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GAIL ANN DORSEY is a world-class vocalist and bass guitarist. Add to those already impressive talents a sophisticated, subtle mastery of the guitar, and the ability to craft unique yet classic songs, and together you have one of the most original, compelling, and influential artists in music today.

Few can boast such an eclectic curriculum vitae or light up a stage with such style and grace as the West Philadelphia native whose career got off to a cracking start in the early 80’s when she left the USA and headed for London, England. It was in London where she began to sow the seeds of a rich, diverse, and intriguing career.

THE ARTIST…

Following the airing of a live performance on the popular 80’s British TV music show The Tube [hosted by Jools Holland and the late Paula Yates] where Dorsey performed a captivating solo bass and vocal version of Bobby Womack’s soul classic “Stop On By”, a record label bidding war began. The result was the signing of her first major recording deal with Warner Brothers in 1987. Gail’s debut solo album, The Corporate World, was released on WEA Records, UK/Sire Records USA in 1988. Q Magazine gave it a 5-star rating and voted it one of the best albums of the year. The Corporate World was also a debut producer outing for fellow bassist, Nathan East (Fourplay, Eric Clapton, Rickie Lee Jones), also one of Dorsey’s long-standing bass heroes. The album contained the single “Wasted Country”, a song that reached the Top-20 in several European countries, and made the top chart position in The Netherlands. The single featured a guitar solo by Eric Clapton himself, and the album also featured contributions from Anne Dudley (The Art Of Noise), Steve Ferrone (AWB, Chaka Khan, Tom Petty) on drums, and the penetrating, highly charged guitar of Gang Of Four guitarist Andy Gill, who rings in like a siren with the very first note of the album’s title song. The album also spawned three popular music videos as well as remixes by Tom Lord Alge and Ted Hayden, the album’s engineer.

In 1993, Gail released her second solo album, Rude Blue, on Island Records. Signed by the labels' legendary founder Chris Blackwell, who also took on the role of executive producer, her sophomore outing delivered another batch of socially and emotionally charged signature compositions, filled with memorable performances, and showcasing some of Dorsey’s most moving vocal performances to date. The album was produced and mixed by hotshot New York engineer/mixer, Michael Hutchinson (Whitney Houston, Taylor Dayne), and featured another top-notch collection of musicians including trumpeter Mark Pender and trombonist Richie “Labamba” Rosenberg (Conan O’Brien Band), Maceo Parker, Fred Wesley and Alfred “Pee Wee” Ellis (The JB’s-James Brown Horn Section), drummer Carla Azar (Wendy & Lisa, Autolux, Ednaswap), percussionist Carol Steele (Tears For Fears, Bette Midler), NYC session guitarist John Putnam, keyboardist/programmer Peter Schwartz (Madonna) and long time friend and vocalist/writer/director Adele Bertei (The Bloods, Thomas Dolby, James Chance, Anubian Lights).

Dorsey’s next release was her first “experiment” in independent record making, and consisted of a selection of songs plucked from her songwriting archives of the past 20 years. After hours of listening through DAT tapes and old cassette demos, the songs were chosen by Gail and another long time friend and fellow bassist, Sara Lee (Indigo Girls, The B-52’s, Gang Of Four, Ani DiFranco), who was the album’s instigator, orchestrator, and executive producer. They came up with a fresh instalment of witty, introspective, and love-drenched gems, some penned as early as age 17, that had never made it onto record, but that Dorsey believed should see the light of day. The album was called I Used To Be… and released in 2003 on Gail’s own label, Sad Bunny Records; distributed by UFO Music (United For Opportunity). This time, engineer/co-producer Brandon Mason (Joan Baez, Bowie, Shivaree) and Ms. Lee, rounded up the finest of their local Upstate New York and New York City musician friends to form a band whose core included Adam Widoff (Toshi Reagon & Big Lovely) on guitars and bass, Antony Widoff (Weak) keyboards/synthesizers, Rob Arthur (Peter Frampton) on piano/Rhodes, and one of Gail’s fellow band mates Zachary Alford (Bowie/Gwen Stefani/B-52’s) on drums. Sara Lee makes a guest appearance on a “double-bass” song called “The Big Decision” with both Dorsey and Lee holding down the bottom end. The album was mixed by Little Monster Records entrepreneur and multi-talented producer/musician, Kevin Salem.

