Jesse Stern

Bio

History

I come from three generations of professional artists and musicians, and grew up in a very creative & musical household. My mother and step-father never had 9-5 jobs, so they were always around, always creating. They taught me guitar and piano at age 4. I also learned a lot about painting, computers, origami and pottery - both my mother and grandmother were professional potters and painters.

It was music that saved my life. As a teenager, I was in trouble a lot, and became self-destructive. In desperate need of a creative outlet, I got my first bass at age 13, and that's when I chose music as my life work. The bass has kept me alive and mostly out of trouble ever since. I started on rock & heavy metal. Cliff Burton was my first hero. Roger Waters was my second.

Later I found new heroes, including James Jamerson, Aston "Family Man" Barrett, Sting, Bootsy Collins and MeShell NdegeOcello – plus a bit of Paul Chambers, Ray Brown & Ron Carter.

In high school, I studied the bass lines of my rock heroes, while taking private bass lessons, university classes in music theory, and studying Bach Albeniz & Villa-Lobos on classical guitar. My high school jazz choir asked me to play bass for a state competition, and I spent my final two years of high school learning jazz.

After graduating high school, I went to Berklee College of Music in Boston on a scholarship, where I studied bass with Danny Morris, Bruce Gertz and Anthony Vitti. There, I also discovered Afro-Cuban rhythms (Ed Uribe), and Brazilian rhythms (Fernando Andrade), and placed into advanced Ear Training and Harmony (contemporary theory).

When I returned to my hometown of Seattle, I was able to perform and record with artists and mentors in a huge variety of styles, including some of the best rock, R&B, jazz, Brazilian and Gospel artists in the area. I also continued school at the University of Washington, where I majored in Ethnomusicology and got to work side by side with visiting artists from around the world – including legendary qawali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, and Baba IK Dairo MBE, a pioneer of Nigerian pop music.

In search of bigger opportunities, I moved to Los Angeles in 2001, where I have been blessed and very fortunate to work with a lot of great artists, including some of my heroes.