Victor Little? Big sound.
That’s certainly what the listener encounters on the Oakland-based bassist’s debut album, “Inner Portrait.” Produced by Little, Myron Dove and Randy Emata, the disc puts its star’s booming bass front and center, as Little thumps his way through 10 original jazz-funk-fusion tracks. Of course, the sound should come as no surprise given the friends Little rounded up for the sessions, including drummer Dennis Chambers (P-Funk) and keyboardist Rusian Sirota (Stanley Clarke Band).
Little unveils “Inner Portrait” with a CD release show at 8 p.m. Monday at Yoshi’s in San Francisco.
Having toured and recorded with the likes of Charlie Musselwhite and Mickey Hart, Little clearly is no stranger to the Northern California music scene. In describing the album’s evolution, however, Little – in an e-mail interview from Austin, Texas, where he was appearing over the weekend with Joyce Cooling – made it clear that the disc is not part of some grand plan to achieve solo stardom.
Question: First of all, it's worth noting that after 20 years of playing this is your debut as a solo artist. What led you to make that move from supporting other artists to being the one in the spotlight?
Little: Really, I still work as a sideman for artists. I embarked on this project from just sitting home trying to write ideas and different concepts, which led me to a producer friend who heard one of songs and said, “Man, this is a cool song” (“Mystic”).That's how the idea came to just do a CD. Plus seeing that the CD release is going to be the first official gig, it's a wait-see thing. After the CD-release gig, I'll tell you more :-)
Question: "Inner Portrait" is a true find for bass fans, particularly in the way you make it the focus of attention. Do you feel that, generally speaking, the bass doesn't get its musical due in jazz and other genres?
Little: No, man – bass has always got its due, I mean, with the emergence of Stanley Clarke, Jaco Pastorious, Marcus Miller, Victor Bailey, Victor Wooten, just to name a few, it's just now being recognized as an out-front instrument, even though in jazz guys like Jimmy Blanton, Ray Brown and Paul Chambers bass was always out front.
Question: What influence did rock acts – your bio notes your love of bands like Zeppelin and Rush – have on what you're playing today?
Little: The rock thing had a big influence because of the power and attitude behind the music. Not that other music didn’t have it – it was just a different thing. I mean, when you listen to James Brown or Sly Stone, they had that thing too. It was surroundings and that sort of thing.
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