Reggie Washington

Reggie Washington

In 1962, bassist Reggie Washington was born into a music family. Father Charles & mother Bernice were avid music lovers who played jazz, R&B, gospel & classical music in the house every day & night. Sister Yvette (violin, viola, music educator) was the better of the (3) kids (best kept secret).

Regg's first musical experiences started with brother, drummer, jazz historian & radio personality «Jazz Maniac» Kenny Washington. Regg played congas & bongos performing in competitions & clubs in NYC as « The Washington Brothers ».

He moved on ; studying cello privately through school playing in several orchestras (Youth Symphony, All-City, All-State, All-Eastern USA Youth Orchestras) & performed with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under conductors Zubin Mehta, James Levine & Claudio Abbado. During his time in the High School of Music & Art, he switched to Acoustic Bass at the insistence of conductor Anthony Diaz. It was the BEST decision made for him ! (bless you Tony)

Regg studied bass classically with William Blossom (NY Philharmonic), jazz with Paul West (Dizzy Gillespie, Joe Williams) & afro-cuban with Victor Venegas (Fania All-Stars). The electric bass came along after spending many musical nights with his brother & Marcus Miller (Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter) at home. With the help of his best friend Dave Inniss ; the bass became the « only place he wanted to be » !

Among the numerous fine musicians & musical situations Regg has been involved in ; drummers have been great & plentiful ! A « short list » of drummers Regg has performed, recorded &/or toured with include :

Jimmy Cobb, Keith Copeland (teachers), Kenny Washington, Lenny White, Buddy Williams, Marvin « Smitty » Smith, Omar Hakim, Bernard Purdie, Jeff « Tain » Watts, Greg Bandy, Jimmy Lovelace, Horacio « El Negro » Hernandez, Bernard Davis, Gene Lake, Billy Kilson, Ronnie Burrage, Steve Jordan, Greg Hutchinson, Dafnis Prieto, Keith Carlock, Anton Fig, Rodney Holmes, Mike Clark, Terri-Lyne Carrington, JuJu House, Willie Jones III & Tony Lewis just to name a few.

His performing & recording credits include such artists as Branford Marsalis, Salif Keita, Cassandra Wilson, Ravi Coltrane, Steve Coleman, Don Byron, Mike Mainieri, Cheick- Tidiane Seck, Meshell N'degeocello, Kenny Kirkland, World Saxophone Quartet, D'Angelo, Chico Hamilton, Arturo O'Farrill, Lester Bowie, Will Smith & Arthur Blythe. Regg has the correct « bass flavors » or « bassisms » for ALL musical genres.

Currently touring with Grammy winner trumpeter Roy Hargrove & his own trio (Washington-Vann-Galland), his feeling & sensitivity for yesterday's & today's music has grown into a force. A sinewy, deep & crisp bass groove that holds the bottom & compliments the music.

He also spends several months a year in Belgium, where he formed two trios, one with Erwin Vann (ten sax) and Stéphane Galland (drs), and « Washington Trio Tree » with Jozef Dumoulin (kb) and Dré Pallemaerts (drs).

« This guy has gold in his hands! » (JVC Festival Paris 2005).

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News

The 'Black Lives - from Generation to Generation' band won the Band of the Year International 2023 award at the Deutscher Jazz Preis. The group is based in Belgium and was created in 2021 by Stefany...
Reggie Washington's double bass was stolen, apparently between September 28 and 30, 2022, in  Brussels. The theft was discovered on October 1.On November 7, 2022, a jam session is held at the Sou...