“The role of the bass guitar is groove and support: it’s about getting the most impact from the fewest notes”: As a member of the Saturday Night Live house band, James Genus is the best-kept secret on bass
If you’re only as good as the company you keep, James Genus is bass royalty
What's not to like about a sweet-grooving sideman, equally at home on electric or acoustic bass, and adept in just about any style you can imagine? Since quietly arriving in New York almost 40 years ago, the Brooklyn-based James Genus has amassed a resumé remarkable in its range and depth.
As a member of the Saturday Night Live house band, he can be seen and heard regularly, albeit in brief portions.
“The TV audience doesn't really get to hear us much, aside from pre-recorded sketch music,” Genus told Bass Player. “But we play through the commercials and for 30 minutes before the show starts.
“It sort of combines the pressure of the studio, with quick jumps and cuts needed to be done flawlessly, and the energy of playing for a live crowd.”
An only child born in Hampton, Virginia on January 20, 1966, Genus was first inspired by the energy of early-70s R&B radio. He started on guitar at age six, but he didn't find his calling until he heard the sound of Larry Graham's bass guitar on record seven years later.
Moving quickly from a Sears bass to a Fender Precision, Genus joined a local band, played trombone in school, and benefited from the musical talent in the neighborhood, which included the Wooten Brothers.
He began working the local theatre circuit, getting his reading together just in time for the fusion influences of Stanley Clarke and Jaco.
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“I like all kinds of music and I love playing bass, so I'm open to everything. My barometer is that the music should be interesting and trying to go somewhere, as opposed to being cheesy or corny or formulaic.”
Genus got accepted to Virginia Commonwealth University, only to be told the school offered no degrees in electric bass. Instead, he majored in upright, hitting the Simandl book and digging into the classic jazz anchored by Ray Brown, Paul Chambers, Ron Carter, and Scott LaFaro.
Ellis Marsalis became an artist-in-residence in Genus's senior year, and the pianist took Genus under his wing, teaching him privately and hiring him professionally. Meanwhile, he played in a country band at Busch Gardens and jammed with Victor Wooten, Oteil Burbridge, and Keith Horne, and drummers Carter Beauford and Clarence Penn, who all lived and worked nearby.
Before long, Marsalis advised Genus to move to New York City, which he did in 1987, registering in audio engineering school as a backup. Plan B was not necessary, as Genus was soon thumping his upright with everyone from young acts like OTB to drum legend Roy Haynes. At the same time he hit the R&B/pop circuit with his electric, laying it down for folks like Cissy Houston.
Word of the new young doubler in town spread quickly to artists such as Horace Silver, Bob Berg, the Brecker Brothers, and Bob James.
The following interview from the Bass Player archives took place in 2017.
What kind of calls do you get, and how do you choose projects?
“It varies from hip-hop writing and recording sessions to R&B, pop, and film dates to jazz recordings, clubs, and tours – and it remains split right down the middle between upright and electric calls. I hate labels, but I would say I'm a jazz musician at heart, and that's what I'm most known for.”
How do you typically come up with basslines?
“My first impulse is to think rhythmically – get with the drummer and create a groove that feels good. Then I'll think about making it interesting harmonically, and supporting everyone else without getting in the way. In pop and hip-hop these days, the role of the bass is groove and support; it's about getting the most impact out of the fewest notes.”
Let's talk about some of your long-running gigs: What do you like about playing with trumpeter Dave Douglas?
“I met Dave soon after I got to New York, and a few years later he called me to record his album In Our Lifetime. We just had an immediate connection. I liked his original approach to writing and playing.
“His tunes consist of a framework, with maybe a melody and an accompanying bassline as the tonal center, but the harmony and the rest of the parts are open to interpretation. So it really calls on all of your knowledge and experience to create and fill in the blanks.”
How about with guitarist Oz Noy?
“I'll listen to Oz's guitar and figure out what he needs, and I'll follow him; other times I'll suggest a new direction and we'll go that way. It's the same interaction with Anton Fig or Keith Carlock on drums. I find a lot of what I do is try to add intensity harmonically, maybe via a pedal tone or by going to the b5.”
“Other than that, Chris Botti's band is fun; he built it in the image of Sting's Dream of the Blue Turtles band (bassist Daryl Jones, drummer Omar Hakim, keyboardist Kenny Kirkland, and saxophonist Branford Marsalis), with players who are equally at home in pop or jazz.”
How did you become a member of the Saturday Night Live house band?
“Toward the end of the 2000 season, Tom Barney left to do Steely Dan, and bandleader Lenny Pickett called because someone had recommend me. I don't know who, but since then, numerous players in the band have taken credit!
“Lenny selects all the music. There's a large book with hundreds of tunes and the concept is classic soul and R&B, from tunes like Tighten Up to Tower Of Power and Stevie Wonder, plus some originals in that vein. Throughout the season we change them up or add new arrangements.”
You've worked with some true masters. Can you recount any key lessons you've learned?
“I've been fortunate to work with giants like the Brecker Brothers, Herbie Hancock, and Chick Corea, and I've gained so much from those experiences. But probably the greatest learning period for me was my earliest ‘big name’ gig, with Horace Silver. His basslines tended to be ostinatos in one position, so that was the first time I learned about endurance!”
What advice can you offer to bassists looking to make a career in New York?
“Be open to every kind of music; nowadays that's really the only way to work steadily. Learn how to play a lot of different styles. You don't necessarily need to double, but know how the upright feels in different genres so you can fill those roles. And being able to read is a great asset; I run into it all the time.”
Chris Jisi was Contributing Editor, Senior Contributing Editor, and Editor In Chief on Bass Player 1989-2018. He is the author of Brave New Bass, a compilation of interviews with bass players like Marcus Miller, Flea, Will Lee, Tony Levin, Jeff Berlin, Les Claypool and more, and The Fretless Bass, with insight from over 25 masters including Tony Levin, Marcus Miller, Gary Willis, Richard Bona, Jimmy Haslip, and Percy Jones.
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