- Melvin Gibbs
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Melvin Gibbs, Moers Festival 2010
Melvin Gibbs is an American bass guitarist, composer, and producer who has appeared on close to 200 albums in diverse genres of music. Gibbs has been called "the best bassist in the world" by Time Out New York magazine.
A native of Brooklyn, New York, Gibbs attended Medgar Evers College and Brooklyn Conservatory of Music. He first came to public notice as a member of the group Defunkt which was a mainstay of the early 1980s downtown New York scene. Throughout most of the 1980s, he played in drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson's Decoding Society alongside guitarist Vernon Reid, as well as playing with guitarist Sonny Sharrock and saxophonist John Zorn. He was a member of the group Power Tools along with guitarist Bill Frisell and drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson. He co-led the band Eye and I and he is an original member of the Black Rock Coalition.
He was a member of the avant-metal Rollins Band from 1993 to about 1998, and again in 2006 when the group briefly reformed. As a member of the Rollins Band he was nominated for a Grammy in 1995. Gibbs has also recorded with hip-hop artists dead prez, Brazilian artists Caetano Veloso and Marisa Monte, Latin jazz artist Eddie Palmieri, Nigerian artist Femi Kuti, and guitarist Marc Ribot. He has also produced albums by guitarist/singer Arto Lindsay and turntablist DJ Logic.
He formed the Punk-Funk All-Stars with guitarist/singer James Blood Ulmer, Defunkt leader Joseph Bowie, Vernon Reid and Ronald Shannon Jackson. He co-leads the band Harriet Tubman with guitarist Brandon Ross and drummer JT Lewis. His other current projects include Melvin Runs the Hoodoo Down with guitarist Pete Cosey and keyboard player John Medeski, the JFM Trio featuring guitarist Jeff Parker and percussionist Francisco Mora, and the Geechee Seminoles, a duo featuring Melvin and drummer/hand-body percussionist/dancer David Pleasant.
Ancients Speak, the first album by Melvin Gibbs' Elevated Entity, was released on March 17, 2009, by Livewired Music.
In 2009, he joined the group "SociaLybrium", which features Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee keyboard player Bernie Worrell and long time Parliament-Funkadelic guitarist and musical director DeWayne "Blackbyrd" McKnight as well as J.T. Lewis on drums. The group's album, For You/For Us/For All was released by Livewired Music in December 2009.
Melvin Gibbs in 1980Selected discography
As leader:
- 2009: Ancients Speak (with Melvin Gibbs' Elevated Entity)
As co-leader:
- 2011 Ascension (with Harriet Tubman)
- 2000: Prototype (with Harriet Tubman)
- 1998: I Am A Man (with Harriet Tubman)
- 1991: Eye and I (with Eye and I)
- 1988: Power Tools ( with Bill Frisell and Ronald Shannon Jackson )
With Rollins Band
- 1996: Come In And Burn
- 1994: Weight
As producer:
- 2004: Salt (Arto Lindsay)
- 2002: Invoke (Arto Lindsay)
- 2001: The Anomaly (DJ Logic)
- 1999: Prize (Arto Lindsay)
- 1999: Project Logic (DJ Logic)
As remixer:
- 2004: Electric Gypsyland (Taraf de Haidouks with Arto Lindsay)
As band member:
- 2010: For You/For Us/For All ( SociaLybrium )
- 1999: Live in Montreux ( with Ronald Shannon Jackson and the Decoding Society )
- 1981: Mandance ( with Ronald Shannon Jackson and the Decoding Society )
- 1980: Defunkt ( with Defunkt )
As sideman:
- 2002: Red, Hot and Riot ( with Femi Kuti )
- 2000: Let's Get Free ( with dead prez )
- 2000: Memórias, Crônicas, e Declaracões de Amor ( with Marisa Monte )
- 1999: Vitamin C ( with Vitamin C )
- 1992: Very Neon Pet(with Peter Scherer )
- 1991: Circulado ( with Caetano Veloso )
- 1989: Mais ( with Marisa Monte )
- 1987: Seize The Rainbow ( with Sonny Sharrock )
- 1986: The Big Gundown ( with John Zorn )
External links
Categories:- American bass guitarists
- Living people
- People from Brooklyn
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