ABOUT ME

Growing up in Portland Oregon, music has always been my passion. My professional playing career started at a very young age playing R & B Funk and Soul in clubs around the Northwest. Although I always loved those funky bass lines from the likes of Louis Johnson and Larry Graham, I also had great respect and admiration for Jazz music. So with such early influences as Stanley Clark, Alphonso Johnson and Joco Pastorius, I crafted a tight blend of funky jazz-fusion bass playing.

In the late 70’s I joined Fantasy recording artist Shock, a 10-piece funk band which produced a hit single Let’s Get Crackin’. After three albums with Fantasy, the opportunity presented itself to join solo artist Kenny G’s band from 1984-1986. I both toured and recorded on Kenny’s platinum selling albums Duotones and Silhouette. In 1993 I also had the pleasure of recording on former Kenny G band mate Tony Gable’s debut CD entitled Tony Gable and 206. In 2000 I recorded on childhood friend and Shock band founder Roger Sause’s solo album Retroman and again in 2003 on his Smooth Jazz/Funk CD Freestyle Funk. Those musical journeys and many others motivated me to express myself in the form of a solo project which led to the creation of my debut CD After Hours.

My self-produced debut CD After Hours is a blend of smooth-jazz, funk and fusion. From the title track After Hours to the last track Loco Mojo you can definitely hear my varying musical influences. The CD also features top shelf jazz-fusion artists such as Jeff Lorber, Gerald Albright, Dean Brown, Paulette McWilliams, John Raymond, Roger Sause and Marlon McClain. So together with my combination of composing/playing and their amazing contributions After Hours is definitely a CD you will want to listen to from start to finish and add to your music collection!

“Music makes people happy, and I’m just glad I could put together a project that everyone will enjoy!”

Joe Plass