After the release of I Used To Be…, Gail put down her bass, picked up her trusty Guild acoustic guitar, and began to perform solo for the first time in over a decade. She opened for indie-folk icon Ani DiFranco in the US and Europe, and headlined her own music on the stages of the Michigan Womyn’s Festival in 2004, 2005, and 2006. In 2008 Dorsey performed solo at the first annual Olivia [Cruises] Indie Fest in Cancun, Mexico.

THE MUSICIAN…

Musically and professionally, GAD has always led somewhat of a “double life”—her periodic forays as a solo artist, and her more well-known persona as a much sought-after, highly revered “side player” to some of music’s greatest and most prestigious artists around the globe. From one of her earliest professional jobs as the original vocalist for The Charlie Watts Big Band, to recording and TV work playing bass for Donny Osmond, to her show-stopping duets with Gwen Stefani on the Sweet Escape World Tour of 2007, Gail Ann Dorsey has covered a vast amount of musical territory in the role of musician-for-hire.

She has toured and recorded with British bands The Thrashing Doves, 80’s alternative trendsetters The Gang Of Four, and the supreme-o pop band Tears For Fears, displaying some of her most impressive bass skills on their 1995 album Raoul And The Kings Of Spain. She has also done TV spots, live performances, and recordings with Bryan Ferry, Seal, Boy George, Julia Fordham, Maceo Parker & The J.B.’s, Louise Goffin, The The, Sophie B. Hawkins, Dar Williams, Toshi Reagon, Joan Osborne, The B-52’s, Catie Curtis, Concrete Blonde, The Indigo Girls, Issa (formerly Jane Siberry), Italian blues man Zucherro, former Skunk Anansie front woman Skin, two tours with No Doubt front woman Gwen Stefani in her "solo" mode, Dutch super group Kane, for whom she laid down the bass on their 2008 million-selling release Everything You Want, and the late Michael Hutchence, lead vocalist for the Australian rock band INXS.

In France (Gail’s confessed “favourite country in the world”), paired once again with drummer and friend Zachary Alford, she tackled the demanding task of digging the relentless grooves that powered 1, 2, 3 Soleil, the French/Raï music extravaganza that featured Khaled, Faudel, and Rachid Taha in a stunning, one time only, live concert event at Le Bercy in Paris in1998. She has recorded with French pop artist Axel Renoir, and contributed bass and vocals on Je Sais Que La Terre Est Plate, the 2008 release from the very popular Raphaël Haroche. In March of this year Dorsey played bass for three sold out concerts with eccentric French music icon Christophe at L’Olympia in Paris, celebrating his new release, Aimer Ce Que Nous Sommes...

Probably her most well known contribution, and what has undoubtedly lifted her status to one of the top players in the music world today, has been a 10-year stint alongside the legendary David Bowie. On hundreds of stages, across all points of the globe, from TV, video, magazine covers, books and recordings, Gail has worked her magic in several incarnations of the infamous Bowie bands, producing a chemistry that even Bowie himself could not deny. The perfect example of that inexplicable alchemy being Dorsey’s breathtaking rendition of the Bowie/Queen song “Under Pressure”, where Dorsey does more than justice filling the shoes of her childhood idol, the late great Freddie Mercury.

Currently, Gail Ann Dorsey is making that transition out of the shadows and back to centre stage. She is about to begin production on a much-anticipated follow up to her last solo album; a collection of brand new original songs, a cover version of the quirky, Helen Reddy early 70’s Top-10 Hit “Angie Baby”, and even a few "chansons" sung in French! She also plans to perform live club dates, house concerts, festivals, and guest appearances across the US, Canada, and abroad.

Although she has had on her "bass player road shoes” for much of the time since her last solo release, GAD is once again finding her own voice, and feeling very strongly about what that voice wants and needs to say. There are many who are more than ready to listen…

GAIL ANN DORSEY
has been
a proud member of
the Woodstock Music and Arts Community
in Upstate New York since 1994.
She loves the State Of New York more than any other in the USA.