Bass CDs
New Album: Michael Feinberg, Blues Variant
Bassist Michael Feinberg Releases “Blues Variant,” featuring Noah Preminger, Nasheet Waits, Leo Genovese and Dave Liebman.
An intriguing element of Michael Feinberg’s superb Criss Cross debut is that the leader could easily have titled it “Bassist In The Background” (Fans of Duke Ellington’s wonderful 1960 LP Pianist In The Background will know what I mean.) Throughout the ten selections that comprise Blues Variant (which include six tunefully percolating originals by Feinberg, one by tenor saxophonist Noah Preminger, one by pianist Leo Genovese, and an ingenious Feinberg arrangement of Herbie Hancock’s “Eye Of The Hurricane”), the 35-year-old bass maestro hews to the mantra, “If you want to hear me solo, come to a gig, where I often play a solo on every tune.”
“I’m serving the music,” Feinberg continues. “What I appreciate about a bass player is how they make the other people in the band sound. I love hearing the soloistic abilities of Christian McBride, John Patitucci, Dave Holland and the people I idolize, but they’re amazing because, when they play, it feels incredible and they push their bandmates to be the best versions of themselves or go beyond what they think they can do.” As another example, Feinberg mentions Jimmy Garrison, who triangulated between McCoy Tyner and Elvin Jones with the “spiritually transcendent” John Coltrane Quartet between 1961 and 1965. “He rarely plays a solo, but you don’t get the Coltrane quartet with anyone else. So I don’t care about the solos, or being on top of the mix to indicate ‘this is a bass player’s record.’ I play a ton of notes. I’m playing the whole time. Can’t miss it.”
Feinberg’s remarks on the Garrison effect carry a certain gravitas; since the early 2010s, when he did The Elvin Jones Project, he’s delved into Coltrane’s repertoire on its own terms of engagement on numerous gigs, most of them featuring Preminger playing tenor saxophone and Ian Frohman on drums. On the pan-stylistic Blues Variant, he connects with the spirit of the great drum griot via the presence on three intense selections of Elvin alumnus Dave Liebman, Preminger’s teacher during student years who has often employed Frohman. Feinberg’s introduction to Liebman’s singular sound was Earth Jones, a 1982 Elvin-led release with Liebman, trumpeter Terumaso Hino, pianist Kenny Kirkland and bassist George Mraz. “I know every note of it,” Feinberg says. “I’ve been a fan of Dave’s playing for a long time.”
An earlier Liebman-Preminger pairing is on Feinberg’s 2020 Steeplechase date, From Where We Came, which transpired not long after they met. The occasion was a Manhattan restaurant gig, where the septuagenarian saxophonist was dining with his daughter, rising-star publicist Lydia Liebman, who introduced them at set break. “I got his contact info, told him I was playing at Smalls the next month, and said, ‘If you want to play, there’s a gig for you,” Feinberg recounts. “Dave accepted. That began a beautiful relationship.”
In seizing the moment to align with Liebman, Feinberg was following a life-long predisposition to “create opportunities for myself – my hustler’s spirit; I’m always getting the wheels going, busy and active, trying to keep new, exciting things going on.” It’s an attribute he shares with Preminger, himself a two-time Criss Cross leader, a close friend since both moved to New York towards the end of 2000s. “I often have Noah in my mind’s ear because I know he’ll bring the right energy and treat the music with the proper respect,” Feinberg says. “He looks at music differently than most people. He’s one of the most technically virtuosic saxophonists – and that’s the least impressive thing about what he does. What really makes me feel his presence is the way he uses rhythm as a melody instrument in his playing, his long, slow phrases – and how he weaves theme and variation throughout a solo.”
The Feinberg-Genovese relationship is similarly long-standing. “Leo is one my favorite musicians, a real artist, no ego,” Feinberg says. “He’s incredibly well-versed – he travels everywhere, soaks up cultural musical language, and performs with some of the best musicians from all over the world, playing regional ethnic music in their bands. He grew up in the countryside of Argentina and now he plays with Wayne Shorter. He’s like a shaman. He’s free, effortless in expressing himself in all times, in all situations.”
The corollary of Feinberg’s functional, groove-centric approach is a long-standing desire to play and record with such expansive drummers as Frohman, Billy Hart, Jeff “Tain” Watts, and – on Blues Variant – Nasheet Waits. “The drummer makes the band, always and forever, and picking the drummer is what the music is going to sound like,” he says. “With Nasheet, I appreciate the timbre, the sound he gets from the drums. He can bring out heavy and bring out light, and plays all my really hard music in ways that make it sound effortless.
“I’ve always been chasing Elvin – and Jack DeJohnette – sonically,” he adds. “Their ability to keep the foundational groove is always present, but also free, floating, melodic, compositional. You might think of Elvin as more like a bruiser than an artiste, but he brought forth to a magic feeling in the music like no else before or since – brushes, ballad; Afro-Latin, 12/8; swing, medium; down, up. However much he pushes and pulls the time, where it’s not really metric, BAM, he’s going to give you the one, which locks the whole thing. That’s what allows the ambiguity and contrast.”
Asked about his own time feel, Feinberg responds: “The music is alive, so it’s always changing. As long as the drummer and I are locked in, I can play on top of the beat or behind the beat – I know it won’t go to a bad place. But I don’t ever want to sit always in one place. The groove dictates the approach.”
Feinberg wrote most of the music contained herein during the pandemic with this personnel in mind, around the unifying concept of interrogating “the idea of what is the blues and presenting it in diverse, unique ways.” He first assimilated blues expression in his hometown, Atlanta, Georgia, where, by age 16, was playing professionally with such world-class practitioners as Russell Gunn and Bryan Hogans. His compositional endeavors began during freshman year at Frost Conservatory of Music in Miami, Florida, where – inspired by bassist-composer Ben Allison, and other contemporaneous New York “downtown” figures like Jim Black, Chris Speed, Chris Cheek, Andrew D’Angelo, Skuli Sverisson and the members of the Bad Plus – he organized Miami Creative Music Collective, which played original music by its members in monthly concerts.
