Randy Marshall

The Solo Bass Nights of Randy Marshall
by E. "Doc" Smith‚ Feb. 22‚ 2008

Last Sunday night, Oakland's eclectic Rooz Cafe saw four phenomenal Bay area bassists take the stage to the delight of all. From the classical stylings of the up-and-coming Dave Lockhart; Celtic-Afro funk of Ariane Cap; the ECM flavored virtuoso Edo Castro; to Randy Marshall and his brainchild: "The Solo Bass Night" series. A member of the California Bass Alliance, Marshall "networks with other bay area soloists to bring the bass guitar into the limelight". Amazingly, he does an admirable job of bringing together some of the Bay area's best bassists in a monthly movable feast of looping, bowing, thumpin' and pluckin' good fun.

The show began with Marshall's now familiar foray into the world of the soloing bass player. A truly great bassist in his own right, Marshall's enthusiasm is tempered only by his humility and love of all things bass. His "Bass Solo Night" series are a thing to behold and fertile ground for bassists of all stripes, shapes and colors. Marshall played selections from his latest CD "Gravity", (Digital Garage label), a delightful and worthy effort. His lyrical playing and textured tones also showed an affinity for the late, great guitarist Michael Hedges. Quite a feat to bring that kind of feeling to the bass.

Marshall's lilting "Thin Blue Line II" is a fabulous example of his gorgeous style of plucking; The driving "Phallacy" will have you tapping your feet to a truly infectious groove and I am at a loss to explain how he plays "Bolero" on a bass. Marshall has such a guitar-like quality when he plays it that for a moment or two, I forgot I was listening to a bass!

Marshall's passions aren't limited to just his array of 5-string basses and wondrous effects. Heath Care, the issues of global warming and living in sustainable world are also high on his list. Marshall writes in his recent blog, "As more evidence of climate change continues to mount, it becomes harder and harder to deny the changes taking place all around us. Awareness of our planets health is becoming a daily spot on the news, and even businesses are trying to figure out how to operate in a more earth friendly fashion. There is one industry however that seems to be still operating with it's blinders on when it comes to global consciousness... Health Care."

"What's being completely ignored in the wake of all that, is just how much health care in general contributes to pollution and global warming. Do you all have any idea how much plastic is wasted every single day inside a hospital? You would gasp if I were able to go into real detail on it. Realize that because of the sterile and clean nature of everything we use to care for patients, we open "single use" plastic items and toss them when we're done by the thousands every day in just one hospital. If you think grocery stores giving out plastic bags is bad, and it is... you would keel over and die if you knew how much raw plastic is being spit out into your environment everyday by your local hospital.... and thats not to mention all the bio waste we put out..."
Marshall and his revolving cast of bassists, featuring Edo Castro, Jeff Schmidt, Andres Cervantes and "Jimbo", will be at the Nomad Cafe in Berkeley on Shattuck, March 22nd for "Solo Bass Night II" and return to the Rooz Cafe in April. You don't have to be a bass player to appreciate these fine Bay area bassists, just a love of music and an open heart.


Randy Marshall
February 29th @The Red Vic Hotel, Haight Street

Randy Marshall's Solo Bass Night II
with Andy Cervantes, Edo Castro, Jeff Schmidt, and "Jimbo"
March, 22nd @ The Nomad Cafe
6500 Shattuck, Berkeley, California


E. "Doc" Smith is a musician and recording engineer who has worked with the likes of Brian Eno, Madonna, Warren Zevon, Mickey Hart, Jimmy Cliff, and John Mayall among others. He is also the inventor of the musical instrument, the Drummstick. - www.beyondchron.org

WOW! I honestly cannot think of ANYTHING that i would like to see improved in this song. You are clearly an accomplished musician influenced heavily by the great Victor Wooten. I was thoroughly impressed with your technical skill, particularly your extensive use of harmonics in this song. I imagine that this tune is quite a challenge to perform live! I was further impressed by the fact that with the use of only one instrument, you kept me inthralled throughout the entire piece, and it was an instrument that is almost never permitted to stand out as it did here. Truly well done!
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WOW! What a great track! The world needs more solo bass! Randy's amazing!
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Very talented guitarist and a very mellow tune
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Great chops, don't really understand why it's song of the week though...just a riff.
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I wanna see the montage sequence in the movie that's set to this tune!!
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Love this... what a cool sound!! Might be a tad better if it was a hair slower. Love it though... seriously.
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Last comment is very true.. this is a one taker on a home digi 8 track. will be recorded in final and newer form next month. thats the sme with Funky Turtle as well, a vey ruff draft there as well.
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A bit more time and this will be a good piece, more something...its good just not clean ya know?
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Yes it's a 5 string bass from low e to hi c. thanks to all for the comments
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Wowwwww... Blazing 5 Daniel Casavant :-)
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Ah-- I found yer myspace page: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=115003259 That's a bass?!?!?
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you can do that with a guitar? neato. 4 flames from me.
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I love it! Truly my favorite. Bythe way, is the rating just for the solo, or the artist as well?
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very nice
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Another stylistic endeavor. 4/5 mark christopher
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nice style - nice tone
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