Tom Kennedy in his Signature Fodera

Ooo, nice. I like his gallery too.
This is one bass player I want to see live.
Hope to catch him in Boston this fall.
Thanx Cheese.

 

Tom is a phenomenal player.

 

I'll be honest, I have a love/hate relationship with Tom Kennedy's playing.

Let me first get this out there: I have absolutely no illusions that I can or ever will be able to play anywhere as near as well as Tom. The dude has not only incredible facility/technique but also incredible ears. I'm not only Not In His League, I'm not even in his Junior D-League.

The guy has chops out the wazoo. He also has stone-cold perfect timing. He can groove the poopie out of most anything. When he is accompanying another soloist -- e.g., Michael Maneri, or Mike Stern, or Michael Brecker ...and not just guys named Mike! -- he is the consummate professional, holding down the foundation and supporting the rhythmic/harmonic structure while simultaneously inspiring/provoking the soloist and the drummer (!). He has few equals.

But when he starts soloing -- my one complaint, but it's a big complaint because it seems to come up every time I hear him solo, and it's especially evident in that OP video -- he just doesn't BREATHE. His phrasing seems surprisingly non-existent; it's just endless walls of notes that only introduce space when he momentarily runs out of ideas. The pitch sequences are astounding, the clarity of the execution with which he articulates them is mind-boggling, but there's just no shape to the lines. Undifferentiated pitches sprayed across a harmonic backdrop.

Brilliant spraying, but spraying nonetheless.

Okay, rant over. Great player, just...that one thing bugs me.

 

I've always followed Tom's work.Whether with Bill Connors or Dave Weckl.
The man is a force to be reckoned with.
Check out this solo.

 

Saw him with Weckl some years back and he was phenomenal. Talked to him a bit afterwards - super nice, easy going guy who clearly loved his Fodera.

 

Hey Doc,
Is it just my imagination, or does St. Louis have more than its fair share of great bassists?

 

One of them--Al Caldwell--lived in my neck of the woods in CT for a while, several decades ago, when I was first starting to double on bass.
His enthusiasm for all things bass was so infectious that all I needed was his encouragement--which he generously supplied-- to have the confidence to make the switch from guitarist to full-time bass player.
Happy to say, I'm a full-time bass player, still living the dream in Tucson....thanks to Al!

 

Whoof!

Never heard of this guy before, and I usually don't go in for this jazz fusion bull-poopie, but damn if that isn't some bad mothershaging poopie right there.

I like this guy.

 

I saw Tom K. for the first time around 2006 playing with The Dave Weckl Band @ Drummers Collective in NYC. Sat in the front row next to Vic Wootens wife. I was blown away by the way Kennedy was able to deliver on “Double Up” without dropping a beat while screwing around and laughing on stage with the other band members. I don’t think he visually referenced his fingerboard once.

Been a TK fan since. Great talent. I’m not in that league or anywhere close by, but players like him that are that rich in groove-ology are always inspirational.

 

You don't have to be a great player to have a valid opinion about that dude's playing. I agree with you. He's a great player, but not a lot of dimension to this particular solo. I've never heard of him, so maybe he's had different sounding stuff.
But the fodera video and the solo video sound very similar to me. So who knows.
I'm with you though.

 

I think that gallery is at the Fodera shop.

 

Sounds like a killer player, but I can't stand his nasally treble tone. I've never understood why some BASS players can't stand to have their BASS sound like a BASS.

 

TK used to be my son’s bass teacher at SIUE. When he (Tom Kennedy) was playing a gig with Dave Weckl in Innsbruck, near our home, we were invited to come to the show and hang with the band. It was a lot of fun, the show was phenomenal and it was really interesting getting to hang out with Tom and Dave before the show.

In general, though, I kind of agree with Bob_Ross about TK’s playing—overall unbelievable skills but his solos tend to make my eyes glaze over after a while.

 

As Dorf on Golf has taught us, “Ye gottuh de different folks wit de different strokes he gottuh de different strokes for de different folks”. May not be a great standalone tone but his sound in a band mix is phenomenal. Check out “Pandas Dream” off Dave Weckls Synergy album. Absolutely KILLER tone IMO.

 

I've watched that clip many times. I love it. He plays some really great stuff there. I also like to watch the guy behind him reacting to it all....
1:26 and 1:46......favorite parts....

 

I met him in the late 90's at a Dave Weckl drum clinic. In a sea of drummers, he was happy to have a bassist come up and praise him. He was a humble genuine guy and amazing player.