Chip McKibben - bass guitar

Bass and gear music

Greetings!

For Chip, it's all about the groove. In the many styles he has delved into, his work has been consistently about tight playing, energy, and pushing himself and his fellow musicians to the highest standards of live performance,  whether playing classic rhythm and blues, prog and art rock of the 70's and 80's, even jazz and Broadway. After a break from the scene, Chip has returned to live performance with fresh attitude and a dedication to hard work and professionalism. He is always on the lookout for players with the same outlook.

A Lifetime of Music and Learning

A native of Schenectady, NY, Chip started his music education with lessons from his piano teacher grandmother, and beginning trombone in grade school. He distinguished himself at Linton HS on the formidable bass trombone as a soloist in both concert band and jazz ensemble, and becoming active in the ensembles at Schenectady County CC and at SUNY Albany. He also worked in pit orchestras throughout the Capital Region into his 2 yrs at SCCC, graduating from there with honors.  From there he headed to Boston and The Berkelee College of Music, looking at a career in big band jazz. But something happened along the way. He had become a great fan of both the 70's fusion movement, and british born progressive rock. He was drawn to what he saw as a similar and powerful sense of the groove in such diverse groups as Weather Report and Yes, and in particular the explosive playing of both Jaco Pastorius and Chris Squire. he picked up his first Fender Jazz as a high school junior and just began playing along to records at home, starting with Rolling Stones and The Who (John Entwhistle becoming yet another influence) and progressing to Steely Dan and favorite fusion groups (Pat Metheny and Jon Luc Ponty as well as Weather Report and others).

Gear Corner

The turning point came in two places. The first was finally seeing Jaco live with Weather Report, just before the release of Word Of Mouth, and before Jaco's mental decline. It made him begin to question his values in what he really wanted out of music, to stay anonymous within the brass section, or give his personal voice a greater role in a band. An experience at Berklee sealed it. Wading through a page black with notes, he glanced at the bassist seated next to him, reading chord changes and making his own note choices. Freedom! He left behind Berklee and Boston, the bass trombone, as well as a seperate spiritual crisis, and formed what became the rock group ESP with fellow SCCC classmate Mark Luce, writing and recording through much of the eighties. They acheived critical notice but little popular success and eventually parted ways.

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