Joe Dart – Bass

Joe Dart first picked up a bass at the age of eight, when his parents suggested that he and his siblings form a family band.
The family band never materialized, but Dart stuck with it, and soon developed a love for the instrument, and for the bass-driven funk and soul music of the 60’s and 70’s. Influenced early-on by players such as Flea, Verdine White, Rocco Prestia and Pino Palladino, Dart found the opportunity to hone his chops and his ear in high school, both in his school’s music program and with his regularly gigging band.

After high school, Dart attended music school at the University of Michigan, but soon found his calling on the road. After touring with a prominent college band, he connected back in Michigan with his future bandmates Jack Stratton, Theo Katzman and Woody Goss. The foursome had an instant chemistry in the studio, and became the house band for Stratton’s ‘Vulf Records’ label. Dubbed The ‘Vulfpeck’, they have gone on to release four EP’s, three full-length albums, and numerous live-in-studio videos on YouTube.

Through his work with Vulfpeck, Dart has had the opportunity to play with some of the great session-musicians, sidemen, and bandleaders of all time, including Bernard Purdie, Clyde Stubblefield, David T. Walker, Zigaboo, Michael Bland, James Gadson, Michael McDonald, Trey Anastasio, and Bootsy Collins.

(biographical information from Markbass.it)

These 25 second snippets off YouTube can be a lot of fun and they often give you something bitesize to chew on. This is one such clip which is entitled ‘Who is the bassist? He’s got some groove’. Yeah, we know. 8 bars of funk heaven.