Bass Player: Eric Revis

One of the most talented and accomplished musicians of his generation, Grammy Award-winning bassist and composer Eric Revis has firmly established himself as an important voice in jazz. Branford Marsalis states, “Eric’s sound is the sound of doom; big, thick, percussive.” Scores of musicians across various disciplines agree. Revis has performed and recorded with Betty Carter, Peter Brötzmann, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Jason Moran, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Steve Coleman, Ralph Peterson, Lionel Hampton, McCoy Tyner, Andrew Cyrille, and Tarbaby, the experimental trio he tri-leads with Orrin Evans and Nasheet Waits, as well as another trio, Options, also with Waits, and Bennie Maupin.

Manning the bass chair with Branford Marsalis’s powerfully flexible quartet since 1997, Revis has recorded eight albums with the ensemble in addition to touring the globe with them many times over. The tune that is presented here is from the Marsalis Quartet album ‘Braggtown’ and was written by the 17th Century composer, Henry Purcell. It’s inclusion is a little mischievous as the part is a three bar passage repeated unchanged throughout the performance, underpinning some exquisite solos from Marsalis and pianist, Joey Calderazzo. If you want to hear Eric Revis play properly, there are plenty of other performances where he is allowed to stretch out but, on ‘O Solitude’, he is just playing the gig. One of the easiest reads on the website.