Bass CDs
Bassist/Composer Phil Palombi to Release “Detroit Lean”
Bassist/Composer Phil Palombi to Release “Detroit Lean”…
When Phil Palombi set out to begin crafting the album that would ultimately become Detroit Lean, the Grammy-winning bassist and composer knew that he wanted to do something different this time around. On his debut, 80 East, Palombi had deliberately created a record that, he says, “everyone would want to listen to, not just bass players.” For his followup, Palombi upped the ante, setting out to honor one of his musical heroes, the late bass innovator Scott LaFaro (1936-1961), best known for his work with piano genius Bill Evans. Palombi’s RE: Person I Knew—A Tribute to Scott LaFaro, marked the 50th anniversary of the passing of its subject and served as a companion piece to Palombi’s LaFaro book, 15 Solo Transcriptions.
“With my previous recordings, actually with most of my writing, I was always trying to write music that fit into a specific style or band,” says Palombi. “With Detroit Lean, I just wrote music stream-of-consciousness style—whatever popped into my mind. As a result, I think that I unconsciously channeled a wide range of influences and sounds that have been bouncing around in my head over my musical life. I didn’t really care what anyone wanted to hear or about trying to fit a genre. I wanted to see what was inside of me.”
Turns out there is plenty there to savor: One listen to Detroit Lean confirms that Palombi has evolved measurably as a composer, musician and bandleader. Recorded at the Clubhouse Studio in beautiful, bucolic Rhinebeck, New York, with Palombi’s core trio of pianist Matthew Fries and drummer Keith Hall, with guitarist Tony Romano guesting on several tracks, the album is the result of Palombi looking both toward the past and straight ahead for inspiration. “I was feeling a little nostalgic when I wrote the music for this CD,” he says. “Most of the titles correspond to events or feelings that I had when I moved to New York City in 1997. In my previous life, growing up in Ohio, I was a total gear-head. I used to rebuild muscle cars, cruise, drag race—all the fun stuff! The phrase ‘Detroit Lean’ refers to a style of sitting behind the steering wheel, looking cool.”
Once he knew where he wanted to take the new music, Palombi set about fleshing out the concept with compositions specifically tailored to the project. “For some reason I can’t just sit down and write a song for the sake of writing a song,” he says. “I need to have a real relationship with what’s going down. Sometimes I can look into the future and pull something from there, but most of the time it’s looking back and analyzing my feelings about an event or person. Last year I was doing just that, marveling at the set of circumstances and decisions that led me to where I am now. It really is a bit miraculous, actually. When you look back, you can see maybe a handful of decisions where, had you simply changed one thing, your life could have been completely different. I think it would be fun to be able to go back in time, choose another path, then move forward to see what would happen. It’s not that I get whimsical about the past as much as thinking about the past is a kind of mental straight edge to keep me moving in the right direction.”
The 10 tracks comprising Detroit Lean together paint a portrait of where Phil Palombi is today, from “Beyond the Wall,” built atop the idea that “we put up personal walls around us and can accomplish much if we get past them,” to “Standing Through Time,” inspired by an article about “how there is no flow of time, only a collection of ‘nows.’” The track “Sarah’s Theme” was written by Phil for his wife, the jazz pianist Sarah Jane Cion, and “Stay the Same” was penned by her.
“Every one of my CDs has featured a song by Sarah, and this is one of my favorite compositions by her,” Palombi says. “She even wrote lyrics for it, though I chose not to sing for what would be obvious reasons if you ever heard me sing.” Among the other tracks are “Take Both Paths,” its title a play upon poet Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken, “I’ll Never Go Back to Brooklyn,” which Palombi stresses is not a putdown of the hipster-friendly NYC borough, and “Push-Pull,” a wistful love ballad that reaffirms the age-old case for opposites attracting. “The Phoenix” has great personal significance to Palombi, as it was written following the passing of his mother, while at the other extreme is “Alternate Side Parking,” about which Palombi says, “This song references the ritualistic evening hunt for a parking spot coming home from a gig at 3 a.m. The Amazon rainforest tribal effects were the idea of the mixing engineer George Petit. I think it perfectly captures the attitude that I feel when trying to find a parking spot in New York!”
With the songs written, Palombi called upon his secret weapon to help flesh out his ideas: Scott LaFaro’s own bass. Palombi had used it previously on the RE: Person I Knew sessions and at the Village Vanguard, the NYC landmark where the Bill Evans Trio had recorded its iconic Sunday at the Village Vanguard album shortly before LaFaro’s death. For Detroit Lean the idea was not so much to pay tribute to its one-time owner but simply to summon up the instrument’s exceptional sonic qualities once again. “For this record, I wanted to take Scotty’s bass and imagine what LaFaro might be recording in 2016 if he were still alive,” Palombi says. “What does his bass sound like in a completely modern setting? I just really like that bass! The first time I had the instrument in my hands it changed my life. I could play anything on it! Every note jumped out of the instrument, anywhere on the bass. The acoustic bass is a very physical instrument, and for the first time I felt like the instrument was invisible. All of a sudden I realized, ‘Holy crap! I need to learn a lot more about music now!’ Since I didn’t need to worry about what works physically, I could focus on what I can accomplish musically. Anything was possible, so I had to learn what that ‘anything’ could be! What I learned was it took more than simply playing the bass to get her to really speak again. She needed to be wheeled around the streets of New York again to fully come alive. About three months in the bass changed. It woke up! I couldn’t believe it. As a result, I feel you can really hear this instrument the way it sounded back when Scotty was recording with it in 1961.”
As important as the sound of the LaFaro bass is to the success of Detroit Lean, Palombi also credits his collaborators, the studio and the recording team that brought the music to life. “I wanted to make the recording its own artistic statement,” he says. “It was fun using the studio as a tool to bring out what I was hearing in my head. I strongly believe that sound matters. Imagine if Miles Davis recorded all of those great records in someone’s basement rather than the Columbia Records studio. Inside the studio, it was all about how the music was recorded.”
Detroit Lean: Great talents making inventive music in a world-class studio. It’s a perfect storm. And, most importantly, concludes Palombi, “I get to be me.” What could be better?
For more information on Phil Palombi please visit: www.philpalombi.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
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