One minute of Angeline’s low-end thumping coming at you and you’ll know she is just as much beast as beauty. She is a monstrous talent and has the schedule to prove it. When asked what she has been up to recently, she muses, “It’s been a pretty interesting month for me… a recording session of Mahavishnu tunes with Narada Michael Walden, a tour with Zepparella, a handful of local jazz gigs, rocked out at Yoshi’s with the Eoin Harrington Band, a funk/rock festival gig with the Vernon “Ice” Black Band, another recording session with Gretchen Menn for her new album Hale Souls and… oh yeah! The Jason Becker Benefit with Flametal—that was a great one. They had so many fantastic people on the bill out to support… A lot of fun stuff in there.”
Angeline abandoned a career in law 7 years ago, and has never looked back. Since then, she has been playing bass non-stop, with dozens of talented artists and bands. With an arresting combination of versatility, focus, taste, and chops, she is a seasoned professional and compelling performer. Fluent on 4 and 5 string basses, fretted and fretless and a quick read on traditional music as well as charts, Angeline spends much of her time in the studio when not on the road. Her resume includes work in an amazing array of styles, including jazz, fusion, funk, R&B, rock, pop, hip hop, rockabilly, and even flamenco/speed metal. When asked how she got so versatile, Angeline laughs and says, “I never said no to a gig.” She isn’t joking. She has been a gigging machine since she was 16 years old.
Angeline manages to avoid a common pitfall of the versatile musician—that of being a chameleon at the expense of being distinctive. Her jazz background shines through in her melodic lines; her rock leanings mean she isn’t afraid to lay down a solid, heavy grove; her chops allow her to burn when the moment asks for flash and energy. Whatever the song calls for, that is what she honors.
No frustrated guitarist, Angeline is a bass player who understands and celebrates the instrument. Her playing pulls from some of her favorites such as Pino Palladino, John Paul Jones, Larry Graham, and James Jamerson, yet she brings a quality and sound that is uniquely her own. Her stage presence is powerful and engaged, and always genuine. She plays with passion and charisma that can be felt, seen, and heard. There is no doubt that Angeline loves the bass.
A few years ago, an admirer wrote a single word on the back of a set list during a show and tossed it back on stage. “Filthy!” it said. Angeline maintains it is one of the best compliments she ever received.
Equally at home in stadiums, rock clubs, or jazz venues, Angeline has performed on some of the best stages: AT&T Park, The Fillmore, Yoshi’s Oakland and San Francisco, Great American Music Hall, San Francisco Grammy’s, and Oakland Paramount Theatre. She has opened for artists such as Counting Crows, The Fray, The Indigo Girls, The Goo Goo Dolls, Brandi Carlile, Concrete Blonde, Y&T, Natasha Bedingfeld, Michelle Branch, and Robin Trower. And she has played with an impressive list of talented musicians.
Angeline is already a force to be reckoned with, but her ambition and inexhaustible hunger to grow as a musician mean we will be seeing much more of her in years to come.
Angeline is currently writing and recording her first solo album, scheduled for release in 2012.