After the better part of the day at SIR Studios, listening to a few fabulous bassists, and a whole bunch of guys who sounded like they plugged in, turned way up, then threw the bass down a stairwell, I cut out early. I bailed. Even the good players were getting lost in the wash of “a-thumpin’ and a-pluckin’” by the afternoon.

    I felt sorry for my host for the weekend, Bobby Vega; he was there demonstrating the new EMG X pickups, amidst all the noise, from 10AM to 6PM, and then had the concert that night. I felt bad leaving him there alone (”Save yourself!”), but his son Rocco and I left with his blessing to get some rest.

    The concert that night at the Key Club was the feature that really got Bobby to come down. Rocco Prestia, bassist for Tower of Power, would be presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by Bass Player Magazine, with Bobby doing the presentation. Upright Jazz Giant Charlie Hayden was being similarly honored, and a large concert/jam session was slated to ensue!

    Francis Rocco Prestia has had a huge influence on the way people approach playing funky, groove-heavy bass for years. His single note approach is all about timing and movement, and while he’s often imitated, his technique is singular and far more awe-inspiring than even he knows. Tunes like “What Is Hip”, "You Got To Funkifize" and "You're Still A Young Man" redefined funk bass. Presenting the award was a huge deal for Bobby; when Rocco received a Liver Transplant a few years ago, it was Bobby who covered the gigs for what has to be the most famous “Bass Chair” in music today!
(For more on the story, read my BV interview http://kennanshaw.com/bobbyvega.cfm)

    When it was time for the ceremony, Bobby talked about how Rocco’s playing with TOP always inspired him to play bass, about how “Rocco put the ‘Power’ in ‘Tower’!” He talked about going to see Rocco, and telling him about naming his own son Rocco after the bassist, and how Rocco said “That’s nice Bobby, but if you really fuckin’ meant it, you’da named him Francis.” Bobby brought his now 13 year old son Rocco out to help with the presentation. It was perfect, and you could see how touched and surprised Rocco Prestia was by the whole thing. The ovation was long and loud.

    Meanwhile, I was working on my whole “fly on the wall” approach to hanging out backstage. Here again Bobby was the gracious host and introduced me to everyone he knew, from all the members of Tower that were there, to the myriad of famous influential bassists attending the show.

    Leland Sklar, who played with James Taylor, Lyle Lovitt and so many others that it would be easier to list who he hasn’t played with over the years, was just hanging out. I watched him a lot, because he’s got the whole ‘Elder Stateman/Coolest Guy’ vibe going. He complimented Bobby’s presentation, greeted Rocco warmly, shook hands, shared smiles and laughs, and reminded me of the shots of Willie Mays at the All Star Game, surrounded by younger players hoping just a little of his magic would rub off on them. The man played for Barbie Benson, for God’s sake!

    I was sitting with Rocco Vega waiting for our food when Dave Girabaldi, drummer for Tower sat down behind me and started his warm up exercises on his practice pad, with big ol’ Marching Band sticks. That was pretty fascinating on its own, but when Tal Wilkenfeld, the young female bass playing phenom from Jeff Beck’s band sat down and the two started talking about drumming, I figured I was, right at that moment, in the middle of the strongest Bass Player Fantasy you could possibly put together.

    Steve Bailey (six string fretless bass super clinician) was eating a chicken sandwich a couple tables away. Various members of Tower of Power were sprinkled around the room, and singer Larry Braggs had started laughing when he first saw Bobby, and now the two of them were holding court in a booth in the corner. Relocated Brit Fusion ace Rufus Philpot was trying to get something at the bar, and when Stu Hamm (Satriani, Steve Vai, first choice of Shred Guitarists everywhere) made a crack about Rufus being “Australian”, he kind of froze, reloaded, and in his so-very-British manner said “You’re joking, right?” Jazz chart topper (oxymoron?) Brian Bromberg stood at the bar talking to Leland Sklar, while Sekou Bunch played through the T.C. Electronics Staccato Rocco Prestia Stack against the wall. Bakithi swept through, smiling and laughing as always, and many bassists of great note passed through, some stopping, some just moving through.

    The concert itself was amazing. Charlie Haden did a set of straight up jazz with a pianist. That was followed by Juan Aldretti of The Mars Volta, and his latest side band. Talk about “And now for something completely different”.

