DOUG WIMBISH
Sugar Hill
TackHead
On-U Sound
Living Colour
Little Axe
HeadFake
Mos Def
Tarja Turunen
RECORDED & TOURED
w/
Jeff Beck
Rolling Stones
Joe Satriani
Bruce Springsteen
Seal
Annie Lennox
Madonna
Carly Simon
Herb Alpert
Al Green
Mick Jagger
Keith Richards
Ron Wood
James Brown
Afrika Bambaataa
George Clinton
Bernie Worrell
The Meters
Clarence Clemmons
Rose Royce
Musique
Michael Bolton
Will Downing
Robbie Robertson
Billy Idol
Depeche Mode
Mark Stewart
Bim Sherman
Adrian Sherwood
Bernard Fowler
DJ Logic
Vernon Reid
CLICK TO BUY:
Influences
Miles Davis
Jimi Hendrix
Larry Graham
Sounds Like
Sugar Hill
TackHead
On-U Sound
Living Colour
Little Axe
HeadFake
Mos Def
Tarja Turunen
"GANGSTER"
— Doug beginning to define his own musical language
"AIRBORNE RANGER"
— Used in TACKHEAD sets as a late-1980s anti-war anthem
"LOVE, SEX, AND MONEY"
— with Hip-Hop Ambassador MOS DEF's Black Jack Johnson
"CIARAN'S WELL"
— with Goth Metal Opera's TARJA TURUNEN
VIRTUOSO ELECTRIC BASS GUITAR
photograph by Florian Matzhold
(florianmatzhold@thedarkcrusade.info)
all videos by —dave.hogerty
At a demonstration performance/appearance in New York City, Doug answers the question "why did he choose the bass guitar, over lead?" Known as one of the world's finest "lead" bassists, Doug entertains this question frequently.
Living Colour (Chair in the Doorway)
— Summer 2009
In support of the band's fifth studio record ("Chair in the Doorway") Living Colour is scheduled to begin a World Tour in September. Before heading into a Brooklyn rehearsal space, the band played an introductory set (August 10) at the Highline Ballroom in New York City. Opening with their original standard, "The Cult of Personality," followed by three tunes off the new record, "Deca Dance," "Behind the Sun," and "Bless Those."
The band's abbreviated set opened The Roots Weekly Jam Session at the Highline Ballroom, and closed with "Bless Those," a tune written in the 1980s by DOUG and On-U Sound's LITTLE ANNIE.
LIVING COLOUR: Vernon Reid (guitar), Corey Glover (vocals), Will Calhoun (drums), and Doug Wimbish (bass guitar).
ATLANTA (Sept. 14, 2009) — "BI," a tune off LIVING COLOUR's 1993 "STAIN" album, features Doug's bass solo, in which he walks into the crowd, and samples "The Godfather Theme." Currently on tour in support of "The Chair in the Doorway," the band often plays the new record, in its entirety, as it did this night at THE LOFT in downtown Atlanta.
CinemaSonics (NEW SOLO RECORD)
— the Journeyman Bassist Speaks for Himself.
After decades collaborating with so many of the world's finest musicians, LIVING COLOUR bassist Doug Wimbish makes his most personal musical statement with the release of "CINEMASONICS," his second solo record, the first with vocals. Set with all the instrumental virtuosity and hypnotic mood of his millennium-opening "TRIPPY NOTES FOR BASS," "CINEMASONICS" takes you on an exciting journey of sound, from James Bond-style orchestrations, and comfortably numb interludes, to the most mysterious, unexplored musical frontiers. Doug sings on a number of tunes himself, and throughout is supported by an impressive cast of vocalists, including BERNARD FOWLER (TACKHEAD, THE ROLLING STONES), SKIP (LITTLE AXE) McDONALD, and KEVIN GIBBS and SAZ BELL (ON-U SOUND).
Instrumentally, CINEMASONICS features ORIGINAL SUGAR HILL RHYTHM SECTION members SKIP McDONALD [guitar], and KEITH LEBLANC [drums]; LIVING COLOUR bandmate WILL CALHOUN [drums]; FUNKADELIC's BERNIE WORRELL [keyboards], and ON-U SOUND Founder ADRIAN SHERWOOD [mix].
w/ SONO RECORDS [PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC]
Milan Cimfe (drums), Pavel Dirda (keyboards), Pete Lockett (percussion)
Stephan Markovic (saxophone), "Flash" (horns)
DOUG flew into New Orleans, Louisiana from Vienna to join WILL CALHOUN (drums) and BERNIE WORRELL (keyboards), to play two benefit shows, with all proceeds donated to an effort to re-build schools in the city's Katrina-ravaged Lower 9th Ward. (July, 2008)
— video by dave. (davehogerty.com)
ON THE RECORD
JEFF BECK KNOWS A GOOD BASSIST WHEN HE HEARS ONE? In the interview section of Beck's "LIVE AT RONNIE SCOTT'S" DVD (2009), the legendary guitarist calls DOUG "AMAZING," when discussing the two-day jam session he had played with DOUG and VINNIE COLAIUTA, his current drummer.
