Aldo

WHERE I STARTED: My story starts in the leafy suburbs of Boston and the hippy hills of the Pioneer Valley and I've remained a New England guy my whole life. I started on guitar quickly ditching the sight reading lessons to play Young Rascals and Wilson Pickett with my new musical buddies. A year into that, some friends needed a bass player for a high school dance, found me a Hagstrom bass that I still have and told me to learn by turning up the bass on the Animals first album. My man, Chas Chandler. They made me sing my first song too, Love Minus Zero/No Limit (Bob Dylan). I've kept up singing and playing since then and played in blues bands, swing orchestras, rock trios, jazz quintets, jug bands, and done my share of weddings, colleges and private parties. As I write this, I'm averaging 3-4 gigs a month with Bees Deluxe (acid blues), 2120 South Michigan Ave (Chicago blues), KingStreet featuring the Lakeview Horns (rock 'n soul), Soul of A Legend (classic rock) and getting my legs under me with Rolling Nectar (vintage modern rock 'n roll).

WHY I PLAY MUSIC:  I can't NOT play music. I love music and i love entertaining. As a bass player, I work hard at making the song work for the vocalist while keeping things percolating in the rhythm section. When I'm in the band, I'm not looking for a solo or a showcase and I'm not trying to show off my chops. I'm there to make the band sound as good as possible, play with a lot of energy and keep the audience locked in and connected, This is show biz and if the audience isn't paying attention to the stage, we're not doing our job.

MY MUSIC INSPIRATIONS: Like most musicians, anything and anybody can influence how you play and what you sing and write. I think there are a few defining musical experiences that motivate and inspire each of us along the way and I've certainly had mine.

In 1958, my parents took the family to see a Cinerama film in downtown Boston. Cinerama was the Imax of its time and the film that day was named "Windjammer", a quasi-travelogue following a Norwegian sail training ship on a voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. I don't remember much of the film except a sequence filmed during an outdoor concert virtually inside of a 30 piece Trinidadian calypso steel pan band. I found out today (thanks Wikipedia) that Cinerama films were also accompanied by a seven track surround sound system, far ahead of its time in 1958. I remember the euphoric feeling of the music that day, feeling totally engulfed by the abandon and joy of the dancers, being literally in the middle of the band with the flashing colors and relentless rhythms and happy melodies, totally transported to another world, another culture, I knew at the age of 9 that something magical happened that day and I knew I wanted that feeling again, I wanted to play in a band. 

Another defining moment for me occurred around 1963 attending a live television show at WGBH studios in Boston. As near as I can tell from searching Google, the show was called Folk Music, USA and featured well-known and lesser known national folk acts of the period. My older brother got hip to folk music and Bob Dylan in the early 60's so I was familiar with a lot of the acts that appeared on the show. It never occurred to me that it would be possible to attend a live taping at the 'GBH studios but my junior high pal, Mark Bass, invited me to go see Ian and Sylvia, a melodious Canadian duo, tape an episode in the WGBH studios. I don't remember Ian and Sylvia (sorry fans) but the opening act was Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry who I later learned were the premier acoustic blues duo of the 60's folk and blues revival. I had a seat right in front and had never seen anything like what I heard that night. Brownie beating hard and syncopated on his acoustic guitar, Sonny coaxing sorrowful wails from his mouth harp, they also sang beautifully rough and sweet with Sonny's hollers as exclamation marks to Brownie's caramel coated tales. It was stunning, unexpected and emotional. To this day, I am drawn to blues whenever I hear it. Blues is always there for me whether I'm up or down and for me, no music is more real.

BEFORE I STOPPED PLAYING:  After that first high school dance, I played all through high school doing pop covers during the Motown, British Invasion and folk-rock era. In college, I worked with a handful of dedicated blues musicians playing coffee houses and frat parties, After college, popular music felt like a wide-open field and I continued working on developing my music and instrumental skills with a variety of rock, country and blues bands. By the early 70's, I had formed Roadhogg on Cape Cod, later moving to the Amherst-Northampton area to take advantage of the high concentration of colleges and low cost of living. Roadhogg became the Alan Fuller Band and then Loose Caboose, the latter introducing roots reggae music to New England very successfully and still going after 30 years.

HOW I GOT STARTED AGAIN: After leaving Loose Caboose in 1982, I got married, put my instruments away and raised my family for the next fifteen years. In 1998, my 15 year old son asked me to pull my guitar out from under the bed and teach him to play, That got me going along with regular Friday night jams in Arlington with the KingStreet band. In a short time, I was harassing my friends in King Street to get out of the basement and do some gigs. My drive to get back gigging led me to John Gorman and Blue Train which led to Charlie Sawyer's 2120 South Michigan Ave, sub opportunities with Dave Boatwright's reggae stalwarts, the Equalites and lots more, There's been a ton of other wonderful experiences including opening acts for Eric Burdon and the new Animals, BB King and Duke Robillard, Toni Lynn Washington and opportunities to back up J.Geils, David Maxwell, Monster Mike Welch, and Nark Naftalin (Butterfield Blues Band) Sweet Willie D, and take the bass chair at Peter Ward's Annual Mai Cramer Memorial concert. It's been a fun "comeback" and it's far from over.

WHAT I'M DOING NOW: The pandemic challenged us all to find new avenues for our music. Early in 2020, a colleague asked me to add a bass track to his recording and that opened me up to the cozy world of home recording. I've since written a few dozen songs, recorded many as demos and collaborated with my musician pals online. My son Morgan is developing new material for a melodic pop project that includes a couple of our friends. We hope to complete recordings in the Spring of 2024. Whenever I'm in LA. Morgan involves me in his recording and publishing projects including a single recorded with the transcendent vocalist, Haley Reinhart. When I play with Bees Deluxe, I'm challenged to create bass solos and integrate effects pedals. My newest gig with seasoned harmonica player, Professor Harp, is a blast, playing an incredible mix of soul, funk, rock n roll and blues grooves. And I'm working to evolve my music into a broader and more regular career. Look through my site here, listen to my tracks, look for one of my gigs near you, view the videos, contact me about your musical project and let's talk. Don't forget to sign up for the Aldo mailing list!