    Then, following the presentation of Rocco’s award, we got a kind of Career Retrospective from the rhythm section – drums, guitar and keyboards – and a two man horn section from Tower of Power, with vocals. It was the best of the Rocco tunes, ending with “What Is Hip” with an extended Rocco solo. Those guys are amazing.

    The rhythm section stayed up for the madhouse jam that followed, as Bobby, Tal Wilkenfeld, Rufus Philpot, James Earl, Stu Hamm, and Steve Bailey ( I know I’m forgetting someone…) took the stage for a thunderous take on the TOP song “Squib Cakes”. The stage looked like a bassists dream music store; everyone on stage had their own stack of amps, and they ran from one side to the other, like some strange Cityscape. Tal, who is about five feet tall, had the biggest stack. If she was a guy, the words “over compensation” might come into play.

    Let me stop, and talk about Tal, because every bass player I know, upon finding out that I was going to this, wanted to talk about Tal. She has taken the bass world by storm the last couple of years, and is definitely is as close to a ‘bass superstar’ as there is, especially with the release of the “Jeff beck Live at Rionnie Scott’s” DVD. She’s a 23 year old Aussie immigrant who’s cute as a bunny and plays bass like she was born unto it. So everyone wants to know about Tal. So here’s my problem; up close and personal, she’s a very young girl who should sit up straight and spit out the gum, and probably wash her hair once in a while.

    That’s right; she is something short of a Goddess, and I am terminally…a dad. I’m not sure which one is more upsetting. *Sigh*.

    Have you ever heard about eight bass players all playing at once? Even if you assemble some of the best in the world, there’s a reason bands can have multiple guitarists, a couple of keyboards, and even the rare “double drummer” set up, but always only one bass. “Squib Cakes” started off sounding like an avalanche, but the bassists quickly backed off, found a little niche to play in or just laid out. Steve Bailey was acting as “player coach” (guess who’s amp was loudest?), and would introduce different players to solo. Stu Hamm played T.V. theme songs on his Washburn Signature acoustic, but generally looked like he had a date with Hotel Room pending. Tal started slow and then exploded. Bobby – who was having equipment issues with his signal chain (stupid cable), launched into a solo that had everyone grooving. His son Rocco noticed that “everybody started playing when you played!” It was cacophonous and beautiful.

    After that, everyone was pretty ready for some rest. There was more to come; Brian Bromberg and Steve Bailey were going to play, and Verdine White from Earth Wind and Fire was looking for a four string bass to borrow (memo to self; people would be more inclined to lend you a bass if you aren’t wearing a ton of rhinestone and silver jewelry), but we caught a cab back to our hotel.

    I got picked up on Sunset by buddies Audrey and Carol for a quick trip to Barney’s Beanery for drinks and talking about how everyone looked 12 years old. They had just seen Echo and the Bunnymen. We laughed a bunch.

    The next day was back to SIR for more of Bass Player Live! I took many breaks outside the building. The sonic assault, even with ear plugs, just gets to you after a while. It gets hard to recognize things that sound good, when there is so much ‘sound’ involved. At one point, a guy had brought an upright out to the parking lot, and was just playing a 12 bar blues, nice and easy, and everyone around kind of went “…ahhhh…”. It can be hard to see it, but too much of anything is too much.

    Having said that, I would recommend Bass Player Live to every single bassist I know, regardless of your level or experience. The manufacturers are all there showing off their best and newest junk, and all the players are there, and accessible and for the most part, really friendly people. I know a lot of people want to go to NAMM, the music merchandiser’s trade show that’s in Anaheim every January for these same reasons, but BPL is waaayyy better, and I’ll tell you why; you don’t have to wade through a ton of stuff you don’t want to find the gems; at BPL it’s all gems. Even if you don’t have the kind of access I was bestowed by my hosts, even if you go for one day and take it in, you’ll love it.

    I want to thank “The Two Scott’s” from EMG. Those guys know there stuff, and seemed to have a good time. Very funny. Thanks to Mike Vernon for the hang. And a big fat special ‘thank you’ to Bobby and Rocco Vega, for sharing the whole thing with me. They made me feel like family, and shared insights, hopes, and jokes freely.


    Okay; party’s over. Back to work. Anybody got any gigs?