Jack Casady Honored with Lifetime Achievement Award

Bassist Jack Casady was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award on October 22 at Bass Player Live! in Los Angeles, continuing a tradition Bass Player started in 1998 that has honored top players.    It was an epic night at the Key Club in West Hollywood, California on October 22, 2011. “I think now so many years, so much treasure in the bank in the world of bass guitar…I must pay homage to Jack Casady as one of the towering figures in the comprehensive history of the bass. As far as original conception, well played, superbly applied, there are but few players with the kind of originality and power as Jack Casady has,” said Antony Jackson. After the moving induction speech by Anthony Jackson, session bassist for the likes of Chick Corea, Steely Dan, Paul Simon, and many others, Casady was presented with the award which he took in touching tribute to wife his Diana. “When you find somebody in your life that grounds you it just makes everything better. It makes you play better, makes you think better and makes you a better human being,” said Casady. Casady then proceeded to offer anecdotes on the various paths throughout his career before performing a ferocious forty-five minute acoustic duo set with Hot Tuna mate, Jorma Kaukonen. Listen to Antony Jackson's induction speech and Jack Acceptance on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Qa2x1ekej8&feature=related

"One of the most original innovators in the sixty-year history of the bass guitar, Jack Casady made his sweeping melodic mark circa 1965, helping to create the “San Francisco sound” with legendary rock group Jefferson Airplane. Jack would go on to track with Jimi Hendrix, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Warren Zevon, members of the Grateful Dead, John Lee Hooker, Gov’t Mule, and Rusted Root. But it was his 1969 pairing with Kaukonen to found the archetype acoustic (and electric) Hot Tuna that has been his longest-running band and musical home. Along the way, Casady has been a diligent and discerning advocate for the art and craft of bass playing, drawing from such wide-ranging influences as classical music, Jelly Roll Morton, Eddie Condon, and Charles Mingus to master the subtleties and finer points of creating musical bass lines, developing grooves, incorporating dynamics, and shaping tone.  Congratulations on your much-deserved Bass Player Lifetime Achievement Award, Jack!" – Chris Jisi, Bass Player "For about 45 years, Casady has been regarded as one of rock's greatest bassists, certainly one of its most original," Dan Forte, Vintage Guitar

That same weekend, Epiphone set up shop in LA at SIR Studios for Bass Player LIVE! where Casady stopped by to greet the lucky winner of an Ebony Jack Casady Signature bass and hang out. Jack worked several years with Epiphone R&D to make his signature bass a reality. "I did a lot of homework and bench testing and finally when it clicked in right, it was great." The Jack Casady Signature bass features a JCB-1 low impedance pickup and employs a three-position transformer to shape the frequency response.

Historic Hot Tuna! Jack Casady’s bass lines are front and center on Hot Tuna’s first studio album in twenty years, Steady as She Goes, recorded at Levon Helm’s Woodstock studio and released earlier this year on Red House Records. "Casady is Casady, one of the most unorthodox and profoundly gifted bassists ever known to rock music." - Dwight Hobbs, Twin Cities Daily Planet “Casady is virtually unparalleled–and yet he has one of the most truly unique electric-bass voices in rock...he can melt into a supportive role but when opportunity knocks, he bursts forth with creative lines–both simple and ornate–that are unlike any you’ve heard” – Greg Olwell, Premier Guitar “I’m not giving Tuna principals Jorma Kaukonen (guitar/vocals) and Jack Casady (bass) any extra points for being living legends or cutting them any slack...this is simply a good album. No – a great album.” – Brian Robbins, jambands.com