By Editor, Jake Kot
For those of you who are not familiar with Ric Fierabracci, it would be
well worth your time to check this man out. I first heard him on the
Hemispheres CD with band mate Joel Rosenblatt (former drummer with
Spyro Gyra), which we reviewed in an earlier issue, and was very
impressed with his work. Then I was able to catch him live at Bass Bash
at the 2008 Namm show and got to see (hear) what he could do. Amazing
player. A quick insight into his personality showed up when I was
following him after his performance to set up an interview with him,
and he noticed me trailing him and turned around and said, "Do I owe
you money?" I liked him right away.
His credentials are strong, having worked with the Chick Corea Electric
Band, Billy Cobham group, Dave Weckl band, Frank Gamble group, Scott
Hendersen, Eric Marienthal, and Randy Brecker to name a few.
Groove, taste, and stunning solo chops make this bassist a regular call
for some of the best in the business. I'm also glad to announce that
Ric will be joining us as a staff member starting with our April issue.
A great player, as well as a great guy and a welcomed addition to the
mag.
Jake: I read a quote you had posted on you're Myspace page, that
being---"Practice and thought might gradually forge many an art." With
your schedule as busy as it is, and that premise in mind, what do you
focus on when time for practice, and thought, opens up?
Ric: When I sit down, I try to always have some kind of goal. In other
words, if I have 10 minutes, or an hour, I always try to have
something in mind to accomplish instead of just warming up. Things
like, if I'm looking at a half diminished chord, what do I usually do,
and I'll take a look at that, or if technically there's something I'm
not happy with, I'll try to fix that in the time I have.
Many times I'll just open up a book and read. There are a couple of
cello books I work out of. They're etude books, one being the Dotzauer
cello studies. There are three volumes of this and I've been using them
for years. It's good for me to work with these books because it gets me
away from what I'm usually playing. I'll also work on bebop
heads---learn a new one if I have time. I always want to walk away from
my practice time knowing that I learned something.
Jake: Are the cello books more of a technique and sight-reading
exercise, or are there melodic factors involved when you're going
through these etudes?
