Steve Bailey
Steve Bailey | |
|---|---|
 Bailey performing at Stanford University | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Steve Bailey |
| Born | February 10, 1960 Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, U.S. |
| Genres | Jazz, Jazz fusion |
| Instrument | Bass |
| Years active | 1981–present |
| Website | Official Website |
Steve Bailey (born February 10, 1960) is an American bassist who is famous for his pioneering work with the six string fretless bass. He was voted runner up for "Bass Player Of The Year" in 1994 and 1996.
Steve began playing the bass guitar at age 12 and started playing fretless bass after he ran over his fretted Fender Jazz Bass with his car. Bailey not only plays electric bass, but he also plays double bass; he started playing upright after hearing Stanley Clarke playing with Return to Forever. Steve received full scholarships to both North Texas State University and University of Miami. He is currently an Artist in Residence at Coastal Carolina University and a teacher at University of North Carolina at Wilmington. He has done work as a studio musician, as well as numerous collaborations including several albums with fellow bassist Victor Wooten. Bailey and Wooten host a bass camp called Bass At The Beach which helps to teach bassists of all ranges. The camp is for people who just bought their basses, to people who are very advanced in their playing. Steve also likes to surf and play tennis. He is the older brother of Charlie and younger brother of John Anthony Bailey.
Associated Acts
Steve has played with a huge range of artists, including Victor Wooten in Bass Extremes, Paquito D'Rivera, Dizzy Gillespie, James Moody, Dave Liebman, Claudio Roditi, Michel Camilo, The Rippingtons, David Benoit, Chris Duarte, Jethro Tull, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Willie Nelson, Ray Price, Billy Joe Shaver, Scott Henderson, Larry Carlton, Emily Remler, Brandon Fields, Carol Kaye, Kitaro, Max Highstein, T Lavitz, Tab Benoit, Johnny Witherspoon, Toni Price, Mel Tormé, Ernestine Anderson, Mark Murphy, John Patitucci, Billy Sheehan and others. He has released albums with many of these artists.
Instruments and Electronics
Steve endorses TC Electronic's RH450 rig (since 2009), as well as Ibanez, Michael Kelly, Aria (since 1995), Fender (since 2008) and Warwick basses (since 2011). He used a custom-made signature Aria Pro II six-string bass, the Avanti AVB-SB-6, equipped with a pair of custom-wound, dual-coil Basslines humbuckers powered by an 18V active 3-band EQ and strung with D'Addario EXLS510 strings. This signature bass was also available in 4 (AVB-SB-4 - endorsed by Carol Kaye) and 5-string versions (AVB-SB-5), fretted and fretless.
Steve teamed with Fender in 2008 to create his own signature Jazz Bass modeled after the Aria Pro II AVB-SB signature series basses.
The Artist Series Steve Bailey Jazz Bass VI (introduced in 2009 and discontinued in 2011) featured a select alder body, a quartersawn maple neck with an asymmetrical profile, a 9.5” to 14” compound-radius two-octave ebony fingerboard, a pair of custom 6-string Jazz Bass pickups, a recessed Stratocaster jackplate, 18-volt active electronics, an onboard mute switch, onboard active 2-band EQ, a heavy-duty fully adjustable Fender locking convertible modular bridge and Bailey’s initials on the back of the headstock. It was offered in 3-tone sunburst and black, in fretted [1] and fretless versions [2].
As of 2011, Steve is now an endorser and user of Warwick basses, made in Germany. He has a signature six-string bass[3], based heavily on the Streamer Stage I design. It features a bolt-on mech with fretless snakewood fingerboard (a fretted variant is available), his signature Seymour Duncan Basslines pickups and electronics, an asymmetrical neck profile and a chrome pickguard. In addition to the premium German-made model, a Korean-made Artist Series version is also available.
Equipment
- Main basses: Fretless Fender SRB 6-string, 1964 Fender Jazz Bass, Michael Kelly 6-string acoustic bass guitar, circa-1910 Juzek upright
- Basses on So Low … Solo: Fender SRB 6, Aria AVB-SB 6, Ibanez custom SDGR 6, all recorded through a Radial J48 Active DI into Tube-Tech MP1a or Avalon VT-737SP mic preamps, into Pro Tools HD2 (at 24-bit/96 kHz).
