Adam Ben Ezra

I would describe my bass style as a full-range percussive style. When I play my upright bass I drum on it, play chords, synthesise and loop. I am always trying out new ways to make the bass sound like many other instruments. I play five-string double bass because it gives me the privilege of much wider variety when I play. I use a high C string which allows me to play a significantly higher range: this is great for chords and for polyphonic playing. Each of these elements contribute to my solo playing. I do not slap my upright bass in the same way as you slap on the electric bass, this simply isn’t possible. I don’t like the rockabilly style of ‘slapping’, so instead I’ve developed my own percussive style of playing. The secret of playing the bass well in my opinion is giving up your ego. It is less about what you want to play and more about what the music needs from you. The role of the bass is usually to give a stable foundation to the music: a good bass player knows he must put his ego to the side, and to feel exactly when the time is right to step out. My bass heroes are Jaco Pastorius, Eddie Gomez, Stanley Clarke, Renaud Garcia Fons and Paul McCartney. I am excited to finally be able to say that my debut album Can’t Stop Running with my trio is complete and will be released soon. The entire making of the album was supported by fans and listeners from all over the globe via a PledgeMusic campaign and I am really appreciative of that. The listener will experience a journey of sounds and genres from all over the world with the bass as the forefront.