Rob Wasserman (April 1, 1952 – June 29, 2016) was an American composer and bass player. A Grammy Award and NEA grant winner, he played and recorded with a wide variety of musicians including

Bob Weir Robert Hall Weir ( ; né Parber, born October 16, 1947) is an American musician and songwriter best known as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the group disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with The Other Ones, later known as The Dead ...

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, Ani di Franco,

Jerry Garcia Jerome John Garcia (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995) was an American musician best known for being the principal songwriter, lead guitarist, and a vocalist with the rock band Grateful Dead, which he co-founded and which came to prominence ...

David Grisman David Grisman (born March 23, 1945) is an American mandolinist. His music combines bluegrass, folk, and jazz in a genre he calls "Dawg music". He founded the record label Acoustic Disc, which issues his recordings and those of other acoustic mu ...

Stéphane Grappelli Stéphane Grappelli (; 26 January 1908 – 1 December 1997, born Stefano Grappelli) was a French jazz violinist. He is best known as a founder of the Quintette du Hot Club de France with guitarist Django Reinhardt in 1934. It was one of the firs ...

Rickie Lee Jones Rickie Lee Jones (born November 8, 1954) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and author. Over the course of a career that spans five decades, she has recorded in various musical styles including rock, R&B, pop, soul, and jazz. A two ...

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...

Aaron Neville Aaron Joseph Neville (born January 24, 1941) is a retired American R&B and soul singer. He has had four platinum albums and four Top 10 hits in the United States, including three that reached number one on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart. ...

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. ...

Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notably ...

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Chris Whitley Christopher Becker Whitley (August 31, 1960 – November 20, 2005) was an American blues/rock singer-songwriter and guitarist. During his 25-year career he released more than a dozen albums, had two songs in the top 50 of the Billboard mains ...

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, and

Ratdog RatDog is an American rock band. The group began in 1995 as a side project for Grateful Dead guitarist and singer Bob Weir. After the Dead disbanded later that year, RatDog became Weir's primary band. They performed some Grateful Dead songs, a mix ...

. He is best known for his own work on the trilogy of albums, ''Solo'', ''Duets'', and ''Trios''.

Life and career

Wasserman started playing violin, and graduated to the bass after his teenage years. He studied at the

San Francisco Conservatory of Music The San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) is a private music conservatory in San Francisco, California. As of 2021, it had 480 students. History The San Francisco Conservatory of Music was founded in 1917 by Ada Clement and Lillian Hodgh ...

where he studied composing with

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...

and double bass with San Francisco Symphony bassists. He worked with

Oingo Boingo Oingo Boingo () was an American new wave band formed by songwriter Danny Elfman in 1979. The band emerged from a surrealist musical theatre troupe, The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, that Elfman had led and written material for in the ...

, and

. His 1983 album ''Solo'' won ''

Down Beat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

'' magazine's Record of the Year award. On the albums ''Duets'' and ''Trios'', he worked with

Bobby McFerrin Robert Keith McFerrin Jr. (born March 11, 1950) is an American folk and jazz singer. He is known for his vocal techniques, such as singing fluidly but with quick and considerable jumps in pitch—for example, sustaining a melody while also rap ...

, Cheryl Bentyne,

, Willie Dixon,

Branford Marsalis Branford Marsalis (born August 26, 1960) is an American saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed inst ...

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Les Claypool Leslie Edward Claypool (born September 29, 1963) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, filmmaker, and author. He is best known as the founder, lead singer, bassist, primary songwriter, and only continuous member of the ro ...

, and

. ''Duets'' was nominated for three Grammy Awards. Bobby McFerrin won for "Brothers", which was performed with Wasserman. Wasserman also won Holland's Edison Award for Record of the Year. His 2000 album, ''Space Island'', incorporated more contemporary musical elements.

RatDog RatDog is an American rock band. The group began in 1995 as a side project for Grateful Dead guitarist and singer Bob Weir. After the Dead disbanded later that year, RatDog became Weir's primary band. They performed some Grateful Dead songs, a mix ...

, which he co-founded with Bob Weir from the Grateful Dead, occupied much of his time. He toured extensively with Lou Reed. Wasserman was a judge for the sixth-tenth annual Independent Music Awards. He died on June 29, 2016.

