George Plopper
Averill Park, NY, United States of America
(GMT-05:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada)

Joined November 2, 2011
Active

About Me

My talents include:

• Bass, Electric
• Bass, Upright
• Percussion

I am a very big fan of original, improvisational music, from jam bands to jazz swing. I tend to use the bass as counterpoint to a solo or melody when it fits; I play primarily pizzicato but also use a pick and slap, as required. As a percussionist, I especially enjoy playing funky, dance-oriented grooves; I play primarily with my bare hands but also use brushes on all of my drums. My latest interests include ska, bossa, and Afropop.

Experience

• 30+ years of experience playing electric bass guitar and electric upright bass (pizzicato only)
• 15 years experience playing congas, bongos, assorted hand percussion
• Professionally trained, solid music theory background
• I dabble with mandolin, guitar, and piano enough to figure out parts

Influences

• Phil Lesh (Grateful Dead), Bill Wyman (Rolling Stones), Jack Casady (Jefferson Airplane), Mike Gordon (Phish), Chris Squire (Yes), Geddy Lee (Rush), John Entwhistle (The Who)
• Bassists for Tom Waits, Michelle Shocked, David Bowie, Traffic
• Eugene Wright (Dave Brubeck Quartet), David Grisman, Prakash John (Lou Reed), Ray Brown, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Rob Wasserman
• Anthony "Reebop" Kwaku Baah (Traffic), Jason Hann (String Cheese Incident), numerous other percussionists

Gear

• Alembic six-string bass guitar
• Fender Jazz Special four string fretless bass guitar
• Fender four string jazz bass (modified to resemble the Geddy Lee bass)
• Jim Carruthers six string electric upright bass
• LP Matador series tumba, conga, quinto, and bongos
• Rototoms, triangle, shaker, tambourine, etc.
• iMac running Presonus Studio One, GarageBand, keyboard controller, Roland HPD-15 percussion controller, assorted mics, etc.

Accomplishments

• Bassist for Hypnotic Clambake, 1990-1992. Primarily Eastern US shows.
• With The Jazz Pigs (1994-5), played The Carlovy-Vary Jazz Festival in The Czech Republic, Guiness Jazz Festival in Cork, Ireland; numerous festivals in California
• Currently gigging steadily in the Albany, NY area (primarily bars/clubs)