“I’m a big fan of old things,” says Danny Worsnop. “From cameras to guitars to microphones to cars, I like the stories they tell and the lives they’ve lived. I think old stuff has more soul.”
Best known as the lead vocalist of rock bands Asking Alexandria and We Are Harlot, British-born Worsnop has also released two solo albums that explore country and blues. He’s currently in the studio working on his third solo release.
With his love of vintage aesthetics and appreciation for instruments that age with character, he’s spent much of his life searching for a guitar that feels like home. “I’m always on the quest to find the perfect thing,” he says.
For years, Taylor’s GS Mini-e Koa Plus has been his go-to songwriting companion. “I don’t need a bunch of things to do the job,” he explains. “This guitar was the first one that did that, and it’s been with me for years. The finish is beat up. It’s got shiny spots from the sweat on my arm. This has been my daily driver and workhorse and life partner since I got it. It’s more than a guitar. It has a life and a personality and a sound. You pick up any other GS Mini-e Koa Plus in the world, it doesn't sound like this one.”
With his love of older things, Worsnop acknowledges the challenges of making a deep connection with an out-of-the-box acoustic. “All the nice, shiny new guitars that anyone has sent me over the years are great—I have fun with them,” he says. “But I've never loved them. I find it hard to love new stuff because it kind of doesn't have a life or personality yet.”
Worsnop’s done his best to infuse them with some of his own personality by tweaking them in different ways–chasing a specific feel and sound that makes a guitar feel more like an extension of himself rather than just another utilitarian tool. But his most recent acoustic arrival was different.
“It’s more than a guitar. It has a life and a personality and a sound.”
Striking Gold
Worsnop recently got his hands on Taylor Guitars’ new Gold Label 814e, designed by Andy Powers, the creative visionary behind many of Taylor’s guitar innovations since 2011. For Taylor’s new Gold Label Collection, Powers drew inspiration from the sound of flattop acoustics from the 1930s and 1940s.
Worsnop was immediately drawn to the Gold Label 814e’s vintage-inspired visual aesthetic—influenced by old banjos and mandolins, early Taylor designs, and Powers’ pre-Taylor archtop guitars. But the true revelation came when he played it.
“When I saw this guitar... I mean, it looks super cool, like an older guitar,” he says. “And the second I picked it up, it was different. It was like, this plays like a guitar that is so old and has stories and songs in it already. I fell in love with it.”
Worsnop says that with other Taylors he has owned, including his GS Mini-e Koa Plus, he would often modify them in some way to give them a more vintage sensibility. But not with the Gold Label.
One of the defining features of the Gold Label 814e is its new Super Auditorium body shape. The non-cutaway body bears a clear family resemblance to Taylor’s popular Grand Auditorium, but the Super Auditorium is slightly longer and wider at the lower bout, with a slightly shallower depth. The new body dimensions, combined with Andy’s version of a long-tenon neck and his new fanned V-Class bracing pattern, are all key ingredients in a new sonic recipe that defines the sound of Taylor’s Gold Label collection. The result is a warm, old-heritage voice that’s unlike anything Taylor has ever produced.
Worsnop says the guitar complements him musically because it supports his dynamic vocals with extraordinary volume and responsiveness to a lighter touch.
“Because I sing loud, having something that’s loud enough, but not so loud that when I do drop down you can’t hear me anymore, is important for me,” he explains.
The Gold Label 814e comes with back and sides of solid Honduran rosewood or solid Hawaiian koa (Worsnop has the Honduran rosewood model) paired with a torrefied Sitka spruce soundboard. Each model is available with a natural or sunburst top.
The Revolutionary Action Control Neck™
One of the standout features of the Gold Label 814e is Taylor’s patented new Action Control Neck™, an innovative neck joint design that allows for quick, easy, and precise neck angle adjustments. It marks another step forward from the patented, micro-adjustable design Bob Taylor introduced back in 1999. Unlike traditional neck resets, this system, like Bob’s, is also glue-less, and in this case enables effortless fine-tuning on the fly without having to remove the neck or even the strings, and without the use of shims. By simply using a 1/4" nut driver (or standard truss rod wrench) on a nut in the neck block (accessible through the soundhole), a player can raise or lower the action to dial in an ideal setup.
“It is a massive deal,” says Worsnop. “When it comes to traveling musicians, it’s absolutely game changing. This allows you to do a micro-adjustment without having to get in the car and drive. When I’m in the studio, I like having that precision to be able to make it just perfect.”
