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Born in
Philadelphia, Gerald
Veasley
has a varied and impressive resume' that includes recording
and/or stints with Joe
Zawinul
of Weather
Report,
his longtime friend and mentor, the late Grover
Washington Jr.,
McCoy Tyner, The Dixie Hummingbirds, Odean
Pope, Special EFX, Joe McBride, Teddy
Pendergrass, Phil Perry, Chieli Minucci,
Dianne Reeves, George Howard, Philip
Bailey
of Earth,
Wind & Fire, Kenny Blake,
Pamela Williams, Eric Marienthal,
Onaje Alan Gumbs, Omar Hakim,
and many more. He has shared stages and tours with Miles
Davis
and Dizzy
Gillespie.
Gerald was recently named "Best
Electric Bassist"
in Jazziz
magazine's annual readers' poll and Philadelphia
Magazine
named him Best
Jazz Band.
Veasley was nominated and voted as President of the
Philadelphia charter of NARAS "The
Grammy People"
and is credited by author Allan
Slutsky
as a key contributor to his classis book/CD set, "Standing
In The Shadows Of Mo-Town - The Life and Music Of Legendary
Bassist James Jamerson".
He
started playing the bass at age twelve and recalls learning
a great deal from in-home jam sessions with friends of his
musically inclined parents. He was inspired by his
parents’ hard work and sacrifices as they gave him a good
stable home life and appreciation of education. As an
outstanding academic high school graduate he earned a
complete four year full academic scholarship to the
University of Pennsylvania. During his third year,
Veasley lost his father. To deal with the loss, he
focused on music, listening to records featuring Charles
Mingus, Wes Montgomery, Grand Green and Ron Carter.
These all-night affairs would also include Veasley teaching
himself how to improvise, transcribe solos and studying
chord progressions. Veasley took up studying classical
guitar to expand his range as a musician.
"There
were several factors which led me to choose music as a
profession," he says. "Basically, it always moved
me emotionally and offered me a way to express things I
couldn't find words for. When my father died, I had a
hard time coming to grips with the trauma, and music proved
very therapeutic."
The mostly high-profile sideman gigs came in rapid
succession for Gerald starting in the early Eighties.
Depending on who he was hooked up with, he displayed a
starting affinity for all sorts of styles. He played
avant-garde music with saxophonist Odean
Pope,
did orchestra dates with the flutist Leslie
Burrs,
and joined violinist John
Blake's
group for a U.S. tour and three albums on Gramavision.
In
1988, Gerald showed his fusion side as part of the Zawinul
Syndicate,
and through the years since, he has been affiliated with a
wide array of distinctive players - Larry
Coryell, Khan Jamal, Eric Kloss, Pat Martino, Charlie Rouse,
Jamaaladeen Tacuma, McCoy Tyner,
label
mate Joe
McBride, Special EFX and pieces of A Dream.
Gerald's
resume also boasts numerous other accolades. He was
voted "Talent Deserving Wider Recognition" in
every Downbeat
critics' poll from 1983 through 1992. He was most
recently named "Best
Bassist"
in Jazziz
magazine's 1999 annual readers poll. He has also
taught the history and fundamentals of the electric bass to
musicians and educators, both privately and at the
university level. He has been artist in residence at
the Artist-Teachers institute of Stockton State College;
guest lecturer at Dartmouth; instructor at Philadelphia's
University of the Arts; and video instructor on "Solo
Bass Techniques" released by CCP Baldwin.
While
still doing the occasional sideman date, Gerald's present
focus is on building the audience for his own band both in
Europe and Stateside, "creating more and better music,
reaching more people and giving my band its own
identity." All signs indicate that Gerald will be
one of the most popular and revered bassist/composers, as
well as instrumental recording artists, of the millennium
and beyond.
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