Gary Willis’s latest project, Triphasic, got its start in 2008 and saw the release of “Shaman” later in the year. The eclectic-electric trio features Llibert Fortuny on tenor sax, electronics and vocal effects as well as David Gomez on drums and electronic percussion. Willis’s latest explorations have been focused on bringing a synchronized visual experience to the trio’s live performances. This new development finds Willis occupying the VJ controls at the same time navigating the electronic sequences that the band improvises to.
In 2007, Gary Willis relaunched his solo and bandleader career with the release of “Actual Fiction” and the avant-jam-trio “Slaughterhouse 3“. Early reviews of “Actual Fiction” describe that it’s “everything you’ve ever liked about his work with Tribal Tech and leaps forward a few light years.” while being “wide open from the very first note and will test your neck vertebrae with the powerful rhythms all through this recording.” Allaboutjazz.com describes “Slaughterhouse 3″ as “Undoubtedly funky and at times lyrical, the music on Slaughterhouse 3 is also nicely edgy, exploring some dark and heavy musical avenues. Willis, Covington and Fortuny all excel on a fascinating album which will hopefully be only the first of further collaborations together.”
Through the years Willis has played with musicians like Wayne Shorter, Allan Holdsworth, Hubert Laws, Simon Phillips, Joe Diorio, Robben Ford, and Pil Upchurch, as well as being the co-leader of Tribal Tech. In sixteen years of co-leading Tribal Tech with guitarist Scott Henderson, the band produced nine critically acclaimed CD’s, (the last one, “Rocket Science”, was released in 2000) Willis launched his solo career with the September 1996 release of “No Sweat”, featuring incredible performances by Dennis Chambers on drums, Scott Kinsey on keyboards, and Steve Tavaglione on woodwinds and EWI. For the 1998 follow up “Bent”, in addition to Chambers, Kinsey and Tavaglione, Willis added the fiery tenor of Bob Berg and long time Tribal Tech cohort/drummer Kirk Covington. Bent lives up to its title and takes the “rules” of jazz, through dynamic compositions and rhythm-defying improv, and bends reality to fit the talent of easily the most musically monstrous lineup on the scene today. Despite its all-star cast, any listener expecting the self-indulgent “chopfest” is instead treated to great musicians playing tastefully, musically and unselfishly.
As of 2004, Willis became a Barcelona, Spain resident and spends part of his time as a professor of composition, arranging, improvisation and bass at Barcelona’s prestigious Escola Superior de Musica de Catalunya conservatory. The Texas native studied arranging and improvisation as part of the legendary jazz program at North Texas State University. It was there that he switched to bass after years of guitar & bass study. After moving to Los Angeles in ’82 he became a course leader at Musicians Institute in Hollywood and taught at the prestigious California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, California. In 1993, Warner publications released “Bass Lessons with the Greats”, which includes a chapter on Willis’s unique approach to improvisation. His hour-long educational video entitled “Progressive Bassics” features discussion of his technical and fingerboard harmony concepts. In 1998 [Hal Leonard Publishing Co] published his “Fingerboard Harmony for Bass”. Adding to the Willis publishing catalog, Hal Leonard Publishing Co offers “The Gary Willis Collection”. The book features 11 transcriptions of original Willis tunes, including the contemporary classic The “Necessary Blonde”, which is one of two compositions also included in Sher Music’s “The New Real Book-Volume Two”. Two other compositions from his solo recordings are also featured in the ” All Jazz Real Book”, “It’s Only Music” and “The Everlasting Night” also from Sher Music. In Jan. ’99 Hal Leonard released “Ultimate Ear Training for Guitar and Bass”. Bass Player calls it an “excellent method to help you develop your ears and connect them-through your hands-to your instrument.” In demand as an educator, He’s conducted clinics and master classes in over 21 different countries. The latest Willis book from Hal Leonard, “101 Tips for Bass” , was released in 2002 and provides valuable how-to insight that bassists of all styles and levels can benefit from.
In 1999, Ibanez Guitars introduced the Gary Willis Signature Bass. In development for almost 2 years, the Willis Bass offers bassists the chance to purchase the bass built to Willis’s exacting specifications, and an opportunity to get that “Willis sound.” The bass has evolved over the years with subtile improvements, but the latest, most striking change is that now the bass is hand-crafted from start to finish and in Willis’s words: “Instead of trying to make this bass more affordable, Ibanez has decided to make it perfect”