Jing Chi Cd

Jing Chi
Order the Jing Chi CD Here or
Order the Jing Chi Live CD Here

The brainchild of bassist/composer Jimmy Haslip, Jing Chi was conceived as a forum for musical expression and interaction between Haslip and fellow music icons, Robben Ford and Vinnie Colaiuta. They played together in Robben Ford's group and shared a level of confidence and trust in each other as people and as musical voices that made their collaboration in Jing Chi a natural evolution, rather than a pre-fab super group.

Their shared interests in different styles of music comes out in Jing Chi's cohesive, yet diverse, musical compositions which are as much about expressing a mood as they are about letting it out and playing without commercial restriction. They each bring to the studio a vast amount of experience and knowledge to draw from, yet they continually push each other and learn from each other, which results in a rare musical exchange. Influences as diverse as Cream and the early Tony Williams Lifetime can be heard in addition to funk and delta blues influences, but the final result is "Jing Chi"

When asked about the prospect of doing some live dates, Haslip said "I am extremely excited to make this happen for us. We are all psyched to do a tour and play out live and there are some opportunities for us to put a tour together for 2002. We are organizing some dates and hope to announce a cool tour sometime next year. I believe it will be happening"

Vinnie Colaiuta

One of the most respected and revered drummers of all time, Vinnie Colaiuta headed for the Berklee College of music after high school in Pennsylvania. At Berklee he honed his chops and forged a friendship with fellow drum icon Steve Smith that resulted in them rooming and studying together.

After Berklee Vinnie did his first professional studio session under veteran producer Al Kooper before heading for L.A. where he learned about an audition Frank Zappa was holding for a new drummer. After putting Vinnie through the paces at a grueling audition, Vinnie was hired and began forging a long and important relationship which resulted in Vinnie's appearance on over 15 of Zappa's albums.

His work with Joni Mitchell and many others in the 80's created a demand for Vinnie as a "first-call" drummer on the highly competitive L.A. session scene. Although his work with Zappa and the majority of the contemporary jazz and fusion legends caused a strong demand for his playing in the industry and his work with pop legend "Sting" for much of the 90's exposed him to mainstream audiences around the world and contributed to his current status as one of the world's most legendary drummers. Vinnie has worked with top rock and jazz artists including Celine Dion, Jewel, The Temptations, Steely Dan Duran Duran, Gino Vannelli, Weather Report, George Benson, Allan Holdsworth and many, many others.Weather ReportVinnie has worked with K Zildjian

Robben Ford

A guitarist from the age of 13, Robben Ford began playing with Charlie Musslewhite at age 18. A year or so later, Robben and his brothers, formed the Charles Ford band, named after their father and recorded an album for Northern California based Arhoolie records which is still a favorite among blues aficionados.

After moving to Los Angeles, began working with hall of fame blues singer Jimmy Witherspoon and toured U.S. and Europe before being asked by Tom Scott's group the L.A. Express to back-up Joni Mitchell on the road. As opening act for Joni Mitchell, Tom Scott and the L.A. Express quickly gained notoriety and Robben along with them. On a trip to England he was asked to play with George Harrison on his Dark Horse album and subsequent tour in 1974. Robben's album, entitled "The Inside Story" was recorded mostly with the band that became the Yellow Jackets which was the start of a musical bond with Jing Chi bassist Jimmy Haslip.

An offer to play with Miles Davis resulted in Robben hitting the road with Miles for half a year. His next big career milestone occurred when Warner Brother's release of Robben's solo album "Talk to Your Daughter" in 1988 resulted in a Grammy nomination.

This gave rise to his most well known solo group, Robben Ford and The Blue Line. Robben Ford and the Blue Line recorded three well-received records and the group toured the world for the next few years. Robben's next record, "Tiger Walk" contained the song "In The Beginning" which was also nominated for a Grammy. His last studio album "The Supernatural" was critically acclaimed and further cemented Robben Ford's status as a true guitar hero.

Jimmy Haslip

Jimmy Haslip began forging a career as one of the industry's most in demand bassists back in the early '70's. Playing with guitar legends such as Buzzy Feiten and Tommy Bolin gave rise to a demand for his services that has carried him into the new millennium.

Artists such as Crosby Stills and Nash, Blackjack with Michael Bolton, Lee Ritenour, Robben Ford and Tom Scott utilized his talents on recordings throughout the latter part of the '70's.

The 80's saw the development of Jimmy's group the Yellowjackets in which Jimmy expanded his writing and composing chops, recording nearly a record a year over the past two decades. Also during the '80's his demand as a session player continued to grow as he recorded with Cher , Kenny G, Bobby McFerrin, The Rippingtons. Rod Stewart and Steely Dan.

Haslip continues to thrive with the Yellowjackets and holds onto the status of one of the industry's most working bassists.