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Jerry Jemmott | |
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.jpg) Jemmott at theBeacon Theatre with theAllman Brothers Band, 2009 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Gerald Stenhouse Jemmott |
| Born | (1946-03-22)March 22, 1946 (age 79) The Bronx, New York, U.S. |
| Genres | Soul,funk,jazz,blues,blues rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, composer |
| Instrument | Bass guitar |
| Years active | 1958–present |
| Labels | Atlantic,P-Vine, Whachagonnado? |
| Website | jerryjemmott |
Gerald Stenhouse Jemmott (born March 22, 1946) is an American bass guitarist. He was one of the chiefsession bassists of the late 1960s and early 1970s, working with many of the period's well-knownsoul,blues, andjazz artists.[1] He has won twoGrammy Awards.
Born inMorrisania, Bronx, New York City, in 1946, Jerry Jemmott began playing upright (acoustic) bass at the age of eleven after he discoveredPaul Chambers. After switching to electric bass guitar, he was discovered by saxophonistKing Curtis in 1967.[1] With his connection through Curtis toAtlantic Records, he soon began recording with other Atlantic recording artists, includingAretha Franklin,Ray Charles,Wilson Pickett,the Rascals,Roberta Flack, andMargie Joseph. He also recorded withB.B. King,Freddie King,Chuck Berry,Otis Rush,Champion Jack Dupree, andMike Bloomfield, and accompaniedHerbie Hancock,Freddie Hubbard,Erroll Garner,Les McCann,Eddie Harris,Houston Person,George Benson,Archie Shepp,Lionel Hampton,Herbie Mann,Eddie Palmieri, andCharles Earland. He played thebass line on the song "Mr. Bojangles" and contributed to B.B. King's "The Thrill Is Gone". Jemmott andDuane Allman would fly down to Muscle Shoals, to record for Atlantic. In 1971 King Curtis recorded his Rhythm & Blues hit, "Live at Filmore West" with Jerry Jemmott, Bernard Purdie, Billy Preston, and other members of the Kingpins.
After a near-fatal 1972 auto accident inManhattan that also involved Roberta Flack and guitaristCornell Dupree, Jemmott temporarily quit playing bass due to injuries he sustained, but would return in 1975 in the midst of the closure of many of the recording studios, due to emergence of compact home recording studios that utilized the syncing of the drum machine with the synthesizer, the precursor to the decline of recording industry and the emerging acceptance of the sound of digital recordings. He continued to work in film and theater as anarranger andconductor[1] withJohn Williams and theBoston Pops Orchestra. He was cited as a major influence byJaco Pastorius, who incorporated Jemmott'sfunk bass lines into his own style.[2] Jemmott hosted the instructional videoModern Electric Bass (1985) which featured advice from Pastorius.
Jemmott began his solo career in 1978, playing jazz, blues, R&B, reggae, and soul as Jerry Jemmott & Souler Energy, a group that over the years includedSteve Berrios,Eric Gale,Neal Creque,Patience Higgins,Lou Marini,Seldon Powell,Bernard Purdie,Arlen Roth, andMelvin Sparks. Later he formed Jerry Jemmott's The Right Reverend Jakie Neckbone Jubilee Special,[3] and performed a mix of his original "cool groove" songs with his classic hits, in addition to presenting his "Soul Kitchen" improvisation workshops and clinics. That band members were singers Tina Fabrique, Connie Fredericks - Malone, Frankie Paris, Angel Rissoff,Catherine Russell, and Stan Wright. DrummersTony Thunder Smith, Tom Kaelin, and others. During this period he was also a member of theJimmy Owens Quartet, who made several trips to Europe, The Middle East and Africa for the U.S State Department, along withDizzy Gillespie, theHeath Brothers, andSonny Fortune . The group included guitarist Eric "Fabulous J" Johnson, drummer Daryl Washington, brother ofGrover Washington Jr. During this period of creative he got drummerHerbie Lovelle out of retirement to record Robert Johnson's music for producers Gene Heimlich and Clark Dimond. The album wasIncarnation and it featured vocalist/actorTucker Smallwood and guitaristArlen Roth, guitarist Pat Conte, TC James on keyboards and Jemmott on bass. Of note it was not released until 1994 with non existent exposure, but was reissued in 2019 as The Incarnation Blues Band On Soulitude Records.
Jemmott recorded solo albums forP-Vine Records,Caught in the Low Beam andThe New York View, andMake It Happen! for WhatchaGonnaDo Records. He has written articles, books, and released audio and video bass instruction materials. He is the recipient of the 2001Bass Player magazine's Lifetime Achievement Award and Chairman of the Electric Bass Department at theRichard Davis Foundation for Young Bassists.
In 2006, he joinedGregg Allman's backing band ("Gregg Allman & Friends"), in addition toCornell Dupree's Soul Survivors. That same year, he was one of many guests atThe Allman Brothers Band's 40th anniversary at theBeacon Theatre in New York City. In 2014 he rejoined Aretha Franklin on the David Letterman Show, Rolling in The Deep. He developed a universally recognizable ColorSoundMusic Learning System envisioned by Herbie Lovelle that he teaches at his Clinics and Workshops.
In 2023, Jemmott published his autobiography,MAKE IT HAPPEN!: The Life and Times of "The Groovemaster", Bassist Jerry Jemmott, in collaboration with editor William Knoblauch.[4]
WithNina Simone
WithErma Franklin
WithLorraine Ellison
WithKing Curtis
WithKing Curtis and Champion Jack Dupree
WithLightnin' Rod
WithCarly Simon
WithAl Kooper
WithAretha Franklin
WithJanis Ian
WithFreddie Hubbard
WithGeorge Benson
WithWilson Pickett
WithGil Scott Heron
WithMike Bloomfield andAl Kooper
WithCandido Camero
WithHank Crawford
WithBen E. King
WithArchie Shepp
WithEddie Harris
WithB.B. King
° Live and Well (ABC Records, 1968)
WithHerbie Mann
WithLaura Nyro
WithHouston Person
WithShirley Scott
With The Thad Jones & Mel Lewis Orchestra
Media related toJerry Jemmott at Wikimedia Commons
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