack’ — the groove is off the hook — and I knew I’d record it someday. ‘I Like It’ has also been one of my favorites, and because it’s in the same key, the mashup came together naturally. The reaction from fans when we play it live is incredible,” said Saunders, who records for the Baja/TSR label and received clearance to release the single on his own imprint.
Saunders dedicates the new single to the memory of two of his cousins, Kurt Kaywood and Oliver Rodgers. They passed away two weeks apart as Saunders was finishing up work on the track. “They played an important part of my life, always introducing me to new things.”
“Return of the Mack” peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1996. El DeBarge’s “I Like It” was the group’s breakthrough hit, peaking at No. 2 on Billboard’s R&B chart in 1982.
Last week, Saunders was on-set in Sacramento shooting a cameo appearance in the Belton Mouras Entertainment film Fingers: The Vegan Zombie Musical, which is expected this Halloween. In addition to scoring several films, Saunders made his big screen debut in 1986 in the Francis Ford Coppola blockbuster Peggy Sue Got Married playing in a scene as a band member of Nicolas Cage.
Saunders’ musical path began with taking piano lessons from Herbie Hancock. He was gifted with an organ by Sly Stone and received his first bass from Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Tom Fogerty. His professional career began when he was invited to play in his father’s band. His father was Merl Saunders, and the co-band’s leader was Grateful Dead legend Jerry Garcia. Tony Saunders’ diverse musical journey spans jazz, funk, rock, R&B, and Latin music. He also composed the musical Rock Justice with Jefferson Starship’s Marty Balin.
Saunders debuted as a solo artist with 2011’s Romancing the Bass. His latest collection, 2024’s The Romance Continues, spawned multiple Billboard Top 10 hits. Over the years, Saunders has collaborated with contemporary jazz luminaries Jeff Lorber,Paul Brown, Paul Jackson Jr., Nils, Jeff Ryan, Randy Crawford, Blake Aaron, and Adam Hawley.
In addition to releasing more new music this year, Saunders is eager to perform with his new band: Mitchell on drums, bassist Vernon Hall (Tony! Toni! Tone!), guitarist Tim Landis, and keyboardist Ray Roland.
“I have played with a lot of musicians in my life, but this group really gets the Tony Saunders vibe!”
For more information, please visit www.tonysaunders.com.
VIDEO: “Who Are the People?” – Composed by Brandon Kyle Miller, Performed by Golden Flower
Golden Flower is an improvising quintet from Orlando, Florida… violin, trumpet/flugelhorn, Rhodes/piano, upright and electric bass, and drums, whose debut studio album “Are You Even Awake?” releases June 12, 2026, on Romantic Poker Records.
Brandon Kyle Miller handles both upright and electric bass with effects throughout the record, navigating everything from deep funk grooves to Indian classical-inspired rhythmic structures to post-rock textures, often in the same song. The album was recorded live at Phat Planet Studios and mixed and mastered by Aaron Gandia, and represents five years of development from a band that has clearly found its voice.
Standout bass moments include the deeply grooving “Piecemeal” and “Distant Glow,” the slow-burn intensity of “Intrasomatic” (composed by Brandon) and “The Search Goes On,” and the album’s epic closing triptych “Perihelion I, Interlude, & Perihelion II,” which moves through funk, African 12/8, and metric modulation with purpose and power.
The band also cites Roy Hargrove, The Bad Plus, Kneebody, and Vijay Iyer among their touchstones, a lineage that should resonate with Bass Musician readers.
Pre-order: goldenflower.bandcamp.com/album/are-you-even-awake and visit online at goldenflowermusic.com