D. Bess

Genre: Alternative
Secondary Genre: Reggae Honolulu, Hawaii USA Contact

D. Bess is a one-man band who loops all his licks live. Born and raised on Oahu, the roots of his Hawaiian upbringing can be heard in his original mix of reggae, ska, blues, folk, hip-hop and dance funk. No pre-recordings, no laptops: just pure D. Funk, recorded and rocked live. Get you some.

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Artist Information

Biography

D. Bess is a one-man band who loops all his licks live. Born and raised on Oahu, the roots of his Hawaiian upbringing can be heard in his original mix of reggae, ska, blues, folk, hip-hop and dance funk. No pre-recordings, no laptops: just pure D. Funk, recorded and rocked live. Get you some.

LONG BIO:

D. Bess is a one-man-band, utilizing a Boss RC-50 loop pedal to record his beats live and build his songs in real time. He records layers of instrumentation and vocals and then rocks his original mix of reggae, ska, blues-hop and roll. Playing anything from folk to funk to G funk, D. Bess sticks to two rules: phat bass and everything live.

After fronting the reggae band Public Property for seven years, Dave Bess found himself wanting a new challenge and a new musical direction. Without any gigs and no job prospects, he spent his last $500 on a loop pedal, figuring he could at least have some fun writing a few songs and playing a couple of shows. Before long he had written 20 + tracks and decided there was only one thing to do: record an album.

The fruits of that labor can be heard on his 2012 release Man vs. Bear. The album features 13 tracks and 5 comedy sketches. D. Bess tackled all the instrumentation, songwriting, production and vocals himself, making the album a true solo album- with one exception. Reggae legend and icon Toots Hibbert of Toots & The Maytals blessed D. Bess with his soulful vocals on the standout track "Oh Carolina". Famous for writing songs like 54-46 and Pressure Drop, Toots' Hibbert has been hailed as one of the top 100 greatest singers of all time by Rolling Stone magazine. Most people don't even know that Sublime's cover of 54-46 was a Toots & The Maytals Jamaican original. Widely regarded as the Jamaican Otis Redding, Toots Hibbert is a true reggae legend and one of the best soul singers of all time. It was an honor and a blessing for D. Bess to work with this great artist.

The collaboration with Toots led to a music video recorded at Toots' home studio, Reggae Studios, featuring D. Bess and Toots singing, recording and hanging out in Kingston, Jamaica.

"On his ambitious, genre-tripping groove-athon “Man vs. Bear,” Bess dazzles as a one-man band, writing, playing and singing everything . . . the 13 songs present a shape-shifting hybrid of dub, hip-hop, ska, reggae, funk and classic early ’70s soul." - Jim Musser, No Depression

D. Bess has toured North America as a one-man band, playing colleges, universities and club gigs all over the Midwest, the Rockies, west coast and east coast. He has shared bills with The Wailers, Cee-Lo, Toots & The Maytals, The Roots, Giant Panda Guerrilla Dub Squad, Blondie, Euforquestra, Heatbox, Jake Shimabukuro and has collaborated with Toots & The Maytals, Jake Shimabukuro, Ticklah (Axelrod), John Brown's Body and Euforquestra.

D. Bess is taking his new album Man vs. Bear on tour this summer, routing through Arizona, Colorado, and throughout the Midwest. He'll be touring throughout the Southwest and west coast this fall, down south during winter 2012/13. 2013 will see D. Bess playing a college tour followed by a European summer tour. Check the website for updates!

www.dbessmusic.com
http://dbess.bandcamp.com

Instrumentation

D. Bess - Vocals, Bass, Drums, Guitar, Percussion, Cajon, and everything else., Hi-Hat

Discography

Man vs. Bear (2012)

Man vs. Bear is D. Bess' first "solo" album as D. Bess, featuring Dave on all instrumentation, production and vocals, excluding reggae icon and legend Toots Hibbert of Toots & The Maytals on the standout track "Oh Carolina".

D. Bess released a music video for the track "Oh Carolina" in 2012 featuring D. Bess and Toots recording and hanging out in Kingston, Jamaica.

D. Bess performed as the lead singer, songwriter and frontman on these albums for the band Public Property:

Work to Do (2009)
Movement (2007)
What's Goin Down (2005)
Public Property (2004)

D. Bess' music can be heard on Pandora, Spotify, Grooveshark, and is available for download or purchase on Bandcamp.com, iTunes, Rhapsody, Amazon and hundreds of other online sources. His music has been played on several radio stations through the United States and has had regular airplay on Hawaiian and international radio stations.

http://dbess.bandcamp.com

Official Website

http://www.dbessmusic.com

Links

Audio

Video

"Oh Carolina" - official music video

Photo Gallery

Press

  • D. Bess shines on "Man vs. Bear" [+ Show ]

    Hawaii-native Dave Bess applied his honey-coated tenor, charismatic stage presence and ace tune-smit...

Setlist

Original D. Bess tunes from his album Man vs. Bear:
mix of reggae, ska, hip-hop, blues, folk and funk; improvised jams; freestyle jams.

Covers: Outkast, Michael Jackson, Toots & The Maytals, Bob Marley, Al Green, Woody Guthrie, The Band, Bill Withers, The Beastie Boys, Snoop Dogg, Beck, Sublime, Weezer, Muddy Waters, Gregory Isaacs, John Lee Hooker, and on and on and on.

Basic Requirements


Calendar

DateTimeVenueCity
Feb 6, 2014 Thursday 4:20 PM ALL D. Bess tour dates are on his website: www.dbessmusic.com Honolulu, HI, US