July 1996July 1996
Movie sound tracks, TV, albums, live gigs, composing, leading, producing. From Marcus Belgrave to Herbie Hancock to Wayne Shorter to Harry Connick, Jr. to Wynton and Branford Marsalis. Gifted bassist Robert Hurst III, the newest member of BAG END's family of endorsers and users, has just about done it all in his young career.
Perhaps it's a shame that he is best known by the public as the bassist for the Tonight Show band, because that's only the tip of the talent iceberg for this Detroit native. He has also performed on Saturday Night Live, the Arsenio Hall Show, the Joan Rivers Show, NBC-TV's Today Show, ABC-TV's Good Morning America, and the Fox Network's In Living Color.
Hurst was also bassist on the soundtrack for Spike Lee's hit feature films Mo' Better Blues and Do the Right Thing. He has ap-peared on more than six albums, including Wynton Marsalis' Grammy award-winning albums, J-Mood" and Marsalis Standard Time" Bran-ford Marsalis' Grammy winner, I Heard You Twice the First Time, and on Harry Connick Jr.'s Gold Album 20.
Hurst got his first big break when Wynton Marsalis heard one of his tapes. But it wasn't a "quickie" marriage. "When I was a freshman at Indiana University, Wynton sent me a plane ticket and asked me to fly out to Los Angeles to read through some music with his band." Serious about staying in school, Hurst turned down Marsalis' first offer - and his second - and his third. Finally in 1985, Robert gave in and joined up for what he calls "a very positive experience."
Later, playing with Branford Marsalis, the band was invited for a guest shot on the Tonight Show one night when Jay Leno was filling in for Johnny Carson. A short time later, when Leno was named to replace the retiring Carson, Leno talked Branford into joining the show as the regular band. It meant a big change for Hurst. "I had pretty much been doing the acoustic thing," he said. "I hadn't played electric since doing some funk gigs back at Indiana."
What has been the most fun thing about the Tonight Show?" "Learning the language of different music," he said. "Coming on with Willie Nelson or Vince Gill, learning the language of country, or the different R&B things we do - or playing with Boyz II Men, or the Kinks or Roger Daltrey - trying to be true to the style - that's always the challenge."
Hurst got turned on to BAG END loudspeakers by an equally ac-complished bassist, John Patitucci. "I had actually ran into them originally with a keyboard player who was using them and I thought they were pretty cool," he remembered. "But John and (BAG END artist relations rep) Joe Hesse had me play through them the first time."
And - as is usually the case - he was sold on them almost immediately. "The BAG END speakers have real deep lows, and clean, but not real brash highs, but smooth and true," he said.
Hurst's personal BAG END speaker rig is similar to Patitucci's:
a Q10XD system teamed with a D10XD cabinet. The BAG END Q10XD is loaded with three E10 low-frequency speakers and a AX-HI coax E-10X low-frequency speaker containing an E-500 high-frequency transducer. The transducer is constructed with a titanium diaphram to create a smoother high end.
Hurst joins a rapidly growing family of critically acclaimed artists who play through BAG END loudspeaker systems. That ex-clusive family includes Patitucci, Herbie Hancock, Adrian Belew (King Crimson), Chick Corea, Art Neville (Neville Brothers), Vernon Reid, Melvin Davis, Larry Carlton, Keith Emerson (Emerson, Lake & Palmer), Al DiMeola, Alan Holdsworth, Tom Coster, Ken Kinsey (The Kinsey Report) and many, many more.
Celebrating its 20th anniversary in 1966, BAG END Loudspeaker Systems has built an enviable reputation among performing artists because of the professional, high quality and rugged construction of its loudspeaker systems and components, coupled with the industry's best warranty.
For more information on BAG END products, contact BAG END at 22272 Pepper Road, Barrington, IL 60010, or call BAG END at (847) 382-4550.
 Bag End Loudspeakers, USA847 382 4550 www.bagend.com |