Another instrumentalist more widely associated with soul, pop, funk, and R&B, yet highly respected by jazz musicians,
Chuck Rainey's been a star electric bassist since the '60s. While
Jaco Pastorius and
Stanley Clarke featured flashy, blistering playing and approached electric bass as if they were improvising on a guitar,
Rainey's forte has been a heavy, steady pulse and vigorous support, fitting into a rhythm section and locking onto a groove with a vengeance.
Rainey studied violin, piano, and trumpet in his youth, then moved from Youngstown to Cleveland at 21. He played electric guitar and bass in various R&B bands, then joined
King Curtis' group in New York during 1964.
Rainey's done hundreds of recording sessions since then, but has also done a fair number of jazz dates. He played with
Jerome Richardson,
Grady Tate,
Mose Allison,
Gato Barbieri, and
Gene Ammons in the late '60s and early '70s, as well as with
Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson at the 1971 Montreux Festival.
Rainey toured and played that same year with
Aretha Franklin. He moved to Los Angeles in 1972, and worked there with
the Crusaders and
Hampton Hawes, and recorded with
Donald Byrd,
Sonny Rollins, and
John Handy in the mid-'70s.
Rainey recorded in Japan with
Hiroshi Fukumura in 1978. He's made two rare dates as a leader for Cobblestone in 1971 and for Hammer n' Nails in 1981. Neither is around today, but
Rainey can be heard on many discs by
Franklin,
Curtis,
Rollins, and others. ~ Ron Wynn