Jason Raso

Taking a spin on Canadian-born jazz artist Jason Raso’s The Red Arrow is very much like taking a trip back in time to the 1960’s organ-group era. The recording kicks-off with two smoky nightclub numbers, “Nightcrawler” and “Corner Pocket”, and these tunes set the tempo for the remaining eight pieces. Boogaloo, cool sexiness is the order of the day, here. Dig in, and swing!

Jason delivers great electric guitar, electric bass guitar and acoustic contrabass throughout The Red Arrow, and his skills are full on cool from his delightful electric bass guitar bounce on the title track, to his gentle acoustic contrabass treatment on the tune “Star Gazing”, my favorite track.

Organist Tony Monaco and vibraphonist Francesco Pinetti takes turns with Jason to deliver tantalizing solos and deft interplay throughout the recording, while drummers Ted Warren and Peter Grimmer alternate equally clean and tasty pocket on their given tracks. This is a really fun release and I look forward to hearing more from Jason.

Must Hear Tunes: Baroness, The Red Arrow, Jaybird, Star Gazing - Bass Frontiers

One wonders if Jason Raso knows that his album title was the name of a work by trumpeter Red Rodney recorded for the Onyx label several decades ago? For his sixth recording the Canadian bassist leans toward a more Jazz selection but his interests lie in several different types of music. Most heavily there is a Soul jazz sheen, most noticeable on the pair of cuts that have organist Tony Monaco in attendance, “Nightcrawler” and “Corner Pocket” both written by the leader. Elsewhere Joe Doria handles the organ duties on three other numbers making one half of the program organ based. Several Canadian sidemen are presented along with Italian vibesman Francesco Pinetti on four selections and the horns are spread out interestingly over more than half of the titles.

The aforementioned “Corner Pocket” is a tip of the hat to Mr. P.C. (Paul Chambers) and the lovely ballad “Baroness” naturally goes out to the famed Nica of jazzlore. Raso displays a knowledge of both the electric and upright bass from Jimmy Blanton to Steve Swallow and even gives us a sampling of his guitar playing.

Larry Hollis – Cadence Magazine
- Cadence Magazine

Canadian bassist Jason Raso is a bit of a chameleon. On YouTube, one can view him playing a solo electric bass tribute to Jaco Pastorius, replete with distortion-laced frenzy on Hendrix’s “Third Stone From the Sun.” The Red Arrow, however, is an entirely different story. Alternating between acoustic and electric bass while overdubbing facile guitar lines, Raso delves into an early ‘60’s organ-group vibe on Grant Green-inspired numbers like “Nightcrawler” and “Corner Pocket,” both fueled by the blazing Hammond B3 work of Tony Monaco. Francesco Pinetti’s vibraphone replaces Monaco’s B3 on “Star Gazing” and the title track. Raso turns in an accomplished electric bass solo on the midtempo groover “Jaybird,” then switches to upright on the 7/4 number “The Colbert Bump.” Alto saxophonist Richard Underhill and organist Joe Doria also contribute potent solos on the earthy second-line number “Mr. Green.”

Bill Milkowski – Jazztimes – October 2011
- JazzTimes

Canadian Jason Raso is not unknown in the solo bass scene. However, The Red Arrow shows Raso’s sense as a bandleader. Embedded into its tight groovy tunes, the bandleader plays strong accompaniments and agile solos. Raso plays Spector and Modulus basses on this recording. Moreover, he’s a great contrabassist with healthy tone and style sense. Stylistically, The Red Arrow’s ten tracks offer a diverse range of jazz, blues, boogaloo and latin rhythms. The Red Arrow also features the wonderful “gargling” organ sounds of Joe Doria.

Lars Lehmann – Bass Professor Magazine
- Bass Professor Magazine

Jason Raso embraces his jazz leanings and begins a new musical chapter with The Red Arrow
By Shelley Gummeson
Bassman Jason Raso’s journey into jazz could be chronicled into an intense musical reformation totaling about 3 years and cumulating in his sixth album The Red Arrow.
Really though, the long slide began years before with the discovery of Jaco Pastorius. To Raso, Pastorius was both devastating and consuming. Jay was forced to expand his abilities and try to avoid being totally consumed as he dove into everything Jaco. Pastorius was a bridge between funk and jazz. It was a bridge that had to be crossed.
With over twenty years of playing and perfecting his technique, Jay Raso is discovering his own instrumental voice through writing, recording, and People think that everything is some big jam session. The writing is huge. If you're not playing on a good song then the improv probably won't mean that much countless live performances. He has developed a style which is decidedly funky, a kind of ‘sophistifunk’ with a sprinkle of jazzy things. Though Jay continued to be enamored by jazz and jazz composition, he brushed off those whisperings, preferring not to deal with the duality that was coming to the surface. “I’ve always had a huge interest in jazz,” says Jason Raso. “But at the same time I didn’t want to lose what I’ve done before.”
With the release of his fifth album Groovespeak, a live recording, there was a change taking place. “Just after Groovespeak, which I was really happy with, and coming off of all the shows from that, I really didn’t know where things were going,” says Raso. “I decided it was time to really learn this jazz stuff, to take it more seriously.”
For three years Jason Raso embarked on a program of intense practice and study. He also picked up the electric guitar to work out harmonies and ended up adding it to his imposed jazz curriculum. “I just kind of fell in love with that jazz guitar sound and started studying that on the side, before you know it, it became ‘why not play it on the album’,” says Jay.

