Richard Ford: Basso Profondissimo
Richard Ford
Though Richard Ford recorded his Basso Profondissimo EP in Venice, California during the spring and summer months of 2018, its gestation spanned decades. The idea for the project originated in the late-‘80s when Ford began recording demos but then tabled it when an LA move to pursue film music opportunities beckoned. After giving time and energy to polishing the work of others, Ford experienced an “itch to get the basses out of the closet and make some music,” resulting in this thoroughly satisfying set of solo bass pieces and others.
The Emmy winner brings a certifiably impressive CV to the endeavour. Growing up in London, Ford became a proficient bass player and performed with guitarist Bill Nelson (in his band Red Noise) before moving to the US to play with singer-songwriter Joe Jackson. Living in New York, Ford's musical interests broadened into African and Afro-Caribbean realms before the LA move brought work on film projects for director Alexander Payne (Ford's credited as Executive Music Producer on The Descendants, Nebraska, and Downsizing) and others (American History X, Training Day, Argo, etc.).
As its title implies, Basso Profondissimo was conceived as a bass-centered project, with Ford intent on adapting the instrument to genres such as jazz, ambient, and bossa nova. Though the split isn't hard-edged, the material separates into multi-tracked bass explorations and pieces supplementing Ford with others, the most extreme example a fabulous cover of George Duke's “Malibu.” Catalyzing the transition in approaches was Ford's experimentation with vocals, specifically Costa Rican vocalist Michelle Gonzalez, and the possibilities that emerged therefrom.
Ford's harmonic figures introduce the opening cut “Calango Reco” beautifully, after which a swinging Brazilian rhythm establishes itself, and with percussion and entrancing wordless vocalizations by Gonzalez added, the arrangement blossoms into an infectious, full-blown presentation. She returns on “Malibu” alongside keyboardists Kait Dunton and Simon Clark, drummer Jake Reed, percussionist Aaron Serfaty, and fellow vocalists Kessi Blue, Daniel Rojas, and Ford. With the singers cooing joyously over a tropical, Brazilian-influenced groove, the rendering's so delicious and spirit-raising, you'll wish Ford had crafted a whole album of similar fare.
On the basses-only cuts, a dark, heavy tone shadows “Dusty Theatre,” which sees Ford draping treated slide-like flourishes and Jaco-styled musings over a low-slung blues riff. Prettier by comparison is the version of “Palhaco” by Egberto Gismonti and Geraldo Carneiro that offers Ford a vehicle to indulge his softer side. Contributing cymbals and gongs to the atmospheric design, Reed reappears on “Sinking Up” to complement the bassist's improvisations and sustained drone, after which the reflective “Westbeth” time-travels back to 1989 for a brief, cassette tape-recorded solo on the six-string bass.
Though the tracks aren't predicated upon self-indulgent displays of virtuosity, there's no disputing Ford's chops: the EP's so packed with tasty bass playing, one imagines it being veritable catnip for budding musos; there's also no denying a Pastorius-like quality emerges in a few spots, but that ultimately does nothing but enhance the impression of Ford's playing. The twenty-seven-minute recording may be short, but it nevertheless presents a culminating portrait that's satisfying and diverse.May 2019