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'{{short description|American bassist and drummer|bot=PearBOT 5}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2021}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Foley | image = | caption = | background = non_vocal_instrumentalist | birth_name = Joseph Lee McCreary, Jr. | alias = Foley | birth_date = 1962 | birth_place = [[Columbus, Ohio]], U.S. | genre = [[Jazz]], [[jazz fusion]], [[post-bop]] | occupation = Musician, photographer | instrument = bass, drums, singing | years_active = 1980s–present | label = [[Motown]], SmartAlecRECORDS | associated_acts = [[Miles Davis]], [[Lenny White]], [[George Clinton]], [[Prince]] | website = {{URL|smartalecmusic.com}} }} '''Foley''' (born '''Joseph Lee McCreary, Jr.''' 1962) is an American [[bassist]], [[drummer]] and [[singer]] who is best known as the "lead bassist" with [[Miles Davis]] from 1987 until 1991.<ref>Franck Bergerot: ''Miles Davis de A à Z.'' Castor Music 2012, p. 140f.</ref> ==Music career== Foley was born in [[Columbus, Ohio]]. Growing up he listened to [[Sly and the Family Stone]], and after his mother bought him a bass (at age 12) he started playing with local bands. In 1987, he had a phone conversation with [[Marcus Miller]], then Miles Davis's bass player, and afterward sent him a tape of his music. Weeks later he got a call from Davis, who'd heard the tape and asked Foley to send him a copy: Miles Davis was looking for a guitarist, but at that time Foley had been working on getting his bass to sound like a guitar. By May 1987 Foley was touring with Davis, and played with him until the fall of 1991.<ref name=hallock>{{cite news |url=https://www.dallasobserver.com/music/dallas-foley-is-a-motown-vet-whos-played-with-miles-davis-and-george-clinton-7075228 |newspaper=[[Dallas Observer]] |accessdate=April 22, 2021 |title=Dallas' Foley is a Motown Vet Who's Played with Miles Davis and George Clinton |first=Jeremy |last=Hallock |date= January 21, 2015}}</ref> According to author George Cole, Davis gave Foley advice late in Foley's tenure with his band that changed the bassist's musical approach:{{quotation | Ironically Miles died at the time when Foley was beginning to feel happy about his playing in Miles's band. "I didn't enjoy any performance with Miles for the most part until the last seven gigs before it was over – I started playing that gig," he says, "we were at Venice airport one night and he told me to play half of what I normally played. It really fucked me up the whole day and then I went on-stage and tried it and I began to realize that's what would make me phrase. That was the night I started to learn how to play."<ref>[https://books.google.de/books?id=H5r-mzXMJfEC&pg=PA408&dq=Ironically+Miles+died&hl=de&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjxnamVgqPcAhWFDOwKHc07AQwQ6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q=Ironically%20Miles%20died&f=false books.google.de: The Last Miles: The Music of Miles Davis, 1980-1991]</ref> }} In 1993 he played a lead bass solo on [[Mint Condition]]'s R&B Top 40 hit "So Fine" and the interlude track "Gumbo" from their album ''[[Mint Condition#1993-1994: From the Mint Factory|From the Mint Factory]]''. In 1993, during his time at [[Motown]], Foley released ''7 Years Ago...Directions in Smart-Alec Music''. The album included "If It's Positive".<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KztYdkxh1cE"If It's Positive" music video on YouTube]</ref> The [[Cité de la Musique]] showed a Miles Davis exhibition from October 16, 2009, to January 17, 2010, that included Foley's "lead bass". ==Technique== Foley tuned his bass nearly an octave higher than a standard bass guitar using piccolo bass strings and processed it through various effects, allowing him to sound like a [[lead guitarist]].<ref name="cole">Cole, George. [http://www.thelastmiles.com/profiles_foley.php "Miles's Musician Profiles: Foley,"] ''The Last Miles'', 2005. Last accessed March 6, 2006.</ref> ==Discography== ===As leader=== *''7 Years Ago ... Directions In Smart-Alec Music'' ([[Motown#Jazz|MoJazz]], 1993) *''Smart Alec Music?'' (Self-released, 1997) ===As sideman=== '''With [[George Clinton (funk musician)|George Clinton]]''' * ''[[Hey, Man, Smell My Finger]]'' ([[Paisley Park Records|Paisley Park]], 1993) – recorded in 1992-93 '''With [[Miles Davis]]''' * ''[[Amandla (album)|Amandla]]'' ([[Warner Bros. Records|Warner Bros.]], 1989) – recorded in 1988-89 * ''[[Dingo (soundtrack)|Dingo]]'' (Warner Bros., 1991) – recorded in 1990 * ''[[Live Around the World (Miles Davis album)|Live Around the World]]'' (Warner Bros., 1996) – recorded in 1988-91 * ''[[Merci Miles! Live at Vienne]]'' (Warner, 2021) – recorded in 1991 '''With [[Kenny Garrett]]''' * ''Prisoner of Love'' ([[Atlantic Records|Atlantic]], 1989) '''With [[Mint Condition]]''' * ''[[From the Mint Factory]]'' ([[Perspective Records|Perspective]], 1993) '''With [[Paolo Rustichelli]]''' * ''Mystic Jazz'' ([[Polydor Records|Polydor]], 1992) '''With [[Lenny White]]''' * ''Edge'' (Hip Bop, 1998) * ''Lenny White Live'' (BFM Jazz, 2013) – live recorded in 1997 ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== * [http://www.smartalecmusic.com Official website] * [{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p50012/biography|pure_url=yes}} Allmusic entry] * [https://www.youtube.com/smartalecFILMS YouTube Channel] {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Foley}} [[Category:Miles Davis]] [[Category:American jazz bass guitarists]] [[Category:American male bass guitarists]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Musicians from Columbus, Ohio]] [[Category:Guitarists from Ohio]] [[Category:American male guitarists]] [[Category:American male jazz musicians]] [[Category:African-American guitarists]] [[Category:1962 births]]'