Steve Rodby (born December 9, 1954 in Joliet, Illinois) 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 and producer known for his time with the
Pat Metheny Group
The Pat Metheny Group was an American jazz band founded in 1977. The core members of the group were guitarist, composer and bandleader Pat Metheny; and keyboardist and composer Lyle Mays, who was in the group at its inception. Other long-standi ...
.
Biography
Rodby was born in Joliet, Illinois, into a musical family. His father was a music teacher who bought him an acoustic bass, electric bass, and amp when he was 12. He heard classical music from a young age and was educated in classical until high school when he learned jazz. During high school summers, he went to jazz camps, where he met
Pat Metheny
Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer.
He is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works, and other side projects. His style incorporates elements of progre ...
,
Lyle Mays
Lyle David Mays (November 27, 1953 – February 10, 2020) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and member of the Pat Metheny Group. Metheny and Mays composed and arranged nearly all of the group's music, for which Mays won eleven Grammy Awa ...
, and
Danny Gottlieb
Daniel Richard Gottlieb (born April 18, 1953) is an American drummer. He was a founding member of the Pat Metheny Group and was co-founder of Elements with Mark Egan.
Biography
Gottlieb was born in New York City on April 18, 1953. He took less ...
, three of the four members of The Pat Metheny Group.
Rodby played acoustic bass until he graduated from Northwestern University in 1977, when he taught himself how to play electric. He performed in the house band at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago, with local and visiting musicians such as Milt Jackson, Joe Henderson, and Art Farmer. He joined the Pat Metheny Group in 1981, starting on electric bass before spending most of his time on acoustic. He spent the next thirty years at Metheny's side, touring, recording, and producing, in Group projects and in Metheny's other projects. With Metheny he earned multiple Grammy awards and nominations, and admiration from critics, magazines, and reader polls.
Rodby collaborated with Fred Simon and
Paul McCandless
Paul Brownlee McCandless Jr. (born March 24, 1947) is an American multi-instrumentalist and founding member of the American jazz group Oregon. He is one of the few jazz oboists. He also plays bass clarinet, English horn, flute and soprano saxoph ...
on two albums: ''Since Forever'' and ''Remember the River''. In 2011 he collaborated with
Paul Wertico
Paul Wertico (born January 5, 1953 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American drummer. He gained recognition as a member of the Pat Metheny Group from 1983 until 2001, leaving the group to spend more time with his family and to pursue other musical int ...
, a former drummer for the Metheny Group, and with Israeli musicians Danny Markovitch and Dani Rabin on
Marbin
Marbin is a jazz rock band formed by two musicians from Israel.
History
Markovitch and Rabin met shortly after Markovitch completed his military service as an infantry sergeant and Rabin had graduated from Berklee College of Music in Boston.
I ...
's album ''Breaking the Cycle''.
Since 2018, Rodby has held a position as artist of residence in the faculty of Jazz Studies at the
University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington.
Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...
in Seattle.
Discography
With Ross Traut
* ''Great Lawn'' (Columbia, 1987)
* ''The Duo Life'' (Columbia, 1991)
As sideman
With
Pat Metheny Group
The Pat Metheny Group was an American jazz band founded in 1977. The core members of the group were guitarist, composer and bandleader Pat Metheny; and keyboardist and composer Lyle Mays, who was in the group at its inception. Other long-standi ...
* ''
Offramp
In the field of road transport, an interchange (American English) or a grade-separated junction (British English) is a road junction that uses grade separations to allow for the movement of traffic between two or more roadways or highways, using ...
The Falcon and the Snowman
''The Falcon and the Snowman'' is a 1985 American spy drama film directed by John Schlesinger. The screenplay by Steven Zaillian is based on the 1979 book ''The Falcon and the Snowman: A True Story of Friendship and Espionage'' by Robert Lin ...
'' (
EMI
EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...
Geffen Records
Geffen Records is an American record label established by David Geffen and owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M Records imprint.
Founded in 1980, Geffen Records has been a part of Interscope Geffen A&M since 1999 and h ...
