Essiet Okon Essiet is truly a musician of the world. As a bassist and composer Essiet has traveled to, toured and lived all over the United States, Europe and Africa. He'll be bringing his talents to Sacramento for a concert at the Sofia Theatre in tribute to Jazz Bass Legends on March 19th. The concert is a part of the music series created and curated by saxophonist Jacam Manricks, who will be performing with Essiet along with local pianist Dr. Joe Gilman and drummer Sylvia Cuenca.
Essiet spends his time split between San Jose and New York City, but was born in Omaha, Nebraska to Nigerian immigrants. The family eventually settled in Portland, Oregon where Essiet began studying jazz and bass at the age of 14. He broke out into the scene in the early 1980's landing a gig with famed South African pianist Abdullah Ibrahim and later joined Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers where he remained until the drummer's passing in 1990. Since then Essiet has recorded and toured with the likes of Benny Golson, Freddie Hubbard, Bobby Hutcherson, Abbey Lincoln, Bobby Watson and Kurt Elling just to name a few.
In addition to his work as a busy side-man, Essiet also leads his own group called "Ibo" which is named after a Nigerian tribe and blends jazz harmonies with West African rhythms.
CapRadio Jazz Host Avery Jeffry spoke with Essiet about his musical journey ahead of his upcoming concert at the Sofia.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity
Interview Highlights
On his jazz bass influences
I have a lot of bass players that I consider legends. I picked four of them for this concert, and that is Oscar Pettiford, Sam Jones, Ray Brown, and Paul Chambers.
On his experience touring with high caliber jazz musicians
I learned something from each experience. It goes way back. The experience that I had in each one of those bands was very, very rewarding as far as learning things. I also learned things that are outside of music, like how to just conduct yourself when dealing with different managers and club owners, and as far as getting paid or trying to get a room at the hotel. [The musicians I worked with] basically didn't put up with any BS from anybody. I remember Art Blakey saying, "We don't have to play here. There's a big world out there. We can just cancel this gig and go somewhere else." He had that kind of confidence. They just knew who they were and what they wanted and what they needed.
On his Nigerian roots and his band "Ibo"
My heritage is Nigerian. My parents are from Nigeria. When I was growing up, I heard a lot of Nigerian music on the stereo that played around the house. My brother said, "You should mix the rhythms of Nigeria with the jazz that you play because that's our heritage." So I started in the 90s with Ibo. It's kind of a hybrid of jazz and Nigerian and other African rhythms too. I was traveling throughout Africa and I went to Senegal and Nigeria and Cameroon. I've been to a lot of countries in Africa and I sort of collected a lot of different rhythms and fused it with jazz.
On living in New York City
It's just always very, very exciting. It's like the Mecca for jazz so a lot of the great players go there, flock there, and spend time there. You get to meet and collaborate with the best in the world. The history is there with all the records that were made there and all the historic, innovative players that lived there. You can feel it all when you're there; the culture, the different ethnic groups from all over the world. Every language is there. It's a melting pot for culture and that influences the music.
On his role in the music
The function [of the bass] is to make the band sound good, along with the drums. They are the engine of the group, I think. It's like if you have a good engine in a car, the car is going to be good. Same with the band. The better rhythm section players that make the band sound good are very important. Something that's really important to me that I think is overlooked or taken for granted is blending. Blending with your fellow musicians, which means it's the right amount of volume, space, notes and all the things that make up music. That blending is one of the most important things. Listening is also very important. Telling a story is important. It's difficult, I think, to do all those things, but I've spent my life trying to figure that out.
