Melvin Gibbs' Elevated Entity - Ancients Speak
I am a man of many descriptions, just like any other human being out there. Even the most simple of folk can turn out to be awfully complicated if given the chance to unveil themselves. It's difficult to pigeonhole anyone really, and oftentimes when you do, one can show you just how wrong you are if only given yourself the opportunity.
That being said, I'm a bass nerd. If they gave out black belts for this discipline, I would be well on my toward thinking I could get that far (provided it doesn't involve too much effort of course). I know the lingo, the equipment, the legends, the history, all of it. Well no, not all of it of course, but a substantial chunk, absolutely. Did you know that the origins of bass fuzz are in '60s country music? I sure do. How about the fact that the Everette Hull, founder of Ampeg, HATED loud rock n' roll? Yep, knowledge.
That doesn't mean I'm any good at playing bass of course. In fact the longer I'm at this, the more I realize how terrible of a player I am, but I do know THINGS about that realm, and that is part of the fun really. Oh sure, when I had only been playing for a few years, I thought I was hot shit, but now over 20 years in, I know that no, I still have a lot of things to learn. I call myself competent at bass, but that's as far as my ego allows me to take it. I just happen to really like doing this thing that so many others do so much better than I can. And that's okay.
My own origins begin with Les Claypool. I first heard Sailing the Seas of Cheese in 1991, when the Cool Older Kid Next Door played it for me. I was blown away by that weird sound from Jerry Was a Race Car Driver, didn't even know what instrument it was, but whatever it be I WILL play it. I had been playing clarinet for a few years at that point, so already knew had to read music, perform in public, etc. So if only I was given the opportunity to play bass, I most certainly would. Less than a year later I had joined the Middle School Jazz Band, and that gave me a very firm grasp on just how much I loved this here BASS thing. And I still do, decades later.
So other than Colonel Claypool, my other huge influence in my early days of bassdom was Melvin Gibbs. He was a jazz guy who ended up in the Rollins Band during their big MTV years, and really, was a fucking monster. Never had I heard such huge tones, it was almost like a freight train was in the band, charging through as if they hired one huge metal mass with infinite precision. I'm not really smitten by artists normally, as I definitely concentrate more on their creation instead of the person, so I haven't really done much of backstage thing or contacted my heroes just for fun. One of the few exceptions was Melvin Gibbs, whom I pestered with a couple of emails when I discovered his Myspace page some years back. "Remember that time you were in Rollins Band? That was pretty cool..."
Anyhow, I don't really like this album, not really my thing outside the wilder tracks. Urban jazz hip hop? I don't even know. But, I am still thankful for what Melvin Gibbs taught me, without him even knowing who I am. Well, he was quite gracious for our brief Myspork dealings, so he did know me for 3 emails worth of my disgusting fanboyisms.
Fun fact: Cool Older Kid Next Door also was also responsible for showing me Napalm Death around the same time as Primus, so I must say thanks for both of those highly influential things, buddy. He moved to Fiji a few years later, and I only had brief contact with him once in 1995 when he came back to visit the US for a week. By that time he had quit playing bass and also gave up on death metal as well. "You still like that stuff? Eh, it's just a phase, you'll be over it soon." Oh well, he did know that bass was in my blood at that point, so he was 1 for 2. I wonder where he ended up...
@ Rebreather....or 
rather.