THE VOYAGE SO FAR
— Three decades of musical exploration and discovery.
DOUG WIMBISH is probably best known as the innovative lead bassist in the Grammy Award-winning hard rock band LIVING COLOUR, but looking beyond the obvious, one quickly sees that Doug's influence and impact on the world's musical culture is much more vast and significant than often written or realized.
For more than 30 years, Doug has been one of the most sought-after electric bassists, and has collaborated with many of the world's best known, and most talented musical artists. Having participated in the making of so many popular recordings, in every musical style, all around the world, it's hard to find a culture or community that hasn't been exposed to Doug's music.
To get an idea of the respect Doug has earned within the music industry, consider that one week in 1992, he received personal phone calls from MICK JAGGER, BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, and SEAL, all asking him to join their bands. Now consider that he turned them all down, choosing to stay with his LIVING COLOUR bandmates, VERNON REID (guitar), COREY GLOVER (vocals), and WILL CALHOUN (drums).
Despite his decision in 1992, not to join any band (staying with LIVING COLOUR), as a permanent member, DOUG did go on to record, produce, and tour with dozens of well-known artists, including THE ROLLING STONES, JEFF BECK, JOE SATRIANI, HERB ALPERT, ANNIE LENNOX, MADONNA, CARLY SIMON, AL GREEN, BILLY IDOL, GEORGE CLINTON, and JAMES BROWN. More recently (since 2000), Doug also joined Hip-Hop, Hollywood Movie and Broadway Theater Star MOS DEF's band BLACK JACK JOHNSON, and in 2007, played on Finland's Rock Opera Diva TARJA TURUNEN's first solo record, "My Winter Storm," and has toured with Tarja ever since.
Doug onstage with Tarja Turunen (Finland, 2007)
photograph by Kari Helenius (kari@rockunited.com)
TARJA TURUNEN BAND: Tony Turunen (guitar, vocals), Doug Wimbish (bass), Mike Terrana (drums), Alex Scholpp (guitar), Max Lilja (cello), Markus Hohti (cello), Maria Ilmoniemi (keyboards) TARJATURUNEN.COM
After playing on TARJA TURUNEN's "My Winter Storm," the singer's first solo album after leaving her longtime band NIGHTWISH, Doug was asked to play on the new band's first European Tour in the winter of 2007. Since then, Doug has also played on Tarja's two subsequent World Tours in 2008 and 2009.
2009 — After 30 years, and millions of miles, Doug's Odyssey continues, as does his exploration of the musical frontier. Having just finished "The Gods of Metal" World Tour with TARJA, and preparing to embark on yet another World Tour with LIVING COLOUR, if anything, it would appear Doug's pace is accelerating.
IN THE BEGINNING
It could be said that Doug's musical journey began when he was a kid in the late 1960s, motivated by his older brother Victor's interest in the Rock and Soul music of the day, listening to everything from THE KINKS, LED ZEPPELIN, SLY STONE and JIMI HENDRIX. After picking up a guitar, one hot, summer day in his aunt and uncle's appliance/music store in the Bahamas, Doug sought early guidance from his brother Victor's bass-playing friend Gary Williams, who marvels at how quickly Doug's virtuosity showed itself.
By the early '70s, as a HARTFORD CONSERVATORY student of jazz saxophonist JACKIE McLEAN (who was also a teenager when he started his professional career, playing on MILES DAVIS' DIG Album in 1951) Doug's career in music was firmly established.
A JOURNEY THROUGH TIME AND SPACE
1976 — Doug's first "real" job was with guitarist SKIP "LITTLE AXE" McDONALD and drummers HAROLD SARGENT and KEITH LEBLANC, playing in a dance/funk/horn band called WOOD, BRASS & STEEL. It was then that Doug, Skip, and Keith (THE ORIGINAL THREE) were hired by JOE and SYLVIA ROBINSON as the house band for their recently formed SUGAR HILL RECORDS. As Hip-Hop's ORIGINAL RHYTHM SECTION, the three wrote, played, and recorded many of the genre's original anthems, including "The Message," "White Lines," and "That's the Joint," before picking up rather suddenly, and moving to London ("fleeing the Robinsons for their lives").
