Q. What can we expect from your 8th CD release, "To Africa With Love"?

A. As the title suggest, "To Africa With Love" is a collection of songs inspired by the magical enchantment of Africa, fused with my musical influences and American heritage. For starters, this is the first recording in which I didn't have an engineer and or producer. I personally and solely recorded, edited, mixed and produced this project. It was the most amazing learning experience I've ever participated in and I'm sure I made some mistakes along the way, but I really grew throughout this process. These 13 songs have elements of improvisation, but I really tried to focus on songwriting as opposed to extended jams. This recording is a mixture of contemporary jazz, funk, r&b and world music styles and I tried to imagine the diverse culture of Africa and wanted to capture this spirit throughout the recording. It does make promoting and marketing this CD a bit more challenging, however I wanted to stay true to the original concept and theme.

Q. Tell us about the musicians that appear on your To Africa With Love recording.

A. The rhythm section consists of Tyrone Jackson - keys, Brian Carl - guitar/effects, Wayne Viar - drums and percussion throughout the recording. I wanted to make a recording that was a little more accessible to your general music fan and not just cater the bass and jazz communities. Therefore, I enlisted vocalist's Charlie Wood, Seth Condrey, Chinua Hawk and Abbess Bouzefrane and fused elements of funk, r&b, rock and world music styles. All of these cats who appeared on this recording are extremely talented and I would encourage everyone to check out their personal webpages and music.

Q. Do you plan on touring?

A. I do and for dates I would encourage your readers to check out my website for "live" appearances. I will be performing several solo bass shows in the summer as well as fall 2010 in support of "To Africa With Love" and dates are being worked out as we speak. In the immediate future, I will be playing bass (sideman) with jazz veteran's Earl Klugh and Bob James in May 2010 on the West Coast (LA/Seattle specifically). In June, I will be appearing with Earl Klugh at Eric Clapton's Crossroads festival in Chicago. In July, I'm working on trying to facilitate performances/mission work in Swaziland South Africa with Elliott Moon, Seth Condrey and others in association with HeartForAfrica.org. The last day of the tour will consist of a televised concert for 15,000+ orphans in a Soccer stadium in Swaziland South Africa. I'm really excited about all that is going on and I'm highly anticipating the African dates.

Q. We understand that the "To Africa With Love" sessions were documented on video. Any plans on releasing this as a DVD?

A. With the help of a former bass student who has now started a film and production company based outside of Charleston, SC (Sam Cooke), we videoed nearly all the sessions from the beginning of the process through the completion. Since this recording took nearly 16 months to complete, we have a lot of video to sift through. As I speak, Sam and his team are assembling the video and we are going to see how it shapes up. If it is something we feel captures the spirit of this recording, we will release it as a DVD or will work with an online video company and give it away for free. For those interested, I would encourage your readers to check out my website for further details.

Q. What inspired you to first pick up the bass and what were your first attempts at playing these instruments?

A. My bass playing career started from a dream (seriously). I kept having a recurring dream that I should sell my alto saxophone/drum kit and buy an electric bass guitar. After many nights of having this same dream, I felt like I had no choice. Needless to say my first attempts at playing it was exciting yet embarrassing. Thankfully I found a great teacher and learned how to play with a proper foundation and hand position before I developed bad habits.

Q. Did you take lessons or are you self-taught?

A. I took lessons from Rusty Holloway in Knoxville, TN. Rusty is a monster player and a very talented man. He not only taught me the fundamentals of the electric bass, he also encouraged me to get a double bass and enroll in the University of Tennessee liberal arts music program. Rusty Holloway was very instrumental in steering me in the right direction(s).

Q. Who inspired you to learn the bass?

A. I started playing the bass in 1986 and was quickly influenced by the radio and mtv. At the time, I was also really into The Police as well as many heavy metal "hair bands". In 1989 when I started college, I started focusing more on jazz artists like Charlie Parker and Miles Davis as well as their respective side musicians/careers.

Q. What Is Your Practice Regimen Like?

A. My practice regimen varies a lot and is often in flux about every three months. Typically I work on transcribing, listening and composing. Currently, I'm trying to develop and work solely on my right hand thumb technique.

Q. How would you define your style of playing?

A. I'm influenced by so many different types of music and styles that its hard to pinpoint. Overall, I would say Contemporary Jazz. It's not traditional in the straight ahead jazz style (however I can play this way) and it's not totally smooth jazz either. It's really more in the middle, hence the word Contemporary.

Q. Lets talk about your creative process. How do you approach writing an original song - do you compose from the bass or do you use a piano?

A. A little of both. When an idea is born, it comes out regardless of the instrument. The idea transcends the instrument. However that being said, their are certain nuances, techniques and style characteristics that lend themselves to their respective instrument and this can obviously influence and transform the original idea.

Q. What challenges do you face when switching from different styles of music?

A. For me, the more appropriate question is how I switch from double bass, electric bass and fretless bass within the musical context. This could take a while to explain so let me just say that the biggest challenge or my deepest desire is to just serve the music, regardless of the style.

Q. What other types of music or artists do you derive inspiration from?

A. I love good music and I'm influenced by so many things that I discover, particularly from the world wide web. There are just simply too many artists to mention here, but let me say that lately I've been checking out Pop/Electronica artist, Imogen Heap. I find her sense of songwriting, creativity and music very refreshing.

Q. What's the most important bit of advice you were given by another musician?

A. Lay back and groove, don't try so hard. Let the music play itself.

Q. What equipment do you use live and in the studio and why?

A. I play Pedulla electric/fretless basses and a Kohler upright double bass for both live and studio projects. In the studio, I tend to go direct through a Brent Avril 2 channel 1272 preamp and for live situations I use a full Aguilar Rig. For a complete list of my current gear, you can find that on my website at "Gear".

Q. What one piece of equipment would you advise all bassists to own?

A. A drum machine or drum sampler of some kind. In my opinion the drum machine can serve the same function as the metronome, but it goes further in developing different rhythmical aspects and styles.

Q. What's been your proudest playing moment?

A. Working with Stewart Copeland of The Police and playing all of his music at the Trustees Theatre in Savannah, GA (Jazz Festival-2008).

Q. What's the biggest disaster you've ever had on stage, and how did you cope with it?

A. I was playing a show with BlueGround UnderGrass in Minnesota and one of my neck through Pedulla basses fell off the stand and shattered into a million pieces. I heard this horrible sound and turned around and saw that my bass was demolished. It was like starring at a dead body. Needless to say, I didn't handle the situation very well.

Q. Do you warm up before a concert and if so how?

A. If I have time, absolutely! I'll usually play finger permutations or the chromatic scale in order to get the blood flowing and my mind concentrating on the fundamentals of the instrument.

Q. What's the most important bit of advice you could give to new bassists?

A. "Serve the Music". Regardless of your style or situation, put your ego on the shelf and play what the music dictates.

Q. Thanks for your time and consideration for this article and interview. Any last thoughts for our readers?

A. My last thought of the day: Find a cause greater than yourself and ask, how may I serve?