, 1987) – bassist, co-producer
* '' Letter from Home'' (Geffen Records, 1989) – bassist, co-producer
* ''
The Road to You
''The Road to You'' is the second live album by the Pat Metheny Group that won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Performance.
The songs were recorded during concerts in Naples, Bari, Pescara, and Jesi, Italy; and Paris, Marseille, and ...
We Live Here
''We Live Here'' is the seventh studio album by the Pat Metheny Group. It won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album in 1996.
Track listing
Personnel
* Pat Metheny – guitars, guitar synthesizer
* Lyle Mays – piano, keyboards
* ...
Imaginary Day
''Imaginary Day'' is the ninth studio album by the Pat Metheny Group. It was released in 1997 by Warner Bros. Records. The album was strongly inspired by world music from Iran and Indonesia, and won the 1999 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jaz ...
'' (
Warner Bros
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
, 1997) – bassist, co-producer
* ''
Speaking of Now
''Speaking of Now'' is the tenth studio album by the Pat Metheny Group. It was released in 2002 by Warner Bros. In 2003 the group was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album.
''Speaking of Now'' marks the first appearances of ...
'' (Warner Bros, 2002) – bassist, co-producer
* '' The Way Up'' ( Nonesuch, 2005) – bassist, co-producer
With
Pat Metheny
Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer.
He is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works, and other side projects. His style incorporates elements of progre ...
A Map of the World
''A Map of the World'' (1994) is a novel by Jane Hamilton. It was the Oprah's Book Club selection for December 1999. It was made into a movie released in 1999 starring Sigourney Weaver, Julianne Moore, David Strathairn, Chloë Sevigny, Louise F ...
'' (
Warner Bros
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
Day Trip
A day trip is a visit to a tourist destination or visitor attraction from a person's home, hotel, or hostel in the morning, returning to the same lodging in the evening. The day trip is a form of recreational travel and leisure to a location tha ...
Unity Band
''Unity Band'' is a studio album by American jazz guitarist Pat Metheny along with saxophonist Chris Potter, bassist Ben Williams and drummer Antonio Sánchez. This is the first Metheny album featuring a tenor saxophonist in 32 years (since 1 ...
'' (Nonesuch, 2012) – co-producer
* ''
The Orchestrion Project
''The Orchestrion Project'' is an album by American guitarist Pat Metheny released as a double CD in early 2013 on the Nonesuch label following the release of a concert video with the same name in 2012. The album was recorded on tour following '' ...
The Unity Sessions
''The Unity Sessions'' is an album by American jazz guitarist Pat Metheny and his Unity Band: saxophonist Chris Potter, bassist Ben Williams, keyboardist Giulio Carmassi and drummer Antonio Sánchez. A live album in a studio setting, it was re ...
Flying Fish
The Exocoetidae are a family of marine fish in the order Beloniformes class Actinopterygii, known colloquially as flying fish or flying cod. About 64 species are grouped in seven to nine genera. While they cannot fly in the same way a bird d ...
Michael Brecker
Michael Leonard Brecker (March 29, 1949 – January 13, 2007) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He was awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Berklee College of M ...
Verve Records
Verve Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Founded in 1956 by Norman Granz, the label is home to the world's largest jazz catalogue, which includes recordings by artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simon ...
, 2001) – co-producer
* ''
Pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...
Bossa Nova Stories
''Bossa Nova Stories'' is the nineteenth studio album by Brazilian jazz artist Eliane Elias, released on 24 June 2008 by Blue Note Records. The album is a tribute to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the bossa nova music style.
Reception
Crist ...
'' (
Blue Note
In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note that—for expressive purposes—is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical c ...
, 2009) – co-producer
* ''
Light My Fire
"Light My Fire" is a song by the American rock band the Doors. It was recorded in August 1966 and released in January 1967 on their eponymous debut album. Released as an edited single on April 24, 1967, it spent three weeks at number one on ...
'' (Concord Picante, 2011) – co-producer
* ''
I Thought About You
"I Thought About You" is a 1939 popular song composed by Jimmy Van Heusen with lyrics by Johnny Mercer.
