Doug Wimbish Says

28 bassplayer.com / october2017 IN LIVING COLOURBY E.E. BRADMAN | PHOTO BY MIKE MARQUEZ “I should have known something was up,” Doug Wimbish says. “I flew into a hurricane that day. I’ll never forget it.” On a warm afternoon in July, Wimbish is at Novasound, his studio in Brown/Afrika Bambaataa collaboration, on Tommy Boy Records. Soon, he Hartford, Connecticut, messing around with remixes of Living Colour’s was working with icons such as Solomon Burke, Etta James, Wilson Pick- Shade. He’s got plenty to say about the band’s first release in eight years, an ett, and Jack McDuff, as well as appearing on R&B albums by Candi Staton, exciting return to form based loosely around the blues—but to put it in per- Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, Lou Rawls, and the O’Jays. When Wim- spective, let’s set the stage for his Living Colour audition, way back in 1991. bish moved to London in 1984, gigs with Mick Jagger and Jeff Beck—as After making a name for himself as a teenager with East Coast funk ensem- well as a burgeoning studio career that spanned pop (Michael Bolton, Carly ble Wood, Brass & Steel in the mid ’70s, Wimbish had helped birth hip-hop Simon), funk (George Clinton, Nona Hendryx), R&B (Melba Moore, Fred- in the early ’80s. He contributed bass parts to classics such as Grandmaster die Jackson), futuristic industrial and dub (Tackhead, Mark Stewart, On Flash & Melle Mel’s “White Lines” for producer Sylvia Robinson at All Plati- U-Sound), and rock (Billy Idol, Peter Wolf)—elevated his profile substan- num and Sugar Hill, and he put the flash underneath “Unity,” the 1984 James tially. His circle included cutting-edge producers and remixers, such as Chris bassplayer.com / october2017 29 CS DOUG WIMBISH Lord-Alge, Adrian Sherwood, Arthur Baker, Trevor shortlist of replacements when original bassist Muzz chuckles. “They’re looking at each other and not Horn, and Rick Rubin. By his 35th birthday, he was Skillings left.) Flying through that hurricane on his way saying anything. Finally, they tell me, ‘We’ve audi- juggling sessions with Jagger, Madonna, Seal, Annie back into New York, he arrived at the band’s Brook- tioned a lot of people, and you’re the only bass player Lennox, Joe Satriani, and Ronnie Wood while mull- lyn rehearsal space. Reid, drummer Will Calhoun, and who wants to play that song.’” ing an offer from Bruce Springsteen. frontman Corey Glover asked what he wanted to do He nailed it, of course, and was back in London In the midst of this whirlwind, Wimbish was first, and Wimbish suggested “Time’s Up,” the blaz- the next day. invited to audition for Living Colour, whose 1988 ing, tricky title track of the band’s 1990 second album. debut, Vivid, had gone double-platinum. (Doug had The room got so quiet that Doug wondered if ENDLESS ENERGY met Living Colour founder Vernon Reid—a Tackhead he’d said something wrong. Inspired by the ’70s innovations of Larry Graham and fan—as early as 1982, so it’s no surprise he was on the “I’m looking around, and I can feel the vibe,” he Bootsy Collins, Connecticut native Doug Wimbish has 30 bassplayer.com / october2017 McDonald), but it’s a perfect fit. He’s an endlessly BACK TO THE FUTURE energetic rhythm-section partner for Calhoun and a Back in Hartford, Wimbish is grateful for a life well stimulating foil for Reid, unafraid to groove hard or lived, but excited about the future. At press time, he ferociously reach into the stratosphere with his own was hyped about the debut of DMD, a trio with gui- brand of histrionics. “When we get out of our own tarist Marcus Machado and drummer Daru Jones, way,” Wimbish says, “we’re the best band on earth.” another trio with 14-year-old guitarist Brandon “Taz” Shade, like 2003’s Collideoscope and 2009’s Chair in Niederauer and drummer Joey Peebles, and recent the Doorway, is a lively showcase of the Living Colour work with English rapper Roots Manuva, KMFDM partnership. The first single, a cover of the Notori- frontman Sascha Konietzko, German band Schil- ous B.I.G.’s “Who Shot Ya,” condemns gun violence, ler, and tween rockers Unlocking The Truth. He also a problem more prevalent now than it was for the mentions a new chapter with lifelong collaborators bluesmen who inspired the album’s foundation. Shade McDonald and Sherwood—a fresh batch of Little isn’t just your granddaddy’s 12-bar blues, though: This Axe and Tackhead material, as well as upcoming 13-track fireball has the soulful vocals, fresh samples releases with Scratch Perry, Bernard Fowler, Coldcut, and programming, powerful drums, and