Joe Fonda (born December 16, 1954) is an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

bassist.

Career

Fonda was born in

Amsterdam, New York Amsterdam is a Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in Montgomery County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 18,219. The city is named after Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The City of Amste ...

to parents who both played jazz. He played guitar as a youth but switched to

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

later. He studied bass at Berklee College of Music, where he also began playing

upright bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar ...

. He played in the

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134 ...

area in the early 1980s, and recorded with

Wadada Leo Smith Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith (born December 18, 1941) is an American trumpeter and composer, working primarily in the fields of avant-garde jazz and free improvisation. He was one of three finalists for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Music for ''Ten Free ...

. In 1994 he began playing with

Anthony Braxton Anthony Braxton (born June 4, 1945) is an American experimental composer, educator, music theorist, improviser and multi-instrumentalist who is best known for playing saxophones, particularly the alto. Braxton grew up on the South Side of Ch ...

, collaborating with him extensively for the next five years. He and

Michael Jefry Stevens Michael Jefry Stevens (born New York City, 13 March 1951) is an American jazz pianist. Stevens currently resides in Black Mountain, North Carolina. Stevens has been active for over 40 years with many New York jazz ensembles. With bassist Joe Fonda ...

led the Fonda-Stevens band that began in 1991. Since the late 1990s Fonda has recorded often as a bandleader. Fonda has also explored dance in relation to jazz. He played bass with a dance company in the 1980s and incorporated a tap dancer into his ensemble for the albums ''From the Source'' and ''The Healing''.

Discography

As leader or co-leader

* ''Looking for the Lake'' (Alacra, 1981) * ''Up from the Sky'' (Kaleidoscope, 1987) * ''What We're Hearing'' (W.E.R.F., 1996) * ''From the Source'' (Konnex, 1997) * ''Full Circle Suite'' (CIMP, 1999) * ''When It's Time'' (Jazz Halo, 1999) * ''Distance'' (Leo, Lab 2000) * ''Step-in'' (W.E.R.F., 2000) * ''Heat Suite'' (Konnex, 2003) * ''Loaded Basses'' (CIMP, 2006) * ''A Drop of Water'' (Konnex, 2008) * ''Trio Joy'' (Klopote, 2017) * '' Dreamstruck'' (Not Two, 2018) with

Marilyn Crispell Marilyn Crispell (born March 30, 1947) is an American jazz pianist and composer. Scott Yanow described her as "a powerful player... who has her own way of using space... She is near the top of her field." Jon Pareles of The New York Times wrot ...

and Harvey Sorgen With

* ''The Wish'' (Music & Arts, 1995) * ''Live from Brugge'' (W.E.R.F., 1997) * ''Parallel Lines'' (Music & Arts, 1997) * ''Evolution'' (Leo, 1998) * ''Live at the Bunker'' (Leo, 2000) * ''The Healing'' (Leo, 2002) * ''Twelve Improvisations'' (Leo, 2004) * ''Forever Real'' (482 Music, 2005) * ''Trio'' (Not Two, 2007) * ''Memphis'' (Playscape, 2009) * ''Live in Katowice'' (Not Two, 2011) * ''20th Anniversary Tour Live'' (Artists Recording Collective, 2013) * ''From the Roots to the Sky'' (Long Song, 2018) With the Nu Band * ''Live at the Bop Shop & Rochester NY'' (Clean Feed, 2001) * ''Live'' (Konnex, 2005) * ''The Dope and the Ghost'' (Not Two, 2007) * ''Lower East Side Blues'' (Porter, 2008) * ''Live in Paris'' (NoBusiness, 2010) * ''The Cosmological Constant'' (Not Two, 2015) * ''The Final Concert'' (NoBusiness, 2016) * ''Live in Geneva'' (Not Two, 2017) With Conference Call * ''Final Answer'' (Soul Note, 2002) * ''Variations On a Master Plan'' (Leo, 2003) * ''Spirals The Berlin Concert'' (482 Music, 2004) * ''Live at the Outpost Performance Space'' (482 Music, 2006) * ''What About...?'' (Not Two, 2010* ''Poetry in Motion'' (Clean Feed, 2008)) * ''Seven (Live @ Firehouse 12)'' (Not Two, 2013) * ''Prism'' (Not Two, 2020) With FAB * ''Transforming the Space'' (CIMP, 2003) * ''Live at the Iron Works Vancouver'' (Konnex, 2005) * ''A Night in Paris (Live at the Sunset)'' (Marge, 2008) * ''Live in Amsterdam'' (Porter, 2009) * ''History of Jazz in Reverse'' (TUM, 2011)

As sideman

With

Barry Altschul Barry Altschul (born January 6, 1943, New York City) is a free jazz and hard bop drummer who first came to notice in the late 1960s for performing with pianists Paul Bley and Chick Corea. Biography Altschul is of Russian Jewish heritage, the s ...

* ''The 3dom Factor'' (TUM, 2013) * ''Tales of the Unforeseen'' (TUM, 2015) * ''Live in Krakow'' (Not Two, 2017) With

* ''

Anthony Braxton's Charlie Parker Project 1993 ''Anthony Braxton's Charlie Parker Project 1993'' is an album featuring live and studio performances of compositions associated with Charlie Parker arranged and performed by saxophonist Anthony Braxton which was recorded in Switzerland and Germany ...