It was in England, that all three started a musical collaboration with producer ADRIAN SHERWOOD's ON-U SOUND label, that resulted most significantly with the creation of the Industrial Funk band called TACKHEAD, and a musical partnership that remains strong today.
Not since their time in WOOD, BRASS & STEEL had Doug, Skip, and Keith's instrumental abilities been completely appreciated. Despite a New York Times writer calling them "THE WORLD'S FINEST RHYTHM SECTION," the band went mostly unnoticed, as nearly all the early hip-hop attention went to MCs and DJs.
1983 — Sugar Hill mate KEITH LEBLANC (with BETTY SHABAZZ' personal approval) recorded the landmark "NO SELL OUT," often considered the first effective use of "sampling" committed to vinyl. "No Sell Out" is a 12" inch record on which Keith cuts pieces of MALCOLM X speeches and mixed them with his own experimental, electronic drum beats. Sugar Hill owners Joe and Sylvia Robinson, without Keith's knowledge or approval, steal the master tapes, and press 500,000 vinyl copies of "No Sell Out." The record is credited to "Sugar Hill Records," with no mention of Keith. Keith makes a legal claim for his artistic, and financial rights to the record. The Robinson's defeat in Federal Court is a significant blow to their already suffering Sugar Hill Label. The Robinson's Hip-Hop Empire is gone by 1985.
1984 — DOUG, SKIP, and KEITH, with MELLE MEL ("THE MESSAGE" vocalist), write and record "VICE," a song on the original MIAMI VICE Soundtrack Album produced by JAN HAMMER. From the moment of the song's release, Joe Robinson insisted Sugar Hill was owed a substantial percentage of the proceeds. Fear of Joe Robinson was a serious consideration in the ORIGINAL RHYTHM SECTION's move to London.
1985 — DOUG, KEITH, and SKIP contribute significantly to "SUN CITY," the Anti-Apartheid Anthem attributed to MILES DAVIS, BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, U2, HERBIE HANCOCK, and nearly every other pop star of the day. Despite playing, and doing production work on the iconic recording, Doug, Keith, and Skip are not listed in the credits.
ATLANTIC CROSSING
DOUG played bass with JEFF BECK, on the guitarist's 1986 Summer Tour of Japan. The band also included JAN HAMMER (keyboards) and SIMON PHILLIPS (drums).
video —Japan (bootleg)
Upon reaching London, Doug and his Sugar Hill mates (Skip McDonald and Keith Leblanc) went straight to work with ADRIAN SHERWOOD (ON-U SOUND), and attracted the immediate attention of England's musical elite, including THE ROLLING STONES, and JEFF BECK. Beck invited Doug to join his band, and took him on his 1986 Summer Tour of Japan, with CARLOS SANTANA.
1986 — "MAJOR MALFUNCTION," a result of Keith's further electronic exploration makes use of the Mission Control [NASA] dialog during the tragic explosion of the space shuttle CHALLENGER. With Skip, Doug, and Adrian Sherwood all part of the recording, it is often referred to as the "FIRST" TACKHEAD RECORDING.
1987 — ADRIAN SHERWOOD wisely uses the funky American band (Doug, Skip, and Keith) to back a number of On-U Sound's politically aggressive vocalists, including GARY CLAIL and MARK STEWART. An album of tunes with Clail called "TACKHEAD TAPETIME" is the first time "TACKHEAD" had ever appeared as a recording credit.
1988 — "FRIENDLY AS A HAND GRENADE" ... TACKHEAD's first full-length album features NYCiti PEECH BOY, PARADISE GARAGE/LARRY LEVAN Star Vocalist BERNARD FOWLER.
1990 — "STRANGE THINGS" ... TACKHEAD's over-the-top, virtuoso live performances quickly earned the band a cult-like status in the [post-punk/pre-trip-hop] LONDON UNDERGROUND. One English fan, MICK JAGGER, asked to make a guest appearance on TackHead's second album. ["TAKE A STROLL"]
BACK IN THE U.S.A.
1992 — After the dissolution of TACKHEAD in 1991, Doug was quickly recruited to participate in a number of high-profile collaborations, with THE ROLLING STONES, as a band on BRIDGES TO BABYLON, and individually, on solo records produced by MICK JAGGER, KEITH RICHARDS, CHARLIE WATTS, and RONNIE WOOD.
