«I
don’t play the bass, I play music. It just so happens that the instrument I
specialize in is the bass», maintains Victor Bailey. Certainly one of the deftest
practitioners of the bass-craft, as it happens, in any walk of music. Bailey’s
playing, which is as much groovacious as it is melodious, has been much appreciated by a
mass of very different artists ranging from Joe Zawinul and Billy Cobham to Mary J Blige
and Madonna.
The Philadelphia-born Bailey grew up in a musical household. His father Morris Bailey was
a respected saxophonist and writier-arranger for Philadelphia Sound Records; the
boy’s uncle, Donald, was a veteran of organist Jimmy Smith’s and saxman Stanley
Turrentine’s sessions. The youngster’s own early favourite was Larry Graham, the
famous super-slapper of the superb Sly & The Family Stone, and soon enough Victor
himself started to play in local funk bands. After attending the Berklee College of Music
in Boston, Bailey moved to New York. It was there, in the jazz capital of the world, that
the flow of further live and studio engagements took its start. On his first recording
date in town Bailey met drummer Omar Hakim; after backing singer Miriam Makeba on a few
occasions, the two joined Weather Report in 1982. Bailey’s association with Zawinul
continued in Weather Update and Zawinul Syndiate. The roll-call of notable jazzers Bailey
has worked with includes drummers Dennis Chambers and Lenny White; saxophonists Bob Berg,
Bill Evans and Michael Brecker; guitarist Kevin Eubanks, singer Regina Carter and the
group Steps Ahead.
Victor Bailey’s first solo record, «Bottom’s Up», was released in 1990. Of the
outstanding musicians who contributed to his second album, 1999’s «Lowblow», three
constitute the core of his current touring band.
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