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Woody's
Career
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BASS-ic
Notes 1972- 1989
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Woody majored in Music Therapy for three and a half years, at
Baptist College in Charleston, S.C. (1972-'75) before his decision
to 
attend North
Texas State University in Denton, Texas, where he majored
in Music Composition. Right in the outskirts of Dallas, being
a classic music city, Denton was especially good for the jazz
scene. NTSU
had, and continues to have, one of the  finest
Jazz Studies and Performance programs in the country. Woody's
experience there was rich with playing and "wood-shedding"
opportunities. What interest he had first honed at Baptist College,
playing in the Stage Bands (with a scholarship on electric bass),
playing with local area jazzers, casuals, etc., became
even more intense at NTSU.
After all, this school boasted one of the best lab band programs,
anywhere! The NTSU 1 O'Clock Lab Band is world-renowned. Woody's
goal became "to play in THAT band."
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In keeping with sequence, let's jump back just a little. Woody
had played cello  in
the high school orchestra, as well as getting featured playing
an electric bass solo on "Tico Tico." He eventually
picked up the upright bass and worked like a madman to become
proficient on it, because it was a requirement at
that time, to double on electric and acoustic bass, to play
in the 1 O'Clock Lab Band. He honed his skills, and after three
years at NTSU
(1977-'80), was asked to record "Lab '80" with the
band, which spotlighted Woody's electric playing on a
bass feature, "MC 10."
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Woody
had finally mastered that "sight-reading" thing, too.
The following fall he went to Switzerland with the band, and
played the fall concert with the 1 O'Clock, featuring guests
Don Menza and Chuck Findley. Gregg Bissonette played drums in
that band, and Woody and Gregg had many great "regressive
jazz" moments playing together. He also played with a number
of phenomenal drummers in the area. Randy Drake, Kirk Covington,
Mike Baker, Tim Benton, just to name a few. Many of them have
gone on to do incredible things musically. Woody also did quite
a bit of studio 
work in Dallas, playing in one of the premiere fusion
bands at the time, "Scorpio Rose." Through only a
few performances with that band, Woody managed to win the Dallas
Jazz Reader's Poll for best Electric Bass in 1979. Some of his
bass player pals then have since gone on to great fame in the
bassist community: Gary
Willis and Steve Bailey. He also played a 2-week stint with
jazz alto saxophonist Richie Cole, with Bruce Forman on guitar,
in 1981. There was some great playing that took place at NTSU
and those Dallas years. For approximately eight years, Woody
totally saturated himself with Jazz. You almost have to live
and breathe it, to play Jazz.
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Subsequently, all of Woody's influences began to come together
at this time, to inspire his direction as a bassist, in sound
and soloistic nuance and he began to find his own "voice."
Some of his favorite players at that point were: Jaco
Pastorius, Stanley Clarke, Paul McCartney, Jack Bruce,
Scott LaFaro, Ron Carter, Eddie Gomez, Paul Chambers, Jeff Berlin,
Marcus Miller, and a bass player relatively unknown to many,
who played in a band called "Cold Blood"- - - Rod
Ellicott. Woody, to this day, attributes more of his smoothness
and fluidity to Rod's influence. His chief inspiration, in regard
to emulation, was Jaco and Jeff Berlin.
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 In
between Baptist College and NTSU
there was a period of eight months where Woody went home to
Ohio and played piano constantly, writing, and trying to pick
out Bill Evans' inner voicing. He then got a 
call, requesting the position of staff bass player for
the Fred
Waring Music Workshop in East Stroudsburg, PA. Woody accepted
and Fred asked him to tour with "The Pennsylvanians"
(a Choral Group), which brought about one of the most important
events in his life---he met Debbie Hughes, soon to be his wife.
She was singing with Fred
Waring and her presence made his stay with Fred much more
bearable. It wasn't such a great gig for a bass player with
a creative itch. However, the vocal music he heard with
Fred inspired him. Great tunes were being sung every night---Cole
Porter, Irving Berlin, etc. Many were old jazz standards, and
the arrangements sparked an interest in vocal music, especially
that of Gene Perling and the Singers Unlimited. Woody and Debbie
married in 1978.
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The Lingles had various groups together in Dallas, but in  1983
Woody got a call to relocate to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma,
to play with a group called Maya: an established and respected
Top 40 group with a great reputation for playing just
about anything. It became a great outlet for trying arranging
ideas out in a pop context.
He stayed for six years playing on Speedy West Jr.'s solo projects
in the late 80's and early 90's, as well as Maya's LP "Murder
by Love."
 Stream
Woody's Pop Rock vocal tune he wrote
for performing with Speedy West, Jr. Band.
Have
You Had Enough
Lo
Play (24 kbps)
Hi
Play (128 kbps)
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Woody's
Career Notes 1989-2007
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