“The idea of being a composer and having a band was popular amongst my peer group,” Feinberg says. “But I also played a lot of gigs – a blues band called Juke, Frank Sinatra night on South Beach with a crooner, different Latin gigs, endless jam sessions. I take the relationship with the audience seriously, not in a showman-performative way, but connecting with the general audience so they understand what you’re doing. Melodies, the feeling of blues and swing. A lot of great music is simple. What really inspires me artistically is contrast, and that comes across in all my music – contrast in styles, in instruments, in textures. Playing funk versus playing swing. Playing odd meters that feel like common time meters.”
As an instance of that last-stated juxtaposition, Feinberg cites the surging title track, which proceeds to an ostinato bassline in 13 that briefly transitions to swing at the end of the form. “The title ‘Blues Variant’ relates to the mutations of COVID-19, but also references theme-and-variations on the blues,” he says. “There’s a tonic, a subdominant and a dominant, and utilization of the blues scale and blues dominant chords, but it doesn’t sound like that to me – which is also part of the idea.” Genovese’s opening solo postulates fleet right-hand lines in counterpoint to a rollicking left-hand vamp with enviable independence.
On “Saqqara,” named for an ancient, historically important Egyptian village, Feinberg – whose maternal grandparents are Israeli – channels Middle Eastern roots. After a rubato intro, the flow transitions into an “exotic” refrain in 5/4, inspiring another scintillating Genovese solo. Waits seamlessly metric-modulates to brisk swing, propelling Preminger through a few choruses that wouldn’t have sounded out of place in the Hollywood epic Exodus, directed by Otto Preminger, his distant relative.
Genovese plugs in on Preminger’s “High or Booze” (rhymes with “minor blues”) which the saxophonist performed on his own 2022 Criss Cross release, Sky Continuous. “I got the idea for the project – non-traditional blues-based music – playing this tune on a gig with Noah and Nasheet,” Feinberg says. “It’s not an easy song.” Perhaps so, but the degree of difficulty isn’t discernible on this kinetic, elegant track, highlighted by the composer’s far-flung solo, Genovese’s texturally acute percussive comping; the leader’s angular bassline; and Waits’s force-of-nature drumming.
Waits’ funky backbeat underpins Feinberg’s “Healing Power of GRITS,” signifying not only the soul food staple grain, but also “Girls Raised In The South,” of whom his wife is one. “I wanted to do something in the spirit of Cannonball Adderley’s Mercy, Mercy, Mercy session or Ramsey Lewis – a groovy, ’60s-’70s soul jazz vibe,” Feinberg says. Again plugged in, Genovese elicits dark, kaleidoscopic Rhodes colors when soloing and when complementing Preminger’s declamation.
“I love playing the music of the tradition, but why play it the same way all the time?” says Feinberg of his metrically modulated treatment of “Eye Of The Hurricane,” provoking Liebman to uncork an effervescent, swinging soprano solo on the first of his three tracks. Genovese and Preminger follow suit.
Feinberg cites such ’70s-’80s Liebman waltz tunes as “Is Seeing Believing?’ as inspiration the ritualistic “The Water Spirit Brought Us, The Water Spirit Will Take Us Home.” After Feinberg’s well-wrought solo prelude, the ceremony continues with Liebman’s soaring soprano, Genovese’s mystically coruscating turn, and Preminger’s ascendant tenor statement, which channels Coltrane’s fire-in-stillness sound circa 1965-1966.
In response to Feinberg’s request for an unconventional blues, Genovese contributes the stately, spiky “Gather Power.” That sentiment seems to guide the solos – first Liebman, channeling Steve Lacy and Coltrane in his own argot; Genovese atonal, like Bley-meets McCoy, with crystalline touch; Preminger resolutely soulful; Waits incantationally Elvinistic.
After Feinberg’s spontaneously generated a cappella blues improvisation, poignant and honest, the recital continues with “vibey palate cleanser” – “Cycle Song,” a lovely melody based on a 4-bar loop. “This one really lets the musicians speak,” Feinberg says. “Again, it’s making something seemingly complex as simple as possible, making it easy to understand what we’re doing and feel the music.” Preminger’s tenor statement is a master class in melodic interpretation; Feinberg showcases his guitaristic electric bass conception; Genovese dances via on the Rhodes.
For dessert, Feinberg presents the set-closing “Year Of The Ox,” “a hyperactive, topsy-turvy explosion” that he wrote on Chinese New Year’s Day in 2020. Waits’s fresh, surging cascaras fuel apropos solos from each protagonist.
It’s a fitting wrap to a well-integrated musical banquet that fulfills Feinberg’s self-descriptive aesthetic mantra: “There’s a place for everything. But a lot of the greatest music – Kind of Blue, Weather Report, Oscar Peterson – is simple while also being incredibly sophisticated. It all comes down to authenticity.
— Blues Variant liner notes by Ted Panken
Visit online at mfbass.com
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
Maestro Ron Carter, Sharing the Spirit – June/July 2026 Issue
New Music: Danielle Nicole, Tug Of War
Right Hand Technique Strategies with Dr. Randy Kertz
New Music: Golden Flower, Are You Even Awake?
Interview With Bassist Adam Russell
Right Hand Technique Strategies with Dr. Randy Kertz
April 6 Edition – This Week’s Top 10 Basses on Instagram
April 13 Edition – This Week’s Top 10 Basses on Instagram
20 April Edition – This Week’s Top 10 Basses on Instagram