Rob Wasserman, American musician, Died at 64

  Music

Rob Wasserman was born in 1952, and died on June 29, 2016.

He was an American, Grammy Award winning upright bass player and NEA grant winning composer,

Rob has played and recorded with a wide variety of musicians including Bruce Cockburn, Elvis Costello, Ani di Franco, Jerry Garcia, David Grisman, Rickie Lee Jones, Mark Morris, Van Morrison, Aaron Neville, Lou Reed, Pete Seeger, Jules Shear, Studs Terkel, Bob Weir, Brian Wilson, Chris Whitley, Neil Young, Jackson Browne, Laurie Anderson, Stephen Perkins Banyan, Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo and Ratdog

Rob was best known for his own work on the trilogy of albums, Solo, Duets, and Trios.

He started playing the violin, after his teenage years he graduate to the bass.

Rob Wasserman studied at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music where he studied composing with John Adams and double bass with San Francisco Symphony bassists.

Prior to that, he was playing with Van Morrison, Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo and the David Grisman Quintet. His 1983 album, Solo won Downbeat Magazine’s Record of the Year award.

His other albums, Duets and Trios saw Wasserman engage with other musicians, such as Bobby McFerrin, Rickie Lee Jones, Cheryl Bentyne, Lou Reed, Stéphane Grappelli, Jerry Garcia, Brian Wilson, Willie Dixon, Branford Marsalis, and Elvis Costello.

However, Duets was nominated for three Grammy Awards and won one for “Brothers” with Bobby McFerrin.

He also won Holland’s Edison Award for Record of the Year.

Rob Wasserman 2000 album, Space Island, incorporated more contemporary musical elements.

And RatDog which he co- founded with Bob Weir from the Grateful Dead, occupied much of his time. He also has toured extensively with Lou Reed.

He was also a judge for the sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists’ careers.

Rob Wasserman passed away at 64 yrs old.