Background
It was one of three collaborations Van Heusen and Mercer wrote for the Mercer-Morris publishing company started by Mercer and f ...
'' (
Concord Jazz
Concord Jazz is a record company and label founded in 1973 by Carl Jefferson, the former owner of Jefferson Motors Lincoln Mercury dealership in Concord, California. The label was named after the city in the East San Francisco Bay area, and the j ...
, 2013) – co-producer
* '' Made In Brazil'' (Concord Jazz, 2015) – co-producer, recorded
* '' Dance of Time'' (Concord Jazz, 2017) – co-producer
* ''
Love Stories
Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of meanings is that the lov ...
Lyle Mays
Lyle David Mays (November 27, 1953 – February 10, 2020) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and member of the Pat Metheny Group. Metheny and Mays composed and arranged nearly all of the group's music, for which Mays won eleven Grammy Awa ...
* ''Street Dreams'' (Geffen Records, 1988) – bassist, co-producer, conductor
* ''Fictionary'' (Geffen Records, 1993) – co-producer
* ''Solo (Improvisations For Expanded Piano)'' (Geffen Records, 2000) – co-producer
* ''Eberhard'' (KMG Distribution, 2021) - bassist, co-producer
With Pat Coil
* ''Schemes And Dreams'' (Sheffield Lab, 1994) – bassist, co-producer
* ''Gold'' (Sheffield Lab, 1996) – bassist
With Fred Simon
* ''Usually/Always'' (
Windham Hill Records
Windham Hill Records was an independent record label that specialized in instrumental acoustic music. It was founded by guitarist William Ackerman and Anne Robinson (née McGilvray) in 1976 and was popular in the 1980s and 1990s.
The label wa ...
, 1988) - bassist, producer, editing
* ''Open Book'' (Columbia, 1991) – bassist, co-producer
* ''Remember the River'' by (
Naim
Naim (also spelled Na'im, Nayeem, Naeem, Naiem, Nahim, Naheem, Nyhiem, Nihiem, Nyheim, Niheem, or Nahiem) ( ar, نعیم, he, נעים) is a male given name and surname.
Notable persons with the name include:
*Naim ibn Hammad (died 843 AD), H ...
, 2004) – bassist
* ''Since Forever'' (
Naim
Naim (also spelled Na'im, Nayeem, Naeem, Naiem, Nahim, Naheem, Nyhiem, Nihiem, Nyheim, Niheem, or Nahiem) ( ar, نعیم, he, נעים) is a male given name and surname.
Notable persons with the name include:
*Naim ibn Hammad (died 843 AD), H ...
, 2009) – bassist, producer, editing
With
Steve Cole
Steve Cole (born August 17, 1970) is an American smooth jazz saxophonist. He is also a professor/adviser of music business at the University of St. Thomas.
Early career and education
Cole was born in Chicago, Illinois and began to play musi ...
Paul McCandless
Paul Brownlee McCandless Jr. (born March 24, 1947) is an American multi-instrumentalist and founding member of the American jazz group Oregon. He is one of the few jazz oboists. He also plays bass clarinet, English horn, flute and soprano saxoph ...
* ''Heresay'' (Windham Hill Records, 1988) – bassist
* ''Premonition'' (Windham Hill Records, 1992) – bassist, producer
* ''Navigator'' (Landslide Records, 1994) – bassist
With others
* Madelaine, ''Who Is She...'' (
United Artists Records
United Artists Records was an American record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 to issue movie soundtracks. The label expanded into other genres, such as easy listening, jazz, pop, and R&B.
History Genres
In 1959, ...
, 1978) – bassist
*
John Prine
John Edward Prine (; October 10, 1946 – April 7, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter of country-folk music. He was active as a composer, recording artist, live performer, and occasional actor from the early 1970s until his death. He ...
, ''Bruised Orange'' (
Asylum Records
Asylum Records is an American record label, founded in 1971 by David Geffen and partner Elliot Roberts. It was taken over by Warner Communications (now the Warner Music Group) in 1972, and later merged with Elektra Records to become Elektra/Asylu ...