- Strings: D’Addario XLS (.032, .045, .065, .085, .105, .135)
- Amps: SWR SM-1500 head and two Goliath 4x10 cabinets; Ampeg PB-800 PortaBass head and BXT410 cabinet; Radial Bassbone DI (for no-amp gigs)
- Effects: Boss RV-3 Digital Reverb/Delay
Discography
- Roberto Perera - Erotica (1981)
- Paquito D'Rivera - Taste of Paquito (1981)
- Starfighters - In-Flight Movie (1982)
- Compilation Album - Guitar Fire!: GRP Gold Encore Series (1983)
- Masi - Downtown Dreamers (1985)
- Max Highstein - Stars (1988)
- Compilation Album - GRP: On The Cutting Edge (1989)
- Bryan Duncan - Strong Medicine (1989)
- The Rippingtons - Tourist in Paradise (1989)
- Roberto Perera - Erotica: Enhanced CD (1990)
- David Benoit - Inner Motion (1990)
- Compilation Album - Just Friends: A Gathering in Tribute to Emily Remler (1990)
- Compilation Album - Just Friends: Tribute to Emily Remler, Vol. 2 (1990)
- The Rippingtons - Welcome to St. James' Club (1990)
- The Rippingtons - Curves Ahead (1991)
- Compilation Album - GRP Digital Sampler: On The Cutting Edge
- Compilation Album - Just Friends, Vol. 3: Tribute to Emily Remler (1991)
- Harry Sheppard - This-A-Way That-A-Way (1991)
- Kilauea - Antigua Blue (1992)
- Wendi Slaton - Back Here Again (1992)
- Kitaro - Dream (1992)
- Compilation Album - GRP 10th Anniversary Collection (1992)
- David Benoit - Letter to Evan (1992)
- Robert Hicks - New Standard (1992)
- Tab Benoit - Nice & Warm (1992)
- Harry Sheppard - Points of View (1992)
- Guy Bailey - A Good Day for Tea (1992)
- Kilauea - Spring Break (1992)
- Kilauea and Daniel Ho - Tropical Pleasures (1992)
- The Rippingtons - Weekend in Monaco (1992)
- Steve Reid - Bamoboo Forest (1994)
- David Benoit - Shaken Not Stirred (1994)
- Tab Benoit - What I Live For (1994)
- Kilauea and Daniel Ho - Diamond Collection (1995)
- Compilation Album - GRP Christmas Collection, Vol. 2 (1995)
- Russ Freeman - Holiday (1995)
- Jesse Dayton - Raisin' Cain (1995)
- David Rice - Released (1995)
- Jeff Kashiwa - Remember Catalina (1995)
- Jethro Tull - Roots to Branches (1995)
- Shaver- Highway of Life (1996)
- Doug Cameron - Rendezvous (1996)
- Steve Reid - Water Sign (1996)
- The Rippingtons - Best of the Rippingtons (1997)
- Steve Bailey and Victor Wooten - Bass Extremes Vol. 2 (1998)
- Toni Price - Lowdown & Up
- Robin Williamson - Old Fangled Tone (1999)
- Victor Wooten - Yin-Yang (1999)
- Ray Price - Prisoncer of Love (2000)
- Bobby Boyd - Honky Tonk Tree (2001)
- Bass Extremes - Just Add Water (2001)
- Compilation Album - Leaflets, Vol. 1 (2001)
- Jessie Allen Cooper - Moment In Time (2002)
- Mark Winkler - Garden of Earthly Delights: The Best of Mark Winkler (2003)
- Victor Wooten - Soul Circus (2005)
- Steve Bailey - So Low … Solo (2007)
- Victor Wooten - Palmystery (2008)
Main source: http://www.stevebaileybass.com/
Books
Steve is the author of a successful series of bass instructional books.
- Rock Bass (Steve Bailey Bass Guitar Series) (1991)
- Advanced Rock Bass (Steve Baily Bass Guitar Series) (1991)
- Five String Bass (Steve Bailey Bass Guitar Series) (1991)
- Six String Bass (Steve Bailey Bass Guitar Series) (1991)
- Fretless Bass
- Bass Extremes (1993) by Steve Bailey and Victor Wooten ISBN 0769249159 ISBN 978-0769249155
Videos
- Fretless Bass
- Bass Extremes: Live (1994) (Warner Bros.)