incendiary Ghetto Priest, and the Jungle Brothers. And then guitar that are Living Colour’s hallmarks. Wimbish there’s the annual WimBash, a series of Wimbish- is a major presence throughout, Whammying sky- organized music jams that have taken place all over ward on “Preachin’ Blues,” grooving mightily under- the world, from Winter NAMM in Anaheim and the neath “Pattern in the Time/Skin in the Game” and DREAM Project in the Dominican Republic to London “Invisible,” adding signature flavors to “Two Sides,” and New Orleans JazzFest, since 2004. getting things started on “Blak Out,” and laying a fat We talked to Wimbish, 60, at his home, where foundation to every tune. “At this stage of our lives, he was surrounded by a lifetime’s worth of basses, we’re glad we’re able to make a record that sums up effects, amps, and other gear. More than four decades what we’re all about,” he says. You know he means it. after he first began gigging, Wimbish’s enthusiasm Living Colour has survived drastic changes to the for all things bass remains spectacularly undimmed. music business and a breakup. Wimbish officially joined the band in early 1992, but 1993’s excellent Congratulations on a quarter-century with Stain failed to crack the Top 20, and tensions led to Living Colour. a hiatus in 1995. Wimbish moved back to London, Ain’t that something? Who would have ever adding Lee “Scratch” Perry, Little Annie, Naomi thought? Campbell, Brooklyn Funk Essentials, Nitzer Ebb, Your connection with Will Calhoun is tighter Bomb The Bass, Depeche Mode, and a dozen other than ever. credits to his resumé. He released a solo album, I could play four notes and a rhythm and he already Trippy Notes for Bass, just after his Jungle Funk col- knows where to go with it, and vice versa. I know his laboration with Calhoun and percussionist Vinx hit swagger and his template and when he’s going to the streets in 1999. Meanwhile, the work kept on speed up or slow down. I sound better with him on coming, from INXS’ Michael Hutchence and Herb drums, and he sounds better with me on bass. Period. Alpert to Puff Daddy and Bim Sherman. What inspired Living Colour to dig into the Since Living Colour reunited in late 2000, Wim- blues on the new album? bish, back on U.S. soil, has played a large role in It all started when we played at the Robert John- keeping things together. His decades of studio expe- son At 100 event at the Apollo, in 2012. We did John- rience have earned the trust of his bandmates, who son’s “Preachin’ Blues,” and the performance that okayed Andre Betts, Wimbish’s choice for Shade night was so magical that we decided to re-engineer developed a one-man sound-system approach to bass producer. Away from Living Colour, Doug has the blues for our next album, tying together tradi- that blurs the lines between supportive accompanist found time for an instructional DVD, New Dimen- tional tunes like “Preachin’ Blues” with songs like and passionate soloist. His trademark style and unorth- sions for Bass (he also gives Skype lessons at doug@ Biggie’s “Who Shot Ya” and Marvin Gaye’s “Inner odox techniques—which call for the agility of a martial dougwimbish.com); a second solo album, Cinema- City Blues,” and still having it sound like us. artist, a magician’s sleight of hand, and a chef’s knack Sonics; his Head>>Fake project, also with Calhoun; How important is it for the band to stay for adding unique spices at unexpected times—has and sessions with artists as wide-ranging as Kanye current? made him one of the world’s most in-demand bassists. West, Ms. Lauryn Hill, African Head Charge, Busta Some people would love it if we made another Wimbish’s 25-year stint with Living Colour may Rhymes, Mos Def/Black Jack Johnson, Tarja Tarunen, Vivid, but we have to be who we are right now. It not be his longest musical relationship (he still Barrington Levy, Primal Scream, BT, Sussan Deyhim, took five years to make this record, because we rolls deep with Wood, Brass & Steel comrade Skip and Dhafer Youssef. His energy is boundless. needed enough time to listen, find the right songs, bassplayer.com / october2017 31 CS DOUG WIMBISH work is still on the airwaves. I hear music we did in the Sugar Hill era almost daily, whether it’s Sugarhill Gang’s “Apache (Jump On It),” which is played at so many sports games, or “Funk You Up” by the Sequence, which has been used by artists like Dr. Dre and Bruno Mars. We’re part of the DNA of hip-hop. And DJ Soul Sister in New Orleans brought back Wood, Brass & Steel’s “Funkanova” in a big way.

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