Bassist Albey Balgochian describes his new project, Bassonic, as a “thrilling mix of funk, spoken word, and improvised music.” The world-renowned bassist recently relocated to New Orleans after years in New York City where he worked with legendary pianist and avant-garde master Cecil Taylor among numerous others.
The concept of the new band is a perfect fit for the fine listening environment of Chickie Wah Wah. Spoken word artist Jane Grenier recites her work over percolating improvised funk rhythms courtesy of bassist Reggie Scanlan (the New Orleans Suspects, the Radiators) and drummer Raymond Weber (Dumpstaphunk, Charmaine Neville). Balgochian improvises bass lines, lead parts, and bowed sections in counterpoint to Grenier’s words on both electric and acoustic basses.
Balgochian elaborated on the concept, “I love to play blues and funk on the electric (bass), I also love playing improvised music. (But), I want to do it in way that keeps it grounded, ultimately I want to put it in a context that people dig.” In other words, this is dance music for your head, or head music for your feet.
Balgochian has had a long and diverse career playing with a wide range of musicians in various genres. Simon Harper of Jazz Times magazine called him, “a magician of the bass, conjuring vibrato-ed harmonics and groaning slides that echo both the avant-garde of the German composer Von Biehl and Hendrix himself.”
Before resuming his playing career, Balgochian built extraordinary basses for numerous well-known musicians including Stanley Clark, Daryl Jones (Miles Davis, The Rolling Stones), and Tommy Shannon (Johnny Winter, Stevie Ray Vaughan).
