C
omposer-musician-producer Jake
Bass has come up with sounds
straying from the rock and hip-hop
stylings that have dominated his career. The
varied sounds were introduced by his dad,
Jeff, and uncle, Mark (Marky), musicians
turned producers for Eminem and others.
Although on a different professional tra-
jectory, Jeff Bass played guitar on the num-
ber “Burbank ’98” for his son’s latest project,
The Jakey B. LP, a jazz album which merited
nominations for Detroit Music Awards with
winners to be announced in April.
Bass, whose varied skills brought the
album to completion, is in competition
for Outstanding Modern Jazz Artist and
Outstanding Jazz Composer. An unrelated
project has him competing for Outstanding
Rap Producer.
“I grew up listening to my dad’s jazz
music that he would play for me,
” said Bass,
31. “I would always mess around doing my
own jazz privately. I was doing a lot of hip-
hop and a lot of rap, but I had always loved
making this jazz instrumental music for
myself.
“Eventually, I thought I should share this
with people and recorded a couple of ideas.
My friends and family told me I needed
to go in this direction. Then, I thought
I would start to come up with an actual
recording. That was in 2016, so I worked on
this almost four years.
”
The album has 11 tracks, each with a
different mood infusion from mellow to
hip-hop. Bass, who plays by ear, recorded
himself on guitar, drums, bass and key-
board; merged the sounds using computer
software; and then invited his dad and three
friends to add their talents.
Dave McMurray played saxophone.
Will Feinberg took to keyboards, and Ian
Ludlow (Lefkowitz) did arrangements and
edits.
The album was produced by the compa-
ny Bass developed, Bassment Sounds 2.0,
a takeoff from his dad’s recording label,
Bassment Sounds. The 2.0 represents the
idea of second-generation projects.
“There’s a number on the album called
‘Ben Jamin’
, which has a moderate tempo
and sounds like something you would hear
going into a jazz club,
” Bass explained. “It
came from the word Benjamin, which is my
middle name that I split up to make ‘Ben
Jamin’
.
“Inspiration came from my grandpa, who
had passed just before I began working on
finalizing the album. It really pushed me
because he was a big jazz fan and would
always tell me I needed to make a jazz
record. Benjamin was his birth name, and
the entire album is dedicated to him.
”
CHANUKAH DRUM SET
Instrumental experimentation began for
Bass during Chanukah of his eighth year,
when his dad gave him a drum set. He
soon realized he could play it and then,
in succession, tried piano, guitar and
bass.
“It was all natural by ear — watching
and listening to my dad and uncle play-
ing instruments and showing me things,”
said Bass, who graduated from Berkley
High School and lives in the city. “It was
all something I had in me.
“When I went to Columbia College
Chicago, I had to learn music theory and
start from square one on everything. That
was the irony of quitting lessons after two
weeks. It all came back to bite me.”
As Bass built his career, he became
involved with the profoundly deaf com-
munity. Lyricist Sean Forbes chanced
upon a Bass instrumental CD, started
36 | MARCH 11 • 2021
Jake Bass’ jazz
album is up for
Detroit Music
Awards.
All
That
Jazz
SUZANNE CHESSLER
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
ARTS&LIFE
MUSIC
DETAILS
The Jakey B. LP is
available on iTunes,
Amazon and Spotify.
Jake Bass