Eddie Gomez
b. 4 November 1944, San Juan, Texas, USA. Gomez moved to New York as a child and took up the bass when he was 12 years old. He was at the High School of Music and Art before going on to the Juilliard School where he studied with Fred Zimmerman. He played with Marshall Brown's International Youth Band and then in the early '60s with Gary McFarland, Jim Hall, Paul Bley, Jeremy Steig (flute) and Gerry Mulligan before joining Bill Evanswith whom he stayed for 10 years (1966-77). He needed his musically agile mind and technical dexterity in that trio with which he often played melodically in the upper register of the bass. During the early '80s he played in the band Steps Ahead which Mike Mainieri (vibes) kept together after a group of New York session musicians made an acclaimed tour of Japan. He has successfully played this fusion music on the amplified double bass rather than moving to bass guitar. Gomez has continued as a very much in-demand musician through the '80s playing and recording with Jack DeJohnette, Hank Jones and Joanne Brackeen among others.