Respected bassist releases solo album
By WAKU SAUNAR
Simon Tan has stepped out of the shadows – with a little help from friends.
After years of playing and recording music as sideman to artists as diverse as Mon David, Noel Cabangon, Armida Siguion-Reyna, Skarlet, The Company, Lampano Alley, Kulay and WDOUJI, the prolific bass player is at last spreading his wings, releasing his solo debut “Breach” with ample support from sax player Joey De Guzman and drummer Rey Vinoya.
Tan is a musician of the highest order. He started playing electric bass in his late twenties but prior, he has already studied guitar as with classical music in UP.
A self-produced album, “Breach” contains original compositions written by Simon. It was almost two years in the making.
According to Simon, the album’s title track was fun to record. “We only did one take. Medyo free form ‘yung solo sections. Kung saan lang mapunta…”
As to his favorite track, he mentioned “Bubu Blues.”
“It is a personal favorite with my granddaughter introducing the song,” he said.
Then there’s “San Tayo Koyang,” which he dedicates to the memory of Edgar Avenir, whom he said is “one of the best guitarists I’ve played with.”
Asked what or who inspired the album, Tan said “John Patitucci is an inspiration. So are Ben Allison and Chris Lightcap.”
He adds that playing with his favorite musicians in various musical forms keeps him going.
In keeping up with his sideman work, we asked Tan about albums he worked on recently and he mentioned “Bless This Mess” by Bamboo and “Humanidad” by Dong Abay.
He also played on Rick Countryman’s album with Sabu Toyozumi, and Christian Bucher’s records.
He advises aspiring bassists, especially those wanting to do session work to keep on practicing and learn how to read sheet music.
“It is a must especially in the session business,” Tan emphasized.
