STU HAMM BAND

Stuart Hamm is perhaps best known for his recording and touring roles with guitar legends such as Steve Vai and Joe Satriani. However, for serious students of the electric bass, Hamm’s influence and impact on the instrument are far more extensive. Regarded as one of the most technically gifted bassists to have emerged out of the jazz/rock genre in the last thirty years, Hamm has released a string of impressive solo albums, along the way becoming an ambassador for virtuoso bass playing through his mastery of slap and pop techniques and his pioneering work with two handed tapping and solo bass playing. He has also released several successful tuition videos, beginning with Slap, Pop and Tap for the Bass in 1988 and his more recent series of videos for his Truefire ‘Stu U’ course.

A graduate of the prestigious Berklee College of Music, Hamm has been awarded the schools ‘Distinguished Alumni Award’. Stuart Hamm was born in New Orleans on 8th February 1960. His family were all musically inclined: his father was a musicologist and his mother an opera teacher, whilst his brothers listened to an eclectic mix of artists including The Mahavishnu Orchestra, Pink Floyd, Miles Davis and Maynard Ferguson, all of which made for an ideal environment for a young musician. Stuart began his own musical journey by studying the flute and the piano and developed a fondness for classical music. He began playing the bass in 1973 while at high school and initially taught himself from Mel Bay tuition books. Before long he was working in the school jazz band and studying the recordings of bass legends such as Stanley Clarke, Chris Squire, Jeff Berlin and Jaco Pastorius.

In 1978 he enrolled at Berklee College of Music where he began studying alongside guitarist Steve Vai. It was during this period that he began experimenting with ways to play classical piano music on the bass. The result of these efforts was his development of the two handed tapping technique, which he learned to use to perform complex piano compositions such as Debussy’s ‘Dr. Gradus Ad Parnassum’, Bach’s ‘Prelude in C’ and Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight Sonata’. During this time, he also studied the work of funk bassist Larry Graham and before long had mastered the slap and pop technique. He would eventually incorporate techniques of his own - such as the ‘flamenco rake’ - into his slap playing.

Alongside his studies, he and Steve Vai played together in various bands such as Axis and The Out Band before Steve decided to relocate to California. Stuart followed, forming a new band with him called The Classified and playing on his first two albums Leftovers and Flex-able. In the late eighties Stuart approached Relativity Records with some demos of his music. He was offered a small record deal, leading to the release of his debut album Radio Free Albemuth in 1988.