INTERVIEW
If plucking a ripe plum from a tree had a sound, it would resemble Carol Kaye’s signature tone – a tone that made her a ‘first-call’ bassist in the highly competitive studio session world. It wasn’t just that, though. Kaye is arguably the first bassist to exploit the instrument in a truly melodic fashion, a nod perhaps to her early days as a jazz guitar prodigy. Her ability to invent memorable and influential bass and guitar parts on the spot in a high-pressure situation took her to – and kept her at – the very top of the studio scene and onto more than 10,000 recordings.
Carol Kaye was born into a musical family in Washington state on the Pacific Northwest in 1935, with both parents professional musicians. In 1942, they relocated to California and by the age of 13, she took possession of her first guitar. Incredibly, within a year she was proficient enough to take on students of her own alongside playing gigs in the local jazz clubs.
“I turned professional in 1948 after working with a fine jazz guitar teacher on the West Coast,” Carol says. “Within a few months I’d learned enough to be out playing jazz gigs. Almost everyone in those days had a music everywhere: on the radio, TV and in the movies.”
