Bass Player: Rob Amster

Who the hell is Rob Amster? Not a household name, even amongst bass players but Amster played with some real heavyweights in his time including Buddy Rich, Pepper Adams, Maynard Ferguson, Fareed Haque and Kurt Elling. It is with Elling that Amster recorded this most engaging vocal/bass duet, ‘The Waking’, from Elling’s 2007 album, ‘Nightmoves’. A musical setting for  a poem written by Theodore Roethke, the piece shows Amsters tone and control in a line that is based around a simple, climbing root movement with additional harmony notes over the top. The performance requires some two voice writing due to the fact that the higher lines are underpinned by the roots so notes are still ringing when others are played. It sounds great but presents challenges for your reading. Amster passed away on 2013.