It was then that MICK JAGGER, BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, and SEAL called to ask DOUG to join their bands, but decided to stay with LIVING COLOUR, which as near completing "STAIN," the band's third studio album, and the first on which Doug had contributed, as a writer, player, producer, and equal member of the band.
"STAIN" earned immediate and widespread critical acclaim, but with the onslaught of Grunge, the record went largely unnoticed publicly. Despite a well-received world tour, Living Colour (motivated mostly by guitarist Vernon Reid) decided to call it quits before the end of 1993.
1994 — After Living Colour's dissolution, Doug left New York City, and returned home to his loft/studio in Hartford, Connecticut. It was then, the first time in nearly 15 years, that Doug was without obligation to a specific band or project. He took the opportunity to begin work on the mostly instrumental, dark, and ambient sound, that he's known for today.
He also re-established his musical relationship with his WOOD, BRASS, & STEEL and SUGAR HILL RHYTHM SECTION bandmates, joining Keith Leblanc and Skip McDonald, to record Skip's "THE WOLF THAT HOUSE BUILT," his first album as "LITTLE AXE."
1996 — This was also the period of time when Doug strengthened his musical bond with Living Colour drummer Will Calhoun. HERB ALPERT asked them to help write, produce, and play on his 1996 "COLORS" record, on which Doug and Will further developed their bass/drum configuration. Calling themselves the HEADFAKE SOUND SYSTEM, they recorded a number of demos, and later joined jazz vocalist VINX (De'Jon Parrette), changed their name to tour as JUNGLE FUNK, and produce a self-titled live recording in 1999.
2000 — At the end of the most experimental 1990s, Doug was prepared to release his first solo record. Influenced both by Calhoun's world-wide native rhythms and beats, and his own mastery of the frequency manipulation and electronic effects he explored with ADRIAN SHERWOOD and TACKHEAD, Doug had produced a new, mysteriously melodic, dark, ambient, and evocative sound. When asked about the title of his first solo recording, Doug answered, "after hearing the master, it struck him as a continuous string of 'TRIPPY NOTES FOR BASS.'"
WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR?
When MOS DEF reached out to friend Will Calhoun, asking him to assemble a band that could best help him deliver a Hip-Hop message with a Rock 'n' Roll agression, Doug was first on his list ... and also with BERNIE WORRELL (keyboards) and BAD BRAINS guitarist DR. KNOW, Mos' new BLACK JACK JOHNSON band came to be. After a live NYC show recorded at the Bowery Ballroom for HBO's Reverb, the band recorded two albums, "BLACK ON BOTH SIDES" (2002), and "THE NEW DANGER" (2005). video —HBO/Reverb
THE 911 EFFECT
LIVING COLOUR REUNION (Orlando, Fla. House of Blues)
December 28, 2001
— video by dave. (davehogerty.com)
2001 — On December 21, 2000, Doug and Will were playing a HEADFAKE set with "guest" (Living Colour) vocalist COREY GLOVER. In the audience, was (Living Colour) guitarist VERNON REID, who joined the others onstage to play an old Living Colour standard, a cover of Talking Heads' "Memories Can't Wait." It was the first time the band had played together in seven years, and they all enjoyed it so much that they decided to go out on a 2001 Reunion Tour.
Interrupted by the Twin Towers attack on 911, the band considered calling it quits again, but instead decided to play the cancelled dates later in the year. Ending the tour in front of large, enthusiastic "hometown" crowd, New Year's Eve in NYC's Central Park, the tour had been so successful, both personally and professionally, that the band decided to stay together, and record a new album, "COLLIDEOSCOPE," released in 2003.
"CollideOscope" included much of the early, guitar rock Living Colour was known for, but it was also influenced by the bass/drum electronics Doug and Will had developed during the band's hiatus. Lyrically, it delivered the expected socially conscious messages as on all three previous Living Colour records, most noteably on Vernon's "Flying," a melancholy description of 911, that remains a standard in the band's live set.
2004 — Despite having been on the wildest of professional rides, reaching every corner of the globe, and passing through every culture and genre of music, Doug has always stayed in touch with his well founded roots. With Skip McDonald, and Keith Leblanc, his Original Sugar Hill Rhythm Section mates, Doug has toured extensively, and recorded on all three of Skip's LITTLE AXE albums ("Hard Grind" [2002], "Champagne & Grits" [2004], and "Stone Cold Ohio" [2006]). The same trio also tour with original TACKHEAD (On-U Sound) vocalist MARK STEWART's band, he calls MARK STEWART + MAFFIA, and Doug contributed significantly on Stewart's "EDIT" (2008) album, his first in nearly 20 years. With current TACKHEAD vocalist BERNARD FOWLER, Skip, Keith, and Doug also tour as BAD DOG, playing sets dominated by tunes off of Fowler's "FRIENDS WITH PRIVILEGES," the ROLLING STONES singer's first solo record, released in 2007, and featuring Doug on most of the album's 12 songs.
