bassmagazine.com ; ISSUE 4 ; BASS MAGAZINE 13
Janek Gwizdala
could barely get a note out of it. I handed it
back to him, and he played it like a violin!
I realized there were some serious tech-
nical deficiencies in my playing and a lack of
scope and range in my sound. So I started
raising my action a quarter-turn [of the truss-
rod] every six weeks, and I’m getting there.
My action still isn’t as high as John’s, but I’ve
expanded my technique and touch possibili-
ties by a good 70%, as well as the sounds I can
get out of the instrument.
Your hand-right placement seems key,
especially when playing jazz.
In general, I use a lot of different right
hand placements, and for walking I’m often
over the neck. I spent a good deal of time there
on this record because we have the acous-
tic piano. John [Patitucci] was very aware
of that throughout the session, and we were
constantly working on where the right hand
was for the overall production and sound.
He could hear things in the speakers that I
couldn’t hear in the cans. He’d say, “You’re a
little too far up the neck; come back an inch
or two. It needs a little more punch.” It was
very interesting to have that kind of feedback.
How did you select the ensemble?
I’ve known [pianist] Ruslan [Sirota]
since we were at Berklee together, and we’ve
been touring a lot with [saxophonist] Bob
Reynolds. We have a musical rapport; we’re
both inspired by artists like Chick Corea, Pat
Metheny, and Michael Brecker. I wrote with
his harmonic style in mind. We came up with
some of the piano/bass unison ideas for my
tunes at soundchecks on the road with Bob.
I met [trumpeter] Philip Dizack on a Bob gig
in L.A. in 2018, and he blew me away with
his playing and his sound. And I’ve known
[drummer] Clarence Penn since I lived in
New York. We played together with Randy
Brecker and did some other projects and re-
cordings. His sound palette is expansive, and
the dedication and engagement he brings to
a session is incredible. I had hired Clarence
and Philip for a gig I did in New York last fall,
and I thought, these guys and Ruslan would
make a great record. It’s truly a collective ef-
fort with this band and the two Johns.
How did you come up with the material,
and what was the recording session like?
I had attempted to do a trio record last
year that didn’t work out, so I had two or
three songs from that. The rest I wrote in
the last few months, mostly on piano, which
is why the melodies are not so bass-specific,
and why there are countermelodies in the left
hand, doubled by bass. Once I gave every-
one the tunes, I flew to New York in March
for a quick rehearsal to see what was working
and what wasn’t. Then I came back in June,
we rehearsed in John [Patitucci]’s basement
the night before, we cut the record live at the
Bunker the next day, and I mixed on the third
day before flying home to L.A. in the evening.
The record begins with the ambient track
“Constance.”
Originally, that was the B section to “Your
Secret Lover,” which I had kind of awkward-
ly crowbarred into the tune because I didn’t
think there was enough to the composition.
John’s idea was to remove the B section from
“Lover” and use it as an insert somewhere on
the record by playing it rubato. We did that
and the track came out beautifully, so we de-
cided to open with it, because it was a cool way
to get listeners into the music. You can go any-
where from an ambient track, up or down. I
had a similar situation with “Mi Cieolito,”
which was the last song I wrote for the record.
I had the 12-bar form, and then I tried to force
a B section in, and my wife, who is a great bass
player, assured me that it worked perfectly
fine as a 12-bar piece, and to leave it be.
On “Tell Me,” you play the melody and take
the lone solo; that’s easily the earliest you’ve
ever featured yourself on one of your records.
I know! It’s not like me at all. Credit
John’s producing again. I didn’t want to play
this melody, and I sure didn’t want to blow
over the difficult changes I had written. But
John believed in it very much because of how
I was phrasing the melody. He said, “This is
your moment to be featured on a melody.” He
also coached me through the solo, reminding
me to trust my melodic side, and that I didn’t
have to burn through the changes. Most of
the tracks have one solo, no track is over fiveLISTEN
The Union, 2018; Last
Minute World Tour
2017 , 2017; American
Elm, 2016. With Bob
Reynolds: Quartet,- With Peter Er-
skine: Dr. Um, 2016.
GEAR
Basses Mattisson Se-
ries 1 Janek Gwizdala
Signature 5-string
Strings “I’m between
companies right now
and actively looking
for the right player–
string-maker relation-
ship.”
Amps Aguilar Tone
Hammer 500 with
two Aguilar GS 112
cabinets
Effects TC Electron-
ic Ditto Looper, TC
Electronic RPT-1 Nova
Repeater, Electron-
ic Miura Guitars M
Compessor/Limiter,
Boss OC-2 Octaver,
Boss PS-5 Super Shift-
er, Dunlop Volume (X)
Mini Pedal, Frederic
Effects BugCrusher