Victor Bailey (March 27, 1960 – November 11, 2016) was an American
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 ...
player. He was the bassist for
Weather Report
Weather Report was an American jazz fusion band active from 1970 to 1986. The band was founded in 1970 by Austrian virtuoso keyboardist Joe Zawinul, American saxophonist Wayne Shorter, Czech bassist Miroslav Vitouš, American drummer and vocali ...
during their final years from 1982 to 1986, and launched a solo career in 1988. As a musician, Bailey was known for his signature scat-bass solos.
Biography
Born in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, on 27 March 1960, Victor Randall Bailey was raised by a highly musical family. His father, Morris Bailey Jr., was an active musician and composer, while his uncle, Donald "Duck" Bailey, was a jazz drummer, who played on numerous Blue Note records (e.g.,
Jimmy Smith Trio,
Hampton Hawes
Hampton Barnett Hawes Jr. (November 13, 1928 – May 22, 1977) was an American jazz pianist. He was the author of the memoir ''Raise Up Off Me'', which won the Deems-Taylor Award for music writing in 1975.
Early life
Hampton Hawes was born on N ...
,
Carmen McRae,
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy Eldridge but addi ...
). As a child, Bailey played the drums, but ultimately switched to bass guitar after the bassist in his neighborhood band walked out of a band practice. Because young Victor took an immediate liking to the instrument, his father encouraged him to become a bass player. Beginning in 1978, at the age of 18, Bailey attended the
Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...
in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
after being disqualified from naval service due to asthma.
Like his father, Bailey suffered from
Charcot–Marie–Tooth disease for most of his adult life. As the disease progressed, Bailey began using a cane to offset his weakened legs. The weakness finally spread to his upper body, necessitating his 2015 retirement from performing and from his teaching position at Berklee College of Music. He died on 11 November, 2016 in Stafford, VA, likely from complications from Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease and
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most comm ...
(Lou Gehrig's disease).
Bailey played a 1986 Pensa-Suhr J-4 koa bass and a fretless Ibanez Roadstar among others. His instruments were auctioned by Skinner. The J-4 sold for $10,455 US Bailey had a series of remarkable contributions as the main bassist for American
jazz fusion
Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, ...
band
Weather Report
Weather Report was an American jazz fusion band active from 1970 to 1986. The band was founded in 1970 by Austrian virtuoso keyboardist Joe Zawinul, American saxophonist Wayne Shorter, Czech bassist Miroslav Vitouš, American drummer and vocali ...
, for which he played on four of their studio albums between 1983 and 1986.
Fender released a Victor Bailey Signature
acoustic bass guitar, as well as the
Victor Bailey Jazz Bass (Artist series), available in 4, 5-string, fretted and fretless versions. Bailey also used Markbass amplifiers.
Discography
As leader
* ''Bottom's Up'' (Atlantic, 1989)
* ''
Petite Blonde
''Petite Blonde'' is the name of a live jazz collaboration album. It features Victor Bailey on bass, Dennis Chambers on drums, Mitch Forman on keyboards, Chuck Loeb on guitar, and Bill Evans on saxophone ( soprano and tenor). It was recor ...
'' (with
Dennis Chambers
Dennis Milton Chambers (born May 9, 1959) is an American drummer. He was inducted into the ''Modern Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 2001.
Early life
Chambers was born on May 9, 1959. He began drumming at the age of four years, and was gigging in Bal ...
,
Mitch Forman
Mitchel Forman (born January 24, 1956) is a jazz and fusion keyboard player.
Biography and music career
Mitchel Forman began studying classical piano at the age of seven. At 17 he entered the Manhattan School of Music (MSM) for three years of s ...
,
Chuck Loeb
Charles Samuel "Chuck" Loeb (December 7, 1955 – July 31, 2017) was an American jazz guitarist and a member of the groups Steps Ahead, Metro and Fourplay.
Early years and education
Loeb was born in Nyack, New York, near New York City. At a ...
, and
Bill Evans
William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, block ch ...
) (1992)
* ''
Low Blow'' (Zebra, 1999)
* ''That's Right!'' (ESC, 2001)
* ''Electric'' (with
Larry Coryell
Larry Coryell (born Lorenz Albert Van DeLinder III; April 2, 1943 – February 19, 2017) was an American jazz guitarist.
Early life
Larry Coryell was born in Galveston, Texas, United States. He never knew his biological father, a musician. He w ...
and
Lenny White
Leonard "Lenny" White III (born December 19, 1949) is an American jazz fusion drummer who was a member of the band Return to Forever led by Chick Corea in the 1970s. White has been called "one of the founding fathers of jazz fusion". He has won ...
) (
Chesky, 2005)
* ''Traffic'' (with Larry Coryell and Lenny White) (2006)
* ''Slippin' 'n' Trippin (2010)
Omar Hakim
* ''Rhythm Deep'' (GRP, 1989)
Steps Ahead
* ''Magnetic'' (Elektra, 1986)
* ''Vibe'' (NYC, 1995)
Weather Report
* ''
Procession'' (Columbia, 1983)
* ''
Domino Theory'' (Columbia, 1984)
* ''
Sportin' Life'' (Columbia, 1985)
* ''
This Is This!'' (Columbia, 1986)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, Victor
1960 births
2016 deaths
Berklee College of Music alumni
Weather Report members
Jazz fusion bass guitarists
21st-century American bass guitarists
American jazz bass guitarists
American male bass guitarists
Neurological disease deaths in Virginia
Deaths from motor neuron disease
Chesky Records artists
Guitarists from Philadelphia
20th-century American bass guitarists
Jazz musicians from Pennsylvania
20th-century American male musicians
21st-century American male musicians
American male jazz musicians
Steps Ahead members
The Zawinul Syndicate members