If I don’t nail it tonight, I’ll get it tomorrow night.
There’s always that chase.While he enjoys playing the electric guitar, the bass is where he really lives. He explains, “For me, bass is home. It speaks to me like no other instrument. But sometimes you need to get out and see the world. Guitar is like a nice vacation. I can take on a new role when I play guitar. I write almost exclusively on the guitar but afterwards I love heading home. I really want to deliver the finished product with my bass.” Jason Raso plays electric guitar as well as electric bass and acoustic double bass on The Red Arrow.
The evolution of Raso not only included mastery of the instruments, which he says is always on going, it also encompassed his writing. Previous albums featured the bass in a spotlight role, where Jay was able to drive the melody.
On The Red Arrow Jay’s compositions focused not only on his own instruments but on the entire conception of the album. His writing became more complex, inclusive of the colour that other instruments and players would bring to the music.
I still want a groove, and my hope is that those two sides continue to blend
Joining him on the recording as guests soloists are Hammond B3 virtuoso Tony Monaco, Richard Underhill on alto sax. Italy’s Francesco Pinetti on the vibraphone, and one of Canada’s pre-eminent jazz drummers Ted Warren. Rounding out the cast are long time collaborators Rob Hannam on keys and Brent Rowan on saxophone.
The sprinkling of little jazzy things in the past has become a full pour of jazz. Jason was no longer swinging between love and fear of the jazz idiom, he was just plain swinging.
The evidence is found in the songs on The Red Arrow. “Corner Pocket” tips the hat to bass player Paul Chambers and has a great groove accentuated by the B3. “Baroness” is a beautiful ballad inspired by the story of Baroness Pannonica de Koenigswater and explores Jay’s love affair with the key of D minor. “Ten Barons Blue” gives a nod to Charles Mingus, and the title track “The Red Arrow” could be the soundtrack to a film noir that Raso loves so much. He certainly doesn’t shy away from putting his stamp on the stories and sounds that influence him.

Jason Raso's The Red Arrow
When asked what jazz meant to him, Raso takes a breath and laughs, “Fear and freedom for sure, because you can improvise. It’s freedom in a sense that I get to write what I want, and get to improvise over it. If I don’t nail it tonight, I’ll get it tomorrow night. There’s always that chase.” He continues, “I also like the composition side. I think sometimes that gets overlooked. People think that everything is some big jam session. The writing is huge. If you’re not playing on a good song, then the improv probably won’t mean that much.”
It has been said Jason Raso has a jazz head and a funk heart. The two have been introduced in The Red Arrow. Jay comments on the duality, “The head can sometimes play games and push you away from some things. I still want a groove and my hope is that those two sides continue to blend.”
- !Earshot

The Red Arrow is the Summit Records debut by Canadian bassist Jason Raso. Although Raso has several albums under his belt to date, he considers this his true “debut” album. Previous albums had “sprinklings” of jazz throughout, but Raso consider’s this his first proper Jazz album. Proving he is an accomplished player on both electric and acoustic bass, Raso’s playing weaves an intricate web throughout each composition. From the subtle grooves of the opening track “Nightcrawler” all the way through to the funkier “Mr. Green”, Raso demonstrates he is as much a composer as he is a bassist. Handling the electric guitar duties as well, Raso verifies his skill as a musician and his knowledge of jazz.

Raso gives us a smooth, swinging jazz album here with a stellar line-up of players. Listening to The Red Arrow I can imagine sitting in a stylish jazz club enjoying the atmosphere as much as the music. Closing my eyes I lean back and relax taking it all in. 8/10.

Stanton Lawrence(Stanton@BassPlayersUnited.com)
- Bass Players United

Jason Raso's bass is a full-on orchestra of ground vibrating pleasure! - Exclaim Magazine

Jason Raso is a Canadian bassist, whose latest album we are presenting. Detour describes the on the go “working bassist” and teacher with a collection of very personal work; the liner-notes on the inside of the booklet testify to a very long-term creative process with many moments of madness and divergences before Detour was able to be released. Out of it comes a predominately instrumental release featuring jazz-fusion tracks like “Mo’ Minor Blues”. Even a subtle big band influence can be found on “Bonnie and Stella”. Furthermore, it is the great bass pieces like “Wednesday Afternoon” that make this album very much worth listening to. Raso incorporates Modulus, Spector and Azola basses. The playing is strong throughout Detour and offers diverse bass playing techniques.

Lars Lehmann – Bass Professor Magazine – Germany - Bass Professor Magazine

Jason Raso is a talented bassist with very impressive technique and a wide imagination so the music on Detour is quite listenable. - All Music Guide