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