For professional musicians, service techs, and recreational players who want to quickly fine-tune their action, the innovative neck design marks a paradigm shift.
In Studio and Onstage
In his Tennessee home, Worsnop has an upstairs studio where he records most of his music. It’s where he’s tested countless guitars, searching for the right fit. Though his trusty songwriting guitar has been the aforementioned GS Mini-e Koa Plus—perfect for capturing spontaneous new ideas—when it comes to recording, the Gold Label 814e has taken center stage.
“I’m working on the new album right now,” he shares. “If I’m at home and I’m just wandering around downstairs, which is usually where and how writing happens, [the GS Mini] is the guitar I’m walking around with. And then as soon as there’s an idea, I’ll go upstairs, and it’s the Gold Label. Honestly, I don’t play anything else up there now. I put the album recording on hold for this guitar. It’s the only guitar on the album.”
And it won’t just live in the studio. Worsnop plans to bring the Gold Label 814e on tour, making it his primary acoustic guitar for live performances.
Performance Highlight: "Ain't No Use"
In a recently recorded performance of his song “Ain’t No Use”, Worsnop showcases why the Gold Label 814e is such a great fit for him. The song, rich with storytelling and emotional depth, aligns well with the guitar’s vintage aesthetic and warm tonal character. It explores the universal tension between who we are and who we want to be, while emphasizing the transformative power of acceptance despite imperfections. The guitar’s deep, open sound and full-bodied, muscular tone are a perfect complement to Worsnop’s soaring, soulful vocals, amplifying the expressiveness of his performance and highlighting a symbiosis between player and instrument. A video of the performance is featured at the top of this article.
For Worsnop, the Gold Label 814e represents the culmination of years of searching, experimenting and refining his sound. It’s an instrument that feels like it has lived a life, carrying with it the soul and character he always craved in an acoustic.
“I have played music since I was 6 years old, and I’ve spent my entire life looking for my instrument,” he reflects. “At 34, I’ve found it.”
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The Spirit Fall trio: drummer Brian Blade (right) and saxophonist Chris Potter (center) joined Patitucci (left) for a single day at The Bunker. “Those guys are scary. It almost puts pressure on me, how good they are, because they get it really fast,” says Patitucci.
What distinguishes Patitucci is that he is one of the few jazz musicians who simultaneously enjoys a vibrant career as a classical bassist and first-call session bassist. His résumé—which includes recordings with pop icons like Sting and Bon Jovi, and hundreds of film dates—is virtually unparalleled. Patitucci also composes classical music and is frequently commissioned to write music for string quartets and other chamber ensembles. Among his numerous compositions are a piece for 6-string electric bass and string orchestra that was performed with Suono e Oltre, a chamber orchestra in Italy. In short, Patitucci is the very rare jack of all trades who is also exceptional at all.
Freedom without Chords
Patitucci’s latest release, Spirit Fall, is a trio album featuring Patitucci, drummer Brian Blade, and saxophonist Chris Potter. This instrumentation leaves out a traditional chordal instrument, and can be tricky to make sound full, as there is a large harmonic hole in the sonic space. But in the hands of master musicians, this setting offers more room for harmonic exploration and conversational interplay amongst the band members. Patitucci has been exploring this chord-less format since 2009’s Remembrance featuring Blade on drums and Joe Lovano on saxophone.Throughout Spirit Fall the trio employs a variety of textures and colors to make for an engaging listen. “Pole Star” has an open feel with the counterpoint between acoustic bass and sax discreetly implying the underlying progression. “Lipim,” which means hope in Cameroonian, has a lively afrobeat groove and a ridiculous sax solo by Chris Potter. Like many of his solos on Spirt Fall, Potter’s solo on “Lipim” veers through several harmonic detours that would have likely been hampered if a chordal instrument were imposing the harmony. “Spirit Fall” and “Thoughts and Dreams” sees Patitucci using his 6-string electric to explore gorgeously haunting figures. The bass solo on “Spirit Fall” sees Patitucci almost accompanying himself as he alternates between low notes and chords against blistering single-note lines.
Even though Patitucci had the luxury of studio time, Spirit Fall was recorded quickly, with mostly first or second takes, and the occasional third take. The trio was able to record a powerful musical statement in such a short time because they are a working band as opposed to hired guns that might possibly play together for the first time at the session.
John Patitucci's Gear
“I’m just a kid from Brooklyn,” says Patitucci. It was his formative years spent with his older brother (who played guitar) that led him to the bass.