, 1978) – bassist
*
Jimmy Raney
James Elbert Raney (August 20, 1927 – May 10, 1995) was an American jazz guitarist, born in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, known for his work from 1951 to 1952 and then from 1953 to 1954 with the Red Norvo trio (replacing Tal Farlow) and ...
, ''For You To Play . . . Ten Favorite Jazz Standards, Volume 20'' (JA Records, 1979) – bassist
*
Jamey Aebersold
Wilton Jameson "Jamey" Aebersold (born July 21, 1939) is an American publisher, educator, and jazz saxophonist. His Play-A-Long series of instructional books and CDs, using the chord-scale system, the first of which was released in 1967, are an ...
, ''Gettin' It Together'' (JA Records, 1979) – bassist
*
Ramsey Lewis
Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis Jr. (May 27, 1935 – September 12, 2022) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and radio personality. Lewis recorded over 80 albums and received five gold records and three Grammy Awards in his career. His album '' The ...
, ''Ramsey'' (Columbia, 1979) – bassist
*
Tyrone Davis
Tyrone Davis (born Tyrone D. Fettson or Tyrone D. Branch, October 3, 1937 – February 9, 2005) was an American blues and soul singer with a long list of hit records over more than 20 years. Davis had three number 1 hits on the '' Billboard'' ...
, ''I Just Can't Keep On Going'' (Columbia, 1980) – bassist
* Ross Traut, ''Ross Traut'' (Headfirst, 1981) – bassist
*
Chuck Mangione
Charles Frank Mangione ( ; born November 29, 1940) is an American flugelhorn player, voice actor, trumpeter and composer.
He came to prominence as a member of Art Blakey's band in the 1960s, and later co-led the Jazz Brothers with his brother ...
, ''Save Tonight For Me'' (Columbia, 1986) – bassist
*
Tom Paxton
Thomas Richard Paxton (born October 31, 1937) is an American folk singer-songwriter who has had a music career spanning more than fifty years. In 2009, Paxton received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Fareed Haque
Fareed Haque is an American jazz guitarist, based in Chicago, Illinois.
Education
Haque was born in Chicago in 1963. His father was from Pakistan, his mother was from Chile. When he was a child, Haque traveled with his parents all over the worl ...
, ''Voices Rising'' (PAND, 1988) – bassist
*
Toninho Horta
Antônio Maurício Horta de Melo (born December 2, 1948) is a Brazilian jazz guitarist and vocalist.
In addition to composing and performing his own work, Horta has worked for many years as arranger or sideman for Brazilian artists such as El ...
, ''Moonstone'' (Verve/Forecast, 1989) - bassist
* Montreux, ''Let Them Say'' (Windham Hill Records, 1989) – mixing, producer
*
Michael Manring
Michael Manring (born June 27, 1960) is an American bass guitarist from the San Francisco Bay Area.
Biography
Michael Manring was born in Annapolis, Maryland,Tom Mulhern, ''Bass Heroes: Styles, Stories & Secrets of 30 Great Bass Players : from ...
Clifford Carter
Clifford Carter (born August 10, 1952) is an American keyboardist, musical director, composer and arranger. He has sometimes been credited as "Cliff Carter".
Carter is known for his performances with such artists as James Taylor,Bruce Springstee ...
, ''Walkin' Into The Sun'' (Soul Coast, 1994) – bassist
* Kim Pensyl, ''Quiet Cafe'' (Fahrenheit Records, 1998) – bassist
* Jim Hall & Pat Metheny, (
Telarc
Telarc International Corporation is an American audiophile independent record label founded in 1977 by two classically trained musicians and former teachers, Jack Renner (recording engineer), Jack Renner and Robert Woods (producer), Robert Woods. ...
, 1999) – co-producer
*
Oregon
Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...
, ''Oregon in Moscow'' (
Intuition
Intuition is the ability to acquire knowledge without recourse to conscious reasoning. Different fields use the word "intuition" in very different ways, including but not limited to: direct access to unconscious knowledge; unconscious cognition; ...
