Good thing I just dropped this so the people who haven’t heard of me before can say to themselves “He’s not shredding. But he can obviously play” - and the people who know me as an “avant” or “noise” dude can say to themselves “oh, he really CAN play” lol. melvin-gibbs.bandcamp.com/album/lift-e...

To say this is unexpected would be an understatement. “No F’in Way that would ever happen” is the more correct answer. I’m Electric Bassist of the Year” in the 2026 Downbeat Critics Poll. Thank You to all who voted for me.

tbh asking for a Mesa Boogie bass amp (my #1 choice) is test enough if I don't get a “Do you Really Need This?” email after signing the contract I know they didn't read tech rider I might stick kombucha & honey stroopwafels on the hospitality rider in Europe b/c they're in every supermarket

I once put “dedicated parking for tricycles” on a rider when a lot of band member kids were out and sure enough they mocked up a little area with balloons near the band rooms and labeled it “tricycle parking”. I was very impressed

My favorite rider was Swans - it was emphatic that the show would be painfully loud, that no, they wouldn’t reduce the volume, and if you liked your staff you’d provide them with ear protection

I only drink occasionally but other than that I can relate to this 100% #roadlife

it’s safe to say the majority of jazz venues don’t read the rider I have “I don’t take responsibility if I blow up the house amp b/c my requested amp wasn’t supplied” in the rider (it’s happened lol) when they freak out after they hear my distortion & sub freqs torturing their amp I just shrug

Van Halen's "no brown M&m's backstage" policy was in reality a test for stadium production teams. VH made the request to find out if crews were on point b/c their show had complicated rigging & someone could die if anything slipped through the cracks. Brown M&ms backstage = check the rigging.

there was a time when my father had 4 FOUR jobs If hard work is really the way out of poverty - REALLY good for you my Dad would’ve been a millionaire & Curtis Yarvin would be out in the field picking strawberries right now

“make the blacks work” HAS to be paired with their “anti-DEI” aka resegregation agenda the people who listen to Yarvin want Black people OUT of higher education & leadership positions PERIOD “merit” was a smokescreen that idea is irrelevant now they want a lower caste (& “Mexican” scapegoats)

This is what he’s going with? THIS? Now the mf wants us to believe that there is absolutely NO Surveillance there & forget that He ostentatiously posted the National f’in Guard to “fight crime” in this same area a few months ago??? And the media’s gonna let this s#it slide? smdh

🔔new music today🔔 Melvin Gibbs “Lift Every Voice and Sing” @melvingibbs.bsky.social rings in Juneteenth with a gorgeous meditative electric bass rendition of the “Black National Anthem” - a staple of his live sets since 2019 Melvin’s first book 𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝘽𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙈𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙘 𝙏𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙊𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 is out now!

the Obama cadence is clearly the go-to rhythm for politicians who want to connect and inspire people these days

“Many, many hear these things, the messaging, and think that they’re dog whistles,” Hussein said. “I was hopeful that I’d come here and get a clarification. What we got was kind of a confirmation.”

ok I’m going to do this the old-fashioned way. I’m having serious problems with Booking.com I need to buy a seat for my bass on a flight I’ve already purchased a ticket for and they are making it impossible. I will NEVER buy another ticket on that website. Their customer service is nonexistent.

Orange Julius allegedly removed his name from the Kennedy Center but from what I can see he left a tarp up so that no one can see ANY names. I wouldn’t be surprised if it stays up there until/unless a judge orders it taken down

I’m Melvin Gibbs and I approve this message

True

RZA had the #1 Classical record earlier this year. He went through the Rimsky-Korsakov book, learned what was in it, wrote some pieces, then hired the Cleveland Orchestra to play them. tbh I haven’t heard the record but I admire the hustle no matter the music

the inverse of that was Ellington he sometimes wrote out/created/directed his featured musicians solos - obvious composer s#it

in my eyes the word refers to the the lineage you’re claiming & the maternal(s) you’re using - not necessarily to the actual process of creating & directing a musical group/performance. Was James Reese Europe a composer or not?

not gonna say any names but I know for sure that at least one major film score composer has ghost writers. And I know that many film composers hire studio musicians who come up with their own parts. Yet those people are still considered “composers”.

I’m taking the group to the studio tomorrow to record the piece. It’s fun to do the overt Duchamp thing to the idea of “composer”. At the end of the day the word really means “I tell musicians what to do”. The difference between John Cage & George Clinton was who anointed them.

