Looking back through Janek’s CV, it’s clear that this is a man who likes to do things his own way. The Royal Academy of Music in London would only take one bass player a year, but that didn’t stop him quitting after only a year. Janek quickly moved to Berklee College of Music, citing the US’s love of all things Jazz as a pivotal factor.
Three semesters later Janek would leave for New York, quickly establishing himself on the scene as he racked up experience with such legends as Mike Stern, Pat Metheny, Marcus Miller and Hiram Bullock. Contacts in New York would also see Janek establish himself as a producer, cutting his teeth with multi-platinum artists Ronny Jordan and Mike Phillips.
As a first class bass player, Janek has toured extensively with some of the best in the business and is a regular on festival circuits. He's also made regular forays into the musical director's chair, most notably for platinum-selling Welsh singer/songwriter Jem.
Janek Gwizdala trying out TC Electronic's RH450 at NAMM 2009
2008 saw Janek's talents enlisted by Delta Goodrem, one of the biggest selling female artists of all time in Australia, while commitments for 2009 will see Janek working with legendary trumpeter and flugelhornist Randy Brecker as well as touring with his own 'Janek Gwizdala Project'.
During the last 30 years, Jannick Top has been among the most influential bass players in France. Due to an amazing and rather diverse musical background, he has developed a very unique way of playing the bass.
Philippe ‘Fifi’ Chayeb was born in Nice in 1965 and showed an interest in music at just five years old when he started to play piano. He then went on to learn double bass at six years old and carried on studying that at Nice conservatory until he was 17.
For Stern, bass is more than just low frequency vibe, defining the role of the bass as “the mediator between the pocket and the harmony. The bass should bring out the best in the groove and the melody.”
Think of legendary bass players and Rocco Prestia features on every list. For over 40 years now Rocco's bass has been underpinning the groove for Californian funk legends Tower Of Power. In that time Rocco has defined his own style and become synonymous with the much-imitated ‘Finger Style Funk' that he pioneered back in the '60s and '70s.
Esperanza is clearly only embarking on a career as a world class interpreter of Jazz, but what she's achieved already outlines a career path that's sure to be heavily punctuated with genre-defining moments.
Debra Killings may have propelled herself into a Gospel-tinted spotlight with her critically acclaimed debut long-player 'Surrender' back in 2005, but after contributing to some of the biggest albums of the '90s and beyond it's really no wonder she hit the ground running.
Randy Jackson, a Grammy Award-winning producer, is a 25-year music industry veteran. Randy has recorded, toured and performed with the likes of: Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, *NSYNC, Madonna, Elton John and Destiny's Child, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Cobham, Joe Satriani among others.
Mick's used a lot of amps over the years, but it didn't take long for him to become a convert of the RH450 sound: "These amps are the bomb. On stage they just sound great - warm tone and I love the distortion capabilities. And I've not had one complaint from monitor world or front of house."
Derrick Lee Murdock (Jay Leno Show and the Prime Time band)
In 1994 Derrick left Philadelphia and moved to LA where his skills on the bass were quickly noted and he landed his first high profile role, playing bass with Sheena Easton. He went on to perform and tour with a host of other high profile and talented performers including Tom Scott, Gladys Knight, Natalie Cole...
Over the years Paganotti has worked a lot as a session musician/arranger/producer whilst continuing to work on his own compositions. For the last 23 years, he has been Francis Cabrel's regular bassist and also plays with Bertrand Lajudie. He continues to tour widely around the world.