, 2000) – producer
*
Brian Culbertson
Brian Culbertson (born January 12, 1973) is an American smooth jazz/ R&B/ funk musician and producer. His instruments include the synthesizer, piano and trombone.
Early life and career
Culbertson was born in Decatur, Illinois. As a child, he ...
Simon Apple
Simon Apple is an American progressive rock band based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
History
Early years
The band was formed in late 1987 in the Reading, Pennsylvania area (outside of Philadelphia) as a cover band playing music of Genesis, R ...
, ''River To The Sea'' (Trunk Records, 2004) – bassist
* Lisa Lauren, ''Loves The Beatles'' (Planet Jazz Records, 2006) – bassist
*
Charlie Haden
Charles Edward Haden (August 6, 1937 – July 11, 2014) was an American jazz double bass player, bandleader, composer and educator whose career spanned more than 50 years. In the late 1950s, he was an original member of the ground-breaking ...
, ''Rambling Boy'' (
Universal
Universal is the adjective for universe.
Universal may also refer to:
Companies
* NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company
** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal
** Universal TV, a ...
, 2008) – co-producer
*
Esperanza Spalding
Esperanza Emily Spalding (born October 18, 1984) is an American bassist, singer, songwriter, and composer. Her accolades include five Grammy Awards, a Boston Music Award, and a Soul Train Music Award.
A native of Portland, Oregon, Spalding ...
, ''
Radio Music Society
''Radio Music Society'' is the fourth studio album by Esperanza Spalding, which was released through the record label Heads Up International on March 20, 2012. The album earned Spalding Grammy Awards for Best Jazz Vocal Album and Best Instrumental ...
Motéma Music
Motéma Music is a jazz and world music record label in the United States. It was founded in 2003 in San Francisco Bay Area. This record label’s catalog spans genres, cultures, and generations and has received Grammy recognition for over twen ...
, 2013) – producer
*
Marbin
Marbin is a jazz rock band formed by two musicians from Israel.
History
Markovitch and Rabin met shortly after Markovitch completed his military service as an infantry sergeant and Rabin had graduated from Berklee College of Music in Boston.
I ...
, ''Last Chapter Of Dreaming'' (
Moonjune Records
MoonJune Records is a record label specializing in progressive rock, jazz rock, and avant-garde music. It was founded by record producer Leonardo Pavkovic in 2001.
History
Pavkovic was born in Yugoslavia and grew up in southern Italy. In his yo ...
Tyrone Davis
Tyrone Davis (born Tyrone D. Fettson or Tyrone D. Branch, October 3, 1937 – February 9, 2005) was an American blues and soul singer with a long list of hit records over more than 20 years. Davis had three number 1 hits on the '' Billboard'' ...
, ''Love And Touch'' (Solid Records, 2015) – strings
* John Moulder, ''Earthborn Tales Of Soul And Spirit'' (
Origin Records
Origin Records is a jazz and classical music record label founded by drummer John Bishop in 1997.de Barros, Paul (July 2, 2002)Small label, big noise: Ballard's Origin Records drumming up national interest Seattle Times. With the help of drummer M ...
, 2016) – bassist
Grammy Awards
With Pat Metheny Group:
* Best Jazz Fusion Performance, Vocal or Instrumental – ''Offramp''
* Best Jazz Fusion Performance, Vocal or Instrumental – ''Travels''
* Best Jazz Fusion Performance, Vocal or Instrumental – ''First Circle''
* Best Jazz Fusion Performance, Vocal or Instrumental – ''Still Life (Talking)''
* Best Jazz Fusion Performance – ''Letter From Home''
* Best Contemporary Jazz Performance Instrumental – ''The Road to You''
* Best Contemporary Jazz Performance Instrumental – ''We Live Here''
* Best Contemporary Jazz Performance – ''Imaginary Day''
* Best Rock Instrumental Performance – "The Roots of Coincidence"
* Best Contemporary Jazz Album – ''Speaking of Now''
* Best Contemporary Jazz Album – ''The Way Up''