Photo by Dave Stapleton
Guitars
- Yamaha TRBJP2 Signature Model 6-String
- Yamaha Custom Semi-Hollow 6-String
- 1965 Fender P Bass (Used on “Lipim”)
- Gagliano Double Bass
Amps
- Aguilar DB 751 for acoustic bass
- Aguilar Tone Hammer for electric bass
- Aguilar 4x10 cabinet
- Aguilar 1x12 cabinet
- Grace Design FELiX Version 2
- Grace Design m303 DI
Effects
- Line 6 HX Stomp
- Line 6 DL4
Strings and Accessories
- D’Addario Nickel Round Strings (.032-.045-.065-.085-.105-.130)
- Gruvgear Signature Straps
- Pirastro Evah Pirazzi Weich gauge
- Pirastro Perpetual
Prior to the recording, Patitucci sent demos out, and by the time they got to the studio they were ready to commit to tape. They finished the whole record in just one day without any rehearsals. “Not with those guys,” says Patitucci. “Those guys are scary. It almost puts pressure on me, how good they are, because they get it really fast [laughs]. I was hoping that my good takes were theirs too.”
Interestingly enough, while iconic chord-less trio albums by saxophonists like Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, and Joe Henderson played a big role in Patitucci’s musical upbringing, he came to record with that instrumentation almost by accident. “We were going to rehearse for that record [Remembrance], and [pianist] Brad Mehldau, who played on some tracks, couldn’t make the rehearsal,” recalls Patitucci. “So we rehearsed at Lovano’s house and it sounded so good I was almost like, ‘Wow, maybe we should do the record as a trio.’ But I had all this music written that really was for the piano. So I said, ‘Well, maybe someday.’ And then finally we got around to it.”
Spirit Fall was tailored to the sensibilities of Blade and Potter, both of whom Patitucci has played with a lot over the years. “We have a relationship and we have a sound together already because of the way they play. Brian’s sense of dynamics has made it easier for me to get the kind of acoustic bass sound live that I've always wanted to get. It’s not easy to do that if the drummer can’t play those wide dynamics like Brian can,” explains Patitucci. “And Chris has been playing my music for years. He’s just an incredible interpreter of my music, and I love that. I remember using him in the early ’90s. Interestingly enough, around the time I did Imprint, I was using him and I was also using Mark Turner. And it’s funny. I started teaching college [Patitucci was Professor of Jazz Studies at City College of New York and is currently teaching at Berklee College of Music] a lot in 2000, and all my students were trying to sound like those guys.”“As a composer, I wanted to have a chance to have major control over the sound and how we did things, as opposed to a live record.”
As a precursor to Spirit Fall, in 2022 Patitucci had recorded Live in Italy with the same lineup of Blade and Potter. He could have easily just done Spirit Falllive againwith the trio but this time he specifically chose to bring them into the studio. “As a composer, I wanted to have a chance to have major control over the sound and how we did things, as opposed to a live record,” explains Patitucci. “Live records are great, but I wanted to record in the studio with that band so we can get into some new compositions I was writing, and some through-composed things with the 6-string, as well as the acoustic.”
How Chick Helped Turn Four into Six
Patitucci isn’t fond only of the traditional trio sans chordal instrument format. In fact, he’s recorded in just about every context you can imagine. From completely solo bass on Soul of the Bass, to his Electric Guitar Quartet with two guitarists—Adam Rogers and Steve Cardenas on Brooklyn, to guitar trio plus string quartet plus Chris Potter on Line by Line. Patitucci uses each situation as a way to grow musically.When Patitucci first started playing with Corea it was in the trio format, along with drummer Dave Weckl. Corea was a keyboardist who covered a huge sonic range and Patitucci saw this as an opportunity to push the creative envelope. “Chick and I became very close. I had enormous respect and love for him and he taught me a lot. That’s how I really discovered the 6-string, because I felt like I needed it orchestrationally to play in that band,” says Patitucci. “I started playing with Chick and at first I played my 4-string, and it’s a trio, but I have to blow on every song. And he’s got all these synths, and I’m thinking, ‘Man, I need a low string, because he’s playing all these low notes. I want to play the low notes.’ [laughs] I need a 5-string at least. Then I heard Anthony Jackson play the six. He was the pioneer who invented it.”
Spirit Fall is the documentation of a working band exploring new music in the studio. It features all new compositions and an inventive take on “House of Jade,” written by Patitucci’s longtime mentor, Wayne Shorter.