Discography

As leader

* ''Solo'' (

Rounder Rounder(s) or The Rounder(s) may refer to: Film and television * ''The Rounders'' (1914 film), a comedy short * ''The Rounder'' (1930 film), a comedy short * ''The Rounders'' (1965 film), a western comedy * ''Rounders'' (film), a 1998 poker f ...

, 1983) * ''Duets'' ( MCA, 1988) * ''Trios'' ( GRP, 1994) * ''Space Island'' (

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

, 2000) * ''

Cosmic Farm ''Cosmic Farm'' is an album by bassist Rob Wasserman, guitarist Craig Erickson, keyboardist T Lavitz, and drummer Jeff Sipe. It was recorded in California, and was released in 2005 by Tone Center Records. Bassoonist Paul Hanson also appears on fou ...

'' ( Tone Center, 2005)

As co-leader

* ''

Live Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film *'' ''Live'' (Apocalyptica DVD) Music *Live (band), American alternative rock band * List of albums ...

'', with

(1999) * '' Fall 1989: The Long Island Sound'', with Bob Weir and

Jerry Garcia Band The Jerry Garcia Band was a San Francisco Bay Area rock band led by Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead. Garcia founded the band in 1975; it remained the most important of his various side projects until his death in 1995. The band regularly tour ...

(2013) * ''Dua'', with Sultan Khan (2001)

As sideman

With

* ''

Quintet '80 ''Quintet '80'' is an album by American musician David Grisman, released in 1980. Track listing # Dawgma # Bow Wow # Barkley's Bug # Sea Of Cortez # Naima (John Coltrane) # Mugavero (John Carlini) # Dawgmatism # Thailand Personnel * ...

'' 1980 * '' Stephane Grappelli/David Grisman Live'' with

(1981) * ''

Mondo Mando ''Mondo Mando'' is an all-instrumental album by American musician David Grisman, released in 1981. Track listing All songs by David Grisman unless otherwise noted. # "Cedar Hill" – 3:47 # "Dawg Funk" – 4:10 # "Japan (Op. 23)" – 3:37 # ...

'' (1981) With

* '' New York'' (1989) * '' Magic and Loss'' (1992) * ''

Lulu Lulu may refer to: Companies * LuLu, an early automobile manufacturer * Lulu.com, an online e-books and print self-publishing platform, distributor, and retailer * Lulu Hypermarket, a retail chain in Asia * Lululemon Athletica or simply Lulu, ...

'' with

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

(2011) With

* ''

Flying Cowboys ''Flying Cowboys'' is an album by Rickie Lee Jones that was released in September 1989 and produced by Walter Becker of Steely Dan. Background After the release of '' The Magazine'' in 1984, Jones retreated from the limelight. She married Pas ...

'' (1989) * '' Naked Songs – Live and Acoustic'' (1995) With others * ''

Beautiful Vision ''Beautiful Vision'' is the thirteenth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in February 1982. It continued Morrison's departure from R&B at the time, instead favoring Celtic folk and American jazz in its musi ...

'',

(1982) * '' Mighty Like a Rose'',

(1991) * ''The Original Wang Dang Doodle'', Willie Dixon (1995) * ''The Charity of Night'',

(1996) * ''

Evening Moods ''Evening Moods'' is the only studio album by the band RatDog, featuring former Grateful Dead guitarist and singer Bob Weir. Released on 26 September 2000, it consists of a number of new songs introduced by RatDog during the previous year and a Gr ...

'',

(2000) * ''

Live at Roseland ''Live at Roseland'' is a 2001 live album by the band RatDog, featuring former Grateful Dead guitarist and singer Bob Weir. In contrast to studio album ''Evening Moods'', this release contains mostly songs from the Grateful Dead song book. It wa ...

'', RatDog (2001) * ''Summertime'', Nineteen Thirteen (2015)Tarnoff, Andy (June 22, 2015)
"Nineteen Thirteen Crosses Time, Space with "Summertime" Cover"
''OnMilwaukee''. Retrieved August 2, 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wasserman, Rob 1952 births 2016 deaths People from San Mateo, California American rock double-bassists Male double-bassists Musicians from the San Francisco Bay Area San Francisco Conservatory of Music alumni RatDog members David Grisman Quintet members