Rob Wasserman
Encyclopedia
Rob Wasserman is an American
bass
player, who has played with a wide variety of musicians including David Grisman
, Lou Reed
, Bob Weir
, Jerry Garcia
, Bruce Cockburn
, Van Morrison
, Rickie Lee Jones
, Brian Wilson
, Elvis Costello
, Mark Morris
, Aaron Neville
, Chris Whitley
, Studs Terkel
, Pete Seeger
, Neil Young
, Ani di Franco, Banyan
and Oingo Boingo
.
He is best known for his own work on the trilogy of album
s, Solo, Duets, and Trios.
and did not graduate to the bass until after his teenage years. He studied at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music
.
Early on, he was playing with Maria Muldaur
, Van Morrison, and Oingo Boingo. His 1983 album, Solo, led on to work with Grisman. Subsequent albums, Duets and Trios saw Wasserman engage with other musicians, such as Bobby McFerrin
, Rickie Lee Jones, Cheryl Bentyne, Lou Reed, Stéphane Grappelli
, Jerry Garcia, Brian and Carnie Wilson, Al Duncan, Willie Dixon
, Branford Marsalis
, and Elvis Costello
.
Despite copious sideman
duties, his 2000 album, Space Island, incorporated more contemporary musical elements. RatDog
occupied much of his time in the early 2000s, before stints playing with Gov't Mule
saw him return to his own work on Cosmic Farm (2005).
Wasserman was also a judge for the sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth annual Independent Music Awards
to support independent artists' careers.
. His daughter is the singer, Sara Wasserman.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
player, who has played with a wide variety of musicians including David Grisman
David Grisman
David Grisman is an American bluegrass/newgrass mandolinist and composer of acoustic music. In the early 1990s, he started the Acoustic Disc record label in an effort to preserve and spread acoustic or instrumental music.-Biography:Grisman grew up in Hackensack, New Jersey...
, Lou Reed
Lou Reed
Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades...
, Bob Weir
Bob Weir
Bob Weir is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist, most recognized as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the Grateful Dead disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with The Other Ones, later known as The Dead, together with other former members of the Grateful Dead...
, Jerry Garcia
Jerry Garcia
Jerome John "Jerry" Garcia was an American musician best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead...
, Bruce Cockburn
Bruce Cockburn
Bruce Douglas Cockburn OC is a Canadian folk/rock guitarist and singer-songwriter. His most recent album was released in March 2011. He has written songs in styles ranging from folk to jazz-influenced rock to rock and roll.-Biography:...
, Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
, Rickie Lee Jones
Rickie Lee Jones
Rickie Lee Jones is an American vocalist, musician, songwriter, and producer. Over the course of a three-decade career, Jones has recorded in various musical styles including rock, R&B, blues, pop, soul, and jazz standards.-Childhood:...
, Brian Wilson
Brian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...
, Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
, Mark Morris
Mark Morris
Mark William Morris is an American dancer, choreographer and director whose work is acclaimed for its craftsmanship, ingenuity, humor, and at times eclectic musical accompaniments...
, Aaron Neville
Aaron Neville
Aaron Neville is an American soul and R&B singer and musician. He has had four top-20 hits in the United States along with four platinum-certified albums...
, Chris Whitley
Chris Whitley
Christopher Becker Whitley was an American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist.Whitley changed his sound frequently, and achieved modest mainstream success while maintaining a small but devoted following...
, Studs Terkel
Studs Terkel
Louis "Studs" Terkel was an American author, historian, actor, and broadcaster. He received the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 1985 for The Good War, and is best remembered for his oral histories of common Americans, and for hosting a long-running radio show in Chicago.-Early...
, Pete Seeger
Pete Seeger
Peter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...
, Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
, Ani di Franco, Banyan
Banyan (band)
Banyan is an art rock/alternative rock band with heavy jazz, funk, and punk influence, based in Los Angeles, California.The leader and co-founder is Stephen Perkins, who first played drums for Jane's Addiction , and then for Porno for Pyros. He co-founded the group with David Turin...
and Oingo Boingo
Oingo Boingo
Oingo Boingo was an American new wave band. They are best known for their influence on other musicians, their soundtrack contributions and their high energy Halloween concerts. The band was founded in 1972 as The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, a performance art group...
.
He is best known for his own work on the trilogy of album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
s, Solo, Duets, and Trios.
Life and career
Wasserman started playing violinViolin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
and did not graduate to the bass until after his teenage years. He studied at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music
San Francisco Conservatory of Music
San Francisco Conservatory of Music, formerly the California Conservatory of Music, founded in 1917, is a music school, with an enrollment of about 400 students. It was launched by Ada Clement and Lillian Hodgehead in the remodeled home of Lillian's parents on Sacramento Street. It was called the...
.
Early on, he was playing with Maria Muldaur
Maria Muldaur
Maria Muldaur is a folk-blues singer who was part of the American folk music revival in the early 1960s...
, Van Morrison, and Oingo Boingo. His 1983 album, Solo, led on to work with Grisman. Subsequent albums, Duets and Trios saw Wasserman engage with other musicians, such as Bobby McFerrin
Bobby McFerrin
Robert "Bobby" McFerrin, Jr. is an American vocalist and conductor. He is best known for his 1988 hit song "Don't Worry, Be Happy". He is a ten-time Grammy Award winner.-Life:...
, Rickie Lee Jones, Cheryl Bentyne, Lou Reed, Stéphane Grappelli
Stéphane Grappelli
Stéphane Grappelli was a French jazz violinist who founded the Quintette du Hot Club de France with guitarist Django Reinhardt in 1934. It was one of the first all-string jazz bands....