'' (hat ART, 1995) * '' Knitting Factory (Piano/Quartet) 1994, Vol. 1'' (Leo, 1995) * '' Knitting Factory (Piano/Quartet) 1994, Vol. 2'' (Leo, 1995) * ''10 Compositions (Duet) 1995'' (Konnex, 1996) * '' Piano Quartet, Yoshi's 1994'' (Music & Arts, 1996) * '' Composition No. 173'' (Black Saint, 1996) * '' Sextet (Istanbul) 1996'' (Braxton House, 1996) * '' Tentet (New York) 1996'' (Braxton House, 1996) * '' Four Compositions (Quartet) 1995'' (Braxton House, 1997) * '' Octet (New York) 1995'' (Braxton House, 1997) * '' Ensemble (New York) 1995'' (Braxton House, 1997) * '' Small Ensemble Music (Wesleyan) 1994'' (Splasc(H), 1999) * ''Trillium R'' (Braxton House, 1999) * ''Knitting Factory (Piano & Quartet) 1994 Vol. 2'' (Leo, 2000) * '' Ninetet (Yoshi's) 1997 Vol. 1'' (Leo, 2002) * '' Ninetet (Yoshi's) 1997 Vol. 2'' (Leo, 2003) * '' Ninetet (Yoshi's) 1997 Vol. 3'' (Leo, 2003) * '' Ninetet (Yoshi's) 1997 Vol. 4'' (Leo, 2007) * ''GTM (Knitting Factory) 1997 Vol. 1'' (New Braxton House, 2011) * ''GTM (Knitting Factory) 1997 Vol. 2'' (New Braxton House, 2011) With Satoko Fujii * ''Duet'' (Long Song, 2016) * ''Mizu'' (Long Song, 2018) * ''Triad'' (Long Song, 2018) * ''Four'' (Long Song, 2019) With others *

Remi Alvarez The Remi (Gaulish: ''Rēmi'', 'the first, the princes') were a Belgic tribe dwelling in the Aisne, Vesle and Suippe river valleys during the Iron Age and the Roman period. Their territory roughly corresponded the modern Marne and Ardennes a ...

, ''Trio 3D'' (Konnex, 2012) *

Karl Berger Karl Hans Berger (born March 30, 1935 in Heidelberg, Germany) is a German jazz pianist, composer, and educator. Career Berger played piano in Germany when he was ten and worked in his teens at a club in Heidelberg. He learned modern jazz from v ...

, ''Gently Unfamiliar'' (Tzadik, 2014) *

Roy Campbell Jr. Roy Sinclair Campbell Jr. (September 29, 1952 – January 9, 2014) was an American trumpeter frequently linked to free jazz, although he also performed rhythm and blues and funk during his career. Biography Born in Los Angeles, California, in 1 ...

, ''Relentlessness Live at the Sunset'' (Marge, 2011) * Roland Dahinden, ''Naima'' (Mode, 1997) * Guillermo Gregorio, ''Intersecting Lives'' (2020) *

Charlie Mariano Carmine Ugo Mariano (November 12, 1923 – June 16, 2009) was an American jazz saxophonist who focused on the alto and soprano saxophone. He occasionally performed and recorded on flute and nadaswaram as well. Biography Mariano was born in ...

, ''Elegy for a Goose'' (Mariano Studios, 1981) *

Bobby Naughton Robert Naughton (June 25, 1944 – December 3, 2022) was an American jazz vibraphonist and pianist. Biography Naughton was born in Boston on June 25, 1944. He studied piano from the age of seven through his teens. He played in rock bands and loun ...

, ''Zoar'' (Otic, 2001) *

Kevin Norton Kevin Norton (born January 21, 1956) is an American percussionist and composer active in the New York City jazz and contemporary music scenes. He has performed and recorded with a diverse group of musicians, including Anthony Braxton, Paul Dunmal ...

, ''Knots'' (Music & Arts, 1998) * Kevin Norton, ''For Guy Debord'' (Barking Hoop, 1999) * Vesna Pisarovic, ''Petit Standard'' (Jazzwerkstatt, 2019) *

Archie Shepp Archie Shepp (born May 24, 1937) is an American jazz saxophonist, educator and playwright who since the 1960s has played a central part in the development of avant-garde jazz. Biography Early life Shepp was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but ...

, ''Phat Jam in Milano'' (Dawn of Freedom 2009) * Leo Smith, '' Procession of the Great Ancestry'' (Chief, 1989) * Walter Thompson, ''The Colonel'' (Nine Winds, 1998) *

Tiziano Tononi Tiziano Tononi (born November 18, 1956, Milan) is an Italian percussionist and composer. Biography Tononi taught himself to play drums in a pop/rock idiom as a youth, then turned to playing jazz and classical percussion in his late teens, studyi ...

, ''Trouble No More... All Men Are Brothers'' (Long Song, 2017) *

Mark Whitecage Mark Whitecage (June 4, 1937 – March 7, 2021) was an American jazz reedist. Career Whitecage played in his father's family ensemble as early as age six. In the 1980s, he played with Gunter Hampel's Galaxy Dream Band, Jeanne Lee, and Saheb S ...

, ''Mark Whitecage & Liquid Time'' (Acoustics, 1990) * Mark Whitecage, ''Consensual Tension'' (CIMP, 1998)

References

*Joe Fonda'
official website
*

Joe Fonda Joe Fonda (born December 16, 1954) is an American jazz bassist. Career Fonda was born in Amsterdam, New York to parents who both played jazz. He played guitar as a youth but switched to bass guitar later. He studied bass at Berklee College of M ...

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fonda, Joe 1954 births Living people American jazz double-bassists Male double-bassists American jazz bass guitarists Guitarists from New York (state) American male bass guitarists 20th-century American bass guitarists 21st-century double-bassists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Clean Feed Records artists Leo Records artists Music & Arts artists