I put my composer hat on yesterday for the premiere of “Nzambici” a suite I wrote which was performed by the Melvin Gibbs Ensemble: Immanuel Wilkins: sax Chris Williams: trumpet deVon Russell Gray: piano & synth Luke Stewart: acoustic & electric bass Tchesher Holmes: drums

Wu Tang Clan 1 Trump 0

RIP James Blood Ulmer He is one of my musical heroes. My first published article was about him and his work. Check it out here: oxfordamerican.org/magazine/iss...

“With tears in their eyes, they said ‘sir’ please never come back to a Knicks game.’”

it was never a question of IF he was gonna get booed the question was HOW LOUD Good Job NYers

those two are up there with the Bad Brains (who are the undisputed #1) on my great bands of the 1980s list

James Blood Ulmer’s Black Rock group is one of my all time favorite bands like Fishbone their greatness was never caught on tape They were a “You Had To Be There” band

Dear ABC and @espn.com, Please don't edit out the boos Monday night at MSG. ~ All of us

I'm not saying don't listen to Taylor Swift, indie bands, Shaboozey, etc, but if you *only* listen to stuff like that and not Gulda, Argerich, Tyshawn Sorey, Jason Moran, etc then you are choosing to shrink your hearts

my book is out in the U.K. today! You can ask for it in your local store there or in Europe or order it online here: www.bloomsbury.com/uk/how-black...

I’d like to see more honest dialogue about how the different forms of musical gatekeeping happening in different countries effects the music & what we know about the music

so when I push back on people who say we should pay more attention to music from Europe or Brazil it’s not xenophobia I know European & Brazilian musicians get support from their governments that chauvinism gets hidden it’s not a level playing field

this is the reality of creative life in America 99% of us are staring homelessness in the face at all times

I feel like “jazz” is at an interesting point right now - Kamasi/Makaya/Shabaka are 10 years in - Jeff Parker’s crew is having their moment now & there’s all kinda wild s#it bubbling’ up in BK & on the East Coast Yet & Still - the AACM cats are Still Setting The Standard

I feel like those publications are just like older musicians who don’t take stock - people gradually stop paying attention to them I know I have

the mentorship model is built into the music I was playing with musicians 20 to 40 years older than me back in the ‘70s my generation brought new info to the tables but it didn’t negate what the older cats were doing the cream of both generation rose to or stayed at the top

counterpoint: Jazz is the one form of music where Older Creators consistently challenge the status quo make music that pushes the envelope & pushes the youth to do better

my book “How Black Music Took Over The World” drops in the U.K. in 2 days, on June 4th There’s an extended review of it in the latest edition of The Wire Magazine

Tired: calling actions that are racist & sexist Racist and Sexist Wired: saying thart racist and sexist actions are "Anti-Diversity moves"

Tonight, the People of Minneapolis are being awarded the Profile in Courage Award—and there can be no doubt that they are deserving. At the same time, the people of New Jersey are fighting the same fight at Delaney Hall. We stand strong with New Jersey.

"(Stephon) Alexander, a jazz saxophonist who now directs the Brown University Center for Theoretical Physics and Innovation...(says) “I would not be the physicist I am today if weren’t for my practice as a musician, especially as an improvisational musician.” www.nature.com/articles/d41...

always remember that Diana Ross was so jealous that Gladys was getting a better response on the Motown tour than she was that she made Berry Gordy (the head of Motown & her boo at the time) kick them off of the tour

this is in the running for #1 most unintentionally funny thing I've ever read. First of all, he ain't gonna do it Second of all, can you imagine the financial chaos Trump announcing this is actually happening would cause? Republicans are on shaky ground now. This would end all hope for November.

In between Sonny Rollins and Alice Coltrane not a bad place to be (location: Spoonbill & Sugartown - Williamsburg BK)

If your goal is to write something generic ( to a boss, or to customer service- which might be an AI at this point) it’ll might beuseful But if you’re “writing” Hell No

Sometimes you gotta pop out and show people… www.jazztimes.com/blog/how-bla...

The Decoding Society had a band uniform custom angular short-sleeve (almost) T-shirts Ronald Shannon Jackson had made for the band and leather pants I NEVER wore the pants I recently saw a picture of the band & chuckled to myself at my stubbornness on that issue it's definitely an NYC thing