Jul 22, 2026 12:37 PM
In Memoriam: Rodney Holmes, 1966–2026
Drummer Rodney Holmes, a powerful presence behind the kit who emerged as an in-demand player on the New York scene…
“It’s rare for bassists to get that opportunity to duet with a vocalist,” says Chuck Bergeron. “I thought it would be great to do a whole recording like that.”
(Photo: Gabriella Bianchini)Over the course of his career as a jazz bassist, Chuck Bergeron has played in the Buddy Rich Big Band, directed and recorded with the South Florida Jazz Orchestra, toured for seven years with the acclaimed vocalist Kevin Mahogany, released small-group recordings as a leader in the company of Randy Brecker, Joey Calderazzo, Peter Erskine and John Abercrombie, and has also performed with Stan Getz, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Terell Stafford, James Moody, Matt Wilson and many others.
Bergeron’s latest release on Summit Records, Bass + Face, presents his bass expertise in a program of intimate, primarily duet performances with an impressive cast of vocalists that includes Janis Siegel, Sheila Jordan, Kevin Mahogany, Rosanna Vitro, Nicole Yarling, Pete McGuinness, Deborah Silver, George Rabbai, Kate Reid, Phil Strange and Lisanna Lyons.
DownBeat caught up with Bergeron this summer during a brief break from his program director duties at the annual Jazz Aspen Snowmass Academy during its Big Band Session, where he was teaching alongside fellow bassist Christian McBride.
“We’re getting ready to go into the second and final week of camp, and in addition to working with the students on music, I’ve been teaching a music business class and walking them through what I’m doing right now in helping promote my new recording,” he explained. “I’m going over things like getting your bio and publicity together and working with media promotion. I had fun ending the class by telling them I had to wrap things up and do an interview with DownBeat.”
According to Bergeron, the inspiration for doing the recording — as well as the eventual title for the album — came from live duet performances with Seattle vocalist Kendra Shank.
“I moved to Seattle after spending a long time in New York City,” he recalled. “There were some great musicians there, and I started working with Kendra in 1998. In the middle of every gig, she would do vocal-bass duets with me, calling it Bass and Face. It’s rare for bassists to get that opportunity to duet with a vocalist. It was really something I enjoyed, and I thought it would be great to do a whole recording like that. Later, after I started teaching at Frost School of Music in Miami, I began directing the South Florida Jazz Orchestra. But getting all the musicians in a jazz orchestra together to do recordings is difficult, and after doing four albums, I began thinking of something that could be easier. Then it came back to me: bass-vocal duos.
“I remembered that Harvie S and Sheila Jordan had done several duo albums, and Christian McBride had recently done his Conversations With Christian record. When Sheila Jordan came down to Miami a few years ago, we ended up playing together at a local radio station. Since I work with a lot of singers, I thought that it’s time to do the bass-vocal duo album. This is going to be my next project.”
Bergeron began calling vocalists he’d worked with over the years and was pleased that all of them agreed to be part of the project. He began scheduling recording sessions in March 2024, while on spring break from Frost, traveling to New York and New Jersey to record sessions with Sheila Jordan and Pete McGuinness.
“Sheila was 95 at that time, and since she had such a great history of recording duos with Harvie S, she didn’t want to duplicate that,” explained Bergeron. ‘We brought in guitarist John Hart and recorded them doing Sheila’s composition ‘Fair Weather.’ I let all the vocalists choose what they wanted to sing. Pete and I have been friends since college, and he did a great duet version of Johnny Mandel’s ‘Emily’ with me.”
Later sessions over the next year-plus in New Jersey captured Bergeron in one-on-one settings with Janis Siegel on “An Occasional Man” and “When I Drink” as well as Rosanna Vitro on a bluesy version of Jeannie Cheatham’s “Take The Wrinkles Out Your Birthday Suit.” Bergeron also backed George Rabbai on the classic “I Thought About You.” “George played trumpet when I was with him in Woody Herman’s band,” said Bergeron. “He showed up at the studio with it, which was perfect. He played a great trumpet intro before he sang the tune.”
Sessions for the album were also recorded in south Florida with two of Bergeron’s teaching colleagues: Kate Reid sang on “Devil May Care” and Nicole Yarling on a medley of “Audubon Zoo” and “Iko-Iko,” which features a violin solo by Yarling in addition to her vocals. South Florida-based Lisanne Lyons sang on “Detour Ahead,” and Deborah Silver joined Bergeron on “Analog.” A bonus track features pianist/vocalist Phil Strange, who worked with Bergeron in Kevin Mahogany’s band, on “Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans,” which closes out the recording.
Bass + Face also features vocals by the late Mahogany that were recorded in 2005 but never released. Mahogany sings on a version of Charles Mingus’ “Duke Ellington’s Sound Of Love,” as well as John Lewis’ “Two Degrees East, Three Degrees West.” Bergeron, Strange and drummer John Riley accompanied Mahogany on the Mingus composition and were joined by saxophonist Charles Pillow on the Lewis recording.
“I have a tape of those tunes with Kevin and was listening to them while I was working on pulling this album together,” recalled Bergeron. “Kevin’s voice was just an unbelievable instrument, and our bass and vocal rapport was incredible. I had to include those tracks even though they weren’t duos. And I think along with George Rabbai’s trumpet, Nicole’s violin, John Hart’s guitar and added percussion by Richie Bravo on “An Occasional Man,” that additional instrumentation gives the album a wider musical range.”
When asked if he has contemplated following up the album with live performances featuring some of the vocalists, Bergeron said yes. “I would love that like you couldn’t believe,” he said. “What I may try to do is get the four singers in the Miami area together to do something. The other four singers live in the New York area, so maybe we could do something up there. We might also consider something in conjunction with a Jazz Education Network conference.” DB
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