Leland Sklar BASS ACE
by Michael Limnios His list of credits. could stretch to the
moon. He’s a legend, and one hell of a bass player. Leland Bruce "Lee" Sklar was born May 28, 1947 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. An musician and film score composer, Sklar has contributed to over 2,500 albums as a session musician. He has collaborated with a number of well-known performers and recorded a vast amount of soundtracks. Sklar studied music at California State University, Northridge, and it was during that time that he met James Taylor, who invited him to play bass on some of his shows. They both thought that the work would be short-term, but soon Tay- lor's career took off with his first hit records, and Sklar came into the limelight. He was soon asked to record with others, and his long career began. Sklar was a budding pianist before switch-
ing to double bass at an early age. His focus was on classical music, though he grew to love pop and rock music. This diversity aided his musical development and ideas, which in turn fueled his creativity. In the studio, he would often write his own lines. His very recognizable bass playing style has
been heard on hits by James Taylor, Carole King, the Cate Brothers, Air Supply, America, Peter Allen, Hoyt Axton, Jackson Browne, Jimmy Buffett, Glen Campbell, David Cas-
sidy, Ray Charles, Billy Cobham, Joe Cocker, Leonard Cohen, Phil Collins, Rita Coolidge, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Jackie DeShan- non, Neil Diamond, Donovan, the Doors, Mimi Fariña, Richie Furay, Art Garfunkel, Vince Gill, Arlo Guthrie, Sammy Hagar, Merle Haggard, Hall & Oates, Don Henley, Roger Hodgson, Engelbert Humperdinck, Flaco Jiménez, John Kay, Carole King, Kris Kristof- ferson, Steve Lukather, Manhattan Transfer, Yumi Matsutoya, Roger McGuinn, Bette Mi- dler, Aaron Neville, Randy Newman, Van Dyke Parks, Dolly Parton, Bonnie Raitt, Lee Ritenour, Linda Ronstadt, David Sanborn, Carly Simon, Spencer Davis Group, Rod Stewart, Jimmy Webb, Jesse Colin Young , Warren Zevon, and Poco , to name just a few.
How do you describe the Leland Sklar sound and what characterizes your mu- sical philosophy? I try, as best I can, to create a solid founda- tion for the music I am working on. A solid, deep, rich tone. The bass being the founda- tion upon which all the rest of the sonics are built must be defined. I keep my action quite high for sustain. I play hard and do not want to have fret noise and rattling. I have, for decades, used Mandoline fret wire on my basses. It is very thin and makes very little noise when doing glissandos or chords.
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