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
A Jungle Funk performance, featuring Doug, Vinx, and Keith Leblanc, at the 2008 "Wimbash" at Sully's Pub & Tiki Bar in Hartford, Connecticut.
— video by dave. (davehogerty.com)
2005 — Starting with a TACKHEAD reunion in 2004 (the band's first performance in 14 years), Doug began hosting a show at Sully's Pub & Tiki Bar, a tiny beer bar/pizza joint near his home in downtown Hartford, Connecticut. The annual "WIMBASH," as it was named in 2005, features Doug playing with a number of his world-class collaborators, as well as select local bands, providing the opportunity to see musicians, who more often play large venues around the world, in a much more intimate setting.
The "WIMBASH" tradition continues to gain in popularity, and has become something of an annual homecoming for Doug, to which much of his family, and longtime childhood friends, and earliest musical partners attend. [This year's show is set for Saturday, August 8]
Doug will have just finished the European leg of "The Gods of Metal" World Tour with TARJA TURUNEN, and less than a week after "WIMBASH" 2009, he will return to Europe to start another tour of the world, this one with LIVING COLOUR, in support of "THE CHAIR IN THE DOORWAY," the band's fifth studio album, scheduled for release September 14.
LIVING COLOUR SOUND SYSTEM
After a LIVING COLOUR performance on a large stage in the parking lot at SULLY'S PUB & TIKI BAR in Hartford, Connecticut (August 11, 2007), Doug took it to the tiny stage inside for a short After-Show Jam to close the SECOND ANNUAL WIMBASH. Doug (bass guitar), with Vernon Reid (guitar), Keith Leblanc (drums), and Jeff Smith (saxophone).
— video by dave. (davehogerty.com)
2008 — Since 2007, in addition to all the touring and recording with both new and old friends and collaborators, Doug released three DVDs, "HEADFAKE: LIVE IN THE AREA OF PRAGUE," "LIVING COLOUR ONSTAGE AT WORLD STAGE CAFE," and "LIVING COLOUR: THE PARIS CONCERT," and two important CDs in 2009, his second solo effort, "CINEMASONICS" and LIVING COLOUR's fifth studio album "THE CHAIR IN THE DOORWAY."
BACK TO THE FUTURE
TACKHEAD rehearses for its one-off show March 22, 2009 in New York City. This was the band's first performance of "Funky Obama," a cover of JAMES BROWN's "Funky President," scheduled to appear on a new record set for release New Year's Day 2010.
— video by dave. (davehogerty.com)
TackHead's one-off show at the Highline Ballroom, was the first the band had played since their cross-country reunion tour in the summer of 2004.
The band closed its set with two tunes also recorded, and considered for what will be the first TACKHEAD album since 1990's "STRANGE THINGS."
(also in NYC: Ramiro Gomez, guitar; Keith Fluitt and Fred Fowler, vocals)
— video by dave. (davehogerty.com)
THE ODYSSEY CONTINUES
2010 — TACKHEAD: DOUG WIMBISH, BERNARD FOWLER, KEITH LEBLANC, SKIP McDONALD, and ADRIAN SHERWOOD, are currently working on the new record (called the ShareHead project) for which the band is still accepting donations. Started nearly a decade ago, fans were offered the opportunity to be a part of TACKHEAD's future release, by making a small donation. (tackhead.com)
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO DOUG
Another from the New Orleans Benefit Shows, with Bernie Worrell (keyboards) and Will Calhoun (drums).
A Bernie Worrell (FUNKADELIC) tune, with Doug playing "straight blues," interestingly rare, on an electric bass guitar.
BECAUSE YOURE GONE SONG written and performed by Little Annie & Paul Wallfisch preview from their newly completed GENDERFUL Album Directed by David Merten at GHAVA
Hi doug Still have'nt heard your version of our song Bless Those/Either way that you did with Living Color. Look forward to hearing my words from your gorgeous lips xo Little Annie
Always a pleasure to hear Doug play!(Loved since Tackhead and maaaan, those bass runs in the Living Colour track 'Nothingness' were sublime) Cheers for the friendship, much appreciated Richie
Doug Wimbish I wish you a nice and recreative sunday. hopefully you will spend some time on my profile listening to my new tracks. enjoy your time off!
