by Dave Nery…

Rick Cameron came up with a radical idea, though there are those who would argue with that terminology.

For instance, some think Rick’s idea was simply bad; others that it’s crazy; but, to be fair, his friend who said, “His vision is alarming,” was probably exaggerating, poking fun.

Cameron is a bass player who was unsatisfied with the bass player’s usual role of keeping the beat in tune. That judgment is only slightly unusual and some of the best bands actually feature the bass with intricate rhythm lines and harmonies. He took the concept to a controversial extreme: bass solos with only his own electronic accompaniment.

Before drifting too far – theoretically – afield, one point must be clearly made: Rick Cameron is a very skilled bass player (he also hires out for freelance work), and his original compositions are complex, interesting and musically sound.

And not everyone is disparaging. He has been called, “a musician’s musician” and “bassist  extraordinaire,” and his work, “exotic and brilliant,” “interesting” and “cool.”

And also, greatly to his credit is his humility. On the back cover of his second, two-disc CD, “It’s Different 2,” he includes these comments by his friends and fans: “exclusively for other bass players,” “It’s OK,” “My attention span isn’t that long,” and “What the ?*$%#??”

The fact is that Cameron’s work insists on confronting the essential question of his quest: whether or not a solo bass with electronic back-up is a functional vehicle. He opened for Stratospheerius at Blue Magoo’s on October15th, and while he would have benefited from an introduction (several patrons wondered if he had begun to perform or was tuning up), the combination of slow string vibration, overly loud and somewhat muffled electronics, and an inadequate sound system, it was a challenge to appreciate his talent.

The sound is much more differentiated on his CDs, which, though primitively recorded, don’t include feedback. Those self-published CDs are available to anyone who will mail him $2 (any currency) for postage, although — by minor oversight — Bassplayer Rick omitted his address. [Or click through to his website from his JamBrain profile page.]