, Jerry Garcia, Brian and Carnie Wilson, Al Duncan, Willie Dixon
Willie Dixon
William James "Willie" Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the Upright bass and the guitar, as well as his own singing voice, Dixon is arguably best known as one of the most prolific songwriters...
, Branford Marsalis
Branford Marsalis
Branford Marsalis is an American saxophonist, composer and bandleader. While primarily known for his work in jazz as the leader of the Branford Marsalis Quartet, he also performs frequently as a soloist with classical ensembles and has led the group Buckshot LeFonque.-Biography:Marsalis was born...
, and Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
.
Despite copious sideman
Sideman
A sideman is a professional musician who is hired to perform or record with a group of which he or she is not a regular member. They often tour with solo acts as well as bands and jazz ensembles. Sidemen are generally required to be adaptable to many different styles of music, and so able to fit...
duties, his 2000 album, Space Island, incorporated more contemporary musical elements. RatDog
Ratdog
RatDog , is an American rock band. The group began as a side project for Grateful Dead rhythm guitarist Bob Weir and bassist Rob Wasserman. After the Grateful Dead disbanded in December 1995, following the death of Jerry Garcia on August 9, 1995, RatDog became Bob Weir's primary band...
occupied much of his time in the early 2000s, before stints playing with Gov't Mule
Gov't Mule
Gov't Mule is a Southern rock jam band formed in 1994 as an Allman Brothers Band side project by Warren Haynes and Allen Woody.The band released their debut album Gov't Mule in 1995...
saw him return to his own work on Cosmic Farm (2005).
Wasserman was also a judge for the sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth annual Independent Music Awards
The Independent Music Awards
The Independent Music Awards is an international program that honors top-ranked independent artists and releases in more than 50 Album, Song, Music Video and Design categories....
to support independent artists' careers.
Family
Rob Wasserman's sister is the singer Cindy Wasserman, from the band Dead Rock WestDead Rock West
Dead Rock West is an American Rock Band based in Los Angeles, California.They play several musical styles: Americana, roots rock, alt-country, country, folk-rock, country rock, and bluegrass.-Biography:...
. His daughter is the singer, Sara Wasserman.
Solo
- October 1, 1983: Solo
- January 1, 1988: Duets
- Jauuary 1, 1994: Trios
- January 13, 1999: LiveLive (Weir/Wasserman album)Live is an album by Bob Weir and Rob Wasserman. It was recorded in the fall of 1988, except for one track, "Eternity", which was recorded in the summer of 1992. The album was released in 1998.-Track listing:# "Festival"...
(live 1988 & 1992 recordings with Bob Weir) - August 15, 2000: Space Island
- September 26, 2000: Evening MoodsEvening MoodsEvening Moods is a 2000 studio album by the band Ratdog, featuring former Grateful Dead rhythm guitarist Bob Weir. It consists of a number of new songs introduced by Ratdog during the previous year and a Grateful Dead song, "Corrina"...
(with RatDogRatdogRatDog , is an American rock band. The group began as a side project for Grateful Dead rhythm guitarist Bob Weir and bassist Rob Wasserman. After the Grateful Dead disbanded in December 1995, following the death of Jerry Garcia on August 9, 1995, RatDog became Bob Weir's primary band...
) - July 1, 2001: Live at RoselandLive at RoselandLive at Roseland is a 2001 live album by the band RatDog, featuring former Grateful Dead rhythm guitarist Bob Weir. In contrast to studio album Evening Moods, this release contains mostly songs from the Grateful Dead song book...
(with RatDog) - May 24, 2005: Cosmic Farm
- September 27, 2011: Note of Hope (Woody GuthrieWoody GuthrieWoodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie is best known as an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his...
tribute album)
Sideman
- 1982: Beautiful VisionBeautiful VisionBeautiful Vision is an album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released February 1982 by Warner Bros. Records in the US and Mercury Records in the UK. As with many of Morrison's recordings, spirituality is a major theme and some of the songs are based on the teachings of...
- Van MorrisonVan MorrisonVan Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely... - 1989: Flying Cowboys - Rickie Lee JonesRickie Lee JonesRickie Lee Jones is an American vocalist, musician, songwriter, and producer. Over the course of a three-decade career, Jones has recorded in various musical styles including rock, R&B, blues, pop, soul, and jazz standards.-Childhood:...
- 1989: New YorkNew York (album)New York is the fifteenth solo album by Lou Reed. It was received very warmly as a return to the style of The Velvet Underground - founded by Reed in the 1960s...
- Lou ReedLou ReedLewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades... - 1990: Mighty Like a Rose - Elvis CostelloElvis CostelloElvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
- 1992: Magic and LossMagic and LossMagic and Loss is a concept album by Lou Reed, released in 1992. It was his sixteenth album. It was inspired in part by the illnesses and eventual deaths of two close friends: songwriter Doc Pomus, who gave Reed his start in the music business some 25 years earlier, and 'Rita.' Some in the music...
- Lou ReedLou ReedLewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades... - 1995: Naked Songs - Rickie Lee JonesRickie Lee JonesRickie Lee Jones is an American vocalist, musician, songwriter, and producer. Over the course of a three-decade career, Jones has recorded in various musical styles including rock, R&B, blues, pop, soul, and jazz standards.-Childhood:...
- 1996: The Charity of the Night - Bruce CockburnBruce CockburnBruce Douglas Cockburn OC is a Canadian folk/rock guitarist and singer-songwriter. His most recent album was released in March 2011. He has written songs in styles ranging from folk to jazz-influenced rock to rock and roll.-Biography:...