Through his innovative work as a solo artist and his contributions as a
sideman to Joe Satriani and Steve Vai, Stuart Hamm has firmly established
himself as one of the most influential electric bassists of the past
half-century. Extending the non-traditional function of the electric bass
previously revolutionized by Jaco Pastorius and Stanley Clarke in the 1970s,
Hamm helped to reshape the contemporary concept of the bass guitar as an
unaccompanied instrument with the utilization of polyphonic, two-handed tapping,
slapping and popping techniques, chords, and harmonics. Although Hamm certainly
wasn't the first bass player to debut during the
1980s and employ an unorthodox
approach to playing the electric bass, he was undoubtedly at the forefront of
his generation who effectively fused the application of these unconventional
techniques.
As one of today's leading bassists, Hamm has released four critically-acclaimed
studio recordings. On Radio Free Albemuth (1988), Kings Of Sleep (1989), The
Urge (1991), and Outbound (2000), Hamm showcased his unique style of playing the
bass as a lead instrument both within a solo environment and various ensemble
formats on a genre-spanning spectrum of repertoire that merged rock, jazz,
fusion, classical, country, and urban sounds.
Live Stu X 2, the fifth solo project produced by Hamm and his first as a solo
artist in nearly seven years, was released in January 2007 and features a
diverse compilation of classic tracks recorded by Hamm during his set on the
first leg of the Bx3 tour in Philadelphia last April as well as a few previously
unrecorded pieces that were captured in San Francisco before a live audience in
2004.
In addition to his barrier-breaking solo sessions, Hamm has been hailed for his
recording and touring stints with guitar icons Joe Satriani and Steve Vai. His
long-time associations with Vai and Satriani garnered Hamm award-winning
recognition on a global scale, and as a result, Hamm has received an extensive
list of accolades such as being voted "Best Jazz Bassist" and "Best Rock
Bassist" multiple times in magazine polls conducted by several major print
publications.
Besides his projects with Satriani and Vai, other studio-related productions
that have spotlighted Hamm's trademark style and technical facility include his
three collaborations as a member of the trio dubbed GHS with guitarist Frank
Gambale of Chick Corea's Elektric Band and former Journey drummer Steve Smith.
For the past two decades, Hamm has toured as one of the world's premier bass
clinicians. He has also demonstrated his signature techniques and methodologies
to avid students through his best-selling instructional videos, Slap, Pop & Tap
For The Bass and Deeper Inside The Bass, and a book of transcriptions, Stuart
Hamm - The Bass Book, which contains a collection of Hamm's greatest hits from
his first three solo releases. He has also created an introductory course to bass guitar called Bass Basics with the folks at TrueFire.com .
Based on the highly successful G3 tours he was a part of in the 1990's which
featured guitarists Satriani, Vai, and Eric Johnson, Hamm founded the Bx3 tour
in April 2006 that has subsequently taken him along with fellow bass pioneers
Billy Sheehan and Jeff Berlin from the United States to Asia.
