The musical world of Basso Profondissimo springs from the imagination of English bassist and producer, Richard Ford. Softer sounds frequently burst into something rougher, edgier. In the neo-classical leaning pieces, unexpected elements surface, like floating transparencies somewhere back in the scenery. Elsewhere, bubbling rhythms emerge, cracking pieces open into exotic. This collection of pieces is the realization of a long standing project only now coming to light for a wider audience. 

 

      The seeds of Basso Profondissimo were sown in late-80s New York, where Richard had begun recording demos, exclusively with basses. He was soon playing concerts in downtown performance spaces, both as a soloist and with his ‘Electric Bass Quartet’. The project was put on hold when he moved to LA and started working in film and film music. Much of his work in film has involved reconstructing and remixing the music of others. While this has been creatively challenging, Richard felt “the itch to get the basses out of the closet and create something that truly came from me.” Basso Profondissimo began to unfold.

 

“There was a certain freedom to working solely with bass, a need to be sonically creative in new ways. Perceived limitations became inspiring challenges” RF.

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    Sharing some of the same musical landscape as Sigur Rós, Lyle Mays, Bebel Gilberto,

ECM Records, and Bill Frisell, Basso Profondissimo employs a cinematic language, often minimal and evocative.. Reflections of seminal bassists like Jaco Pastorius can be heard in a few places, but this is not a virtuosic collection. This collection is about evoking moods and characters for each piece, not about flash. 

 

      Basso Profondissimo (BP1) was recorded in Venice, California, in the spring and summer of 2018. Initially the all the tracks were executed on basses, multi-tracked and treated. As Richard started to experiment with vocals on a couple of tracks with the amazing Costa Rican vocalist Michelle Gonzalez, the dimension of some of the pieces changed. Subsequently adding a handful of world class jazz musicians to a fresh cover of George Duke’s, Brazilian influenced, ’Malibu’. Including renowned keyboardist Kait Dunton and Peter Gabriel alumni, Simon Clark. 

 

“I use my bass to chalk out ideas and the music naturally takes off from there”.