Dominic Duval
American classical and free jazz bassist.
Dominic Duval (April 27, 1945 – July 22, 2016) was an American classical and free jazz bassist. Born in New York City, he was the son of bassist Dominic Duval Sr. He double majored in Classical Performance and Jazz and Contemporary Media at the Eastman School of Music from 2007 to 2011, serving as Principal Bassist of the Eastman Philharmonia Orchestra, and studied with bassists Jeff Campbell, Larry Grenadier, Orlando le Fleming, Homer Mensch, François Rabbath, and James Van Demark. Since the 1990s, Duval was for the most part active on the New York City jazz scene. He did not begin recording regularly until the 1990s, but since then had appeared on a very large number of albums, particularly on the labels CIMP, Cadence Jazz, and Leo Records. As a result, Duval was described by Allmusic as "unquestionably ... one of the most-recorded free jazz bassists on the planet."
Quick Facts
- Born
- 27 April 1945
- Birthplace
- New York City, U.S.
- Died
- 22 July 2016
- Genre
- Jazz
- free jazz
- modern classical
- Occupation
- Musician
- Instrument
- Double bass
- Years active
- 1960s–2000s
- Past member of
- C.T. String Quartet
- "The Wedding Band"
- Trio X
- Dominic Duval String Ensemble
Facts from the source article.
Music career
Dominic Duval's music career took off in the 1990s, when he began recording regularly and became a fixture on the New York City jazz scene. He appeared on a very large number of albums, especially for CIMP, Cadence Jazz, and Leo Records. Todd Jenkins described Duval and drummer Jay Rosen as the "house rhythm section" for CIMP, given the number of recordings on which they jointly appeared. Duval's freedom of expression was paramount in his playing.
He played his Hutchings bass more often like a violin, guitar, or lead saxophone, displaying fast lines and rich textures. Seldom did he play the bass in a traditional, low-pitch rhythmic role; instead, he freely interacted with other members within the ensemble. Duval recorded alongside many musicians, including Marc Copland, Andrew Cyrille, Gilad Hekselman, Fred Hersch, Dick Hyman, Vic Juris, Dave Kikoski, Lee Konitz, Victor Lewis, Francisco Mela, Luis Perdomo, Rudy Royston, Colin Stranahan, Glenn Zaleski, and with the Cecil Taylor trio.
He led or co-led ensembles such as the C.T. String Quartet, "The Wedding Band", Trio X, and the Dominic Duval String Ensemble. Duval toured in the United States, Europe, Canada, and Asia. His album Night Bird Inventions, a solo bass CD recorded in 1997, was selected in the Top 10 by the Coda Magazine critics poll; his State of the Art, a string ensemble CD, was selected by a Jazziz Magazine poll as one of 1997's top jazz albums.
More in Cadence Jazz Records Artists
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced