Rob Thorsen

Acoustic bassist Rob Thorsen began playing classical guitar at the age of 7. He later went on to play flute, saxophone, tuba, and electric bass before getting his first upright bass. It was a turning point in his life and he became very involved in music and learning as much as he could about the bass. “When I began playing upright bass, the fact that I felt the sound as much as heard it had a profound effect on me. I was hooked for life”. He auditioned and got hired to perform on a cruise ship, the Royal Viking Star, for 8 months traveling around the world. Afterwards he settled in San Francisco and was soon working in many of the bay areas top clubs including Kimball’s, Yoshi’s, the Great American Music Hall, Pearls, and the Concord Jazz Festival. In 1989 Rob moved to San Diego where he quickly became on of the areas most in demand bassists. In addition to leading his own trio/quartet he has worked with many notable artists including Louie Bellson, Laurindo Almeida, Charles McPherson, Mundell Lowe, Hubert Laws, Mike Wofford and many others. He has released 3 CD’s as a leader, First Impression, Evolution, and Moon Ray and has performed on over 75 recordings with other artists. He performs regularly with the Mike Wofford/Holly Hofmann Quartet, the Jaime Valle Quartet, the Cross Border Trio, saxophonist Charles McPherson, trumpeter Gilbert Castellanos, vocalist Ruby Blue and others. Rob is also involved in various “music in the schools” programs; he teaches at the UCSD Jazz camp and was recently featured in the San Diego Union Tribune newspapers “Into View” artist profile.