Jay Quibodeaux • Bass

Bio

Hmm. Bios. Feel funny writing about myself.

I grew up listening to AM radio and spent my formative musical years listening to artists like Stevie Wonder; Earth, Wind & Fire; LTD; Ohio Players; The Brothers Johnson; Parliament/Funkadelic; The Police; U2; Squeeze; XTC; Crowded House and lots of others. Used my mom's guitar to plunk out bass lines of songs I liked – didn't own a bass till I was 19 years old. Shortly after getting that bass, I co-founded a band with my two good friends Sean O'Malley and Greg Murai (a great composer/arranger) where we wrote our own tunes and covered Joe Jackson, The Police, Squeeze and other pop/new-wave artists... all with Sean's dad in the background telling us in his thick brogue, "why don't ya go outside and find some pretty girls" – he just didn't understand our roundabout way of doing that very thing. Since that first band, I've been in 5 or so original bands and 6 or so cover bands that were either pop- or funk-oriented.

In 1994, I decided to stop doing the band thing and learn jazz. Started listening to legends like Miles, Coltrane, Ella, Monk, etc. (and was blown away by the composition skills of Wayne Shorter). I got lucky and got a scholarship to Jazz Camp West which was a transforming experience that opened up my mind to a new world of musical possibilities. Soon thereafter, I discovered bassists like Jaco, Marcus Miller (though I'd already heard Marcus without realizing it), and John Pattitucci all of whom showed just how versatile the bass could be. I started getting jazz gigs and started teaching at Jazz Camp West and The Jazzschool, which brings us, more or less, to today.

Samples

Lessons

I'm currently not taking students.

Links

Here're some artists I like:

Contact

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