Phil Palombi Plays Scott LaFaro's Bass

I was granted the IMMENSE honor of the temporary loan of Scott LaFaro's actual 1825 Prescott bass that he used in the last three or four years of his life. I am going to use it to record a tribute CD in his honor.

The CD, which I'm recording on December 6-8, 2010, will feature Don Friedman on piano and Eliot Zigmund on drums. Please check my YouTube page (Bassphil) for more videos as I post them, as well as my personal website for the recording info:


I'm planning on creating a little documentary about this event. With the exception of Marc Johnson, who had the bass for a few days to record two tracks on a great Eliane Elias CD (A tribute to Bill Evans), this will be the first time that Scott's bass has been used for a full length recording since his untimely death in 1961.

Don't worry, the following videos will be shot with a MUCH better video camera. This little quicky was shot with my iPhone....

Thanks for watching!

-Phil

[Bassphil]

Thanks guys! Yeah, it's pretty eye opening. This whole event in my life has been a humbling experience.

[Keithhallmusic]

Phil: this is incredible! So excited for you man, I can't believe the surreal feeling that you must be experiencing having Scott's bass in your hands...super cool, once in a lifetime, you are blessed!
-Rev.

[Bassphil]

jazzflea- they're Kolstein strings, which are a perlon core with a steel wrapping. Barrie Kolstein felt that they're probably the closest string to what Scott was using. They sounded and felt great on the instrument.

[alanlewine]

Sweet. Let's stay in touch, Phil.

[brewermfnyc]

Hey! That looks a lot like your Big Bertha bass - those same gamba corners. Can't wait to hear it.

[thebassbass]

@brewermfnyc you do know this bass is a busetto outline and not a gamba, hints it has busetto corners not gamba

[Bassphil]

@jazzflea

Yes, you can buy the books off of my website. The address is listed in the description of the video.

Thanks for checking out my odyssey! I have a lot more footage to post as soon as I have some time :-)

[colamesta]

Thank you very much Phil!
Sound great ! What strings you have in this video?