Corea fronted the money for Patitucci’s first 6-string—a Ken Smith—and took some money out of his check every week to pay it off. The transition to the 6-string wasn’t immediate for Patitucci, however. There was actually a big learning curve to the new instrument. To make matters even more daunting, the first big tour was to begin two weeks after Patitucci received the new instrument. Despite all the potential risks, Corea was very encouraging. “Chick was really patient. It was ridiculous. It was so hard. I was just a glutton for punishment,” admits Patitucci. “I just wanted the sound, and I was so naive about what it would be like. When I got the 6-string, it was a couple of weeks before we started going out on major tours and I was clamming. Like I would go down to what I thought was the E string but was now the B string.”
Once he got a handle on it, the 6-string allowed Patitucci to finally maximize the potential of his fluid soloing style. “I wanted to play the 6-string because when the blowing comes around, the C string helps me get over the top as a band,” says Patitucci. “Chick dug the fact that when I was blowing I wanted to sound more like a tenor player.”
“Wayne [Shorter] made me have the courage to play very little and hang a note up in the air.”
Shortly after Patitucci joined his band, Corea convinced GRP Records to sign Patitucci, whose 1987 eponymous first solo album reached number 1 on the Billboard Top Jazz Albums chart. Patitucci reflects, “The two biggest long term influences in terms of mentoring and what they did for my career would have been Chick Corea and then Wayne Shorter.”
The Spirit of Shorter
Patitucci first met Shorter in 1986, during the Chick, Wayne, and Al (Di Meola) tour. A year later Shorter asked Patitucci to record several tracks on his album, Phantom Navigator. This began his association with Shorter and led to Patitucci ultimately joining Shorter’s quartet in 2000.
It’s fitting that the only non-original tune on Spirit Fall is a Shorter tune, “House of Jade.” Shorter’s highly individual approach—particularly the electric stuff he was doing from the Atlantisperiod—shaped a lot of Patitucci’s conception of music. “I was playing electric bass and all the tunes were through-composed, except the blowing was like on one chord. And, you know, that’s challenging, actually,” reveals Patitucci. “And he was creating these incredible things, and he could do it with density or almost nothing, almost like one note. His lyricism and melodicism is so powerful that it really changed me. I was like, ‘Wow, I want to play like that. I want to be able to have a sound that I can be confident enough about to leave a ton of space and be able to just let space happen.’ Like, he got that from Miles.”
Moving to a 6-string bass wasn’t as natural for Patitucci as you might think. “When I got the 6-string, it was a couple of weeks before we started going out on major tours [with Chick Corea] and I was clamming.”
The minimalist approach that Shorter used at times was a stark contrast to some of the over-the-top pyrotechnics Corea’s Elektric Band was known for. “I was always into melodies too, but yes, in Chick’s band there were a lot of changes to play over, and sometimes a lot of fast tempos,” says Patitucci. “It wasn’t only chops, there were a lot of melodies and we played ballads too. I mean, I wanted to do that, but I didn’t have the courage to. Wayne made me have the courage to play very little and hang a note up in the air. With the 6-string, you can really do that. I started to realize that I was really interested in moving people in that way too.”
The Journey of the Kid from Brooklyn
Subliminally, the transition from 4- to 6-string bass might harken back to Patitucci’s childhood in East Flatbush, Brooklyn. He originally picked up the guitar, influenced by his brother Tom who had already been playing. Tom tried to teach him but ultimately the guitar just didn’t connect, and Tom sensed it. “He just said, ‘Why don’t you try the bass?’” recalls Patitucci. “Because we can play together then.” And that’s where it all began.
At 10, Patitucci got his first bass, a short-scale Sears Telstar bass that was hanging on a wall like a decoration down the street at somebody’s house on East 39th Street. “We bought it for 10 bucks and I thought it was great,” reflects Patitucci, who enjoyed rock ’n’ roll and James Jamerson’s playing on Motown Records in his formative years.
When he was 13, Patitucci’s family moved out to the West Coast. Soon after the move, Patitucci started learning the acoustic bass, and by the early ’80s, Patitucci’s career started taking off. In 1996 he moved back to New York, where he continues to break new musical ground.
With a career spanning over four decades and still going strong, Patitucci has achieved the dream that many aspiring musicians long for. What is the secret to his success? “Nobody knows the secret and anybody who tells you they know that is lying,” says Patitucci. “I don't even deserve it. I think that God was really good to me and blessed me. He somehow allowed me to have my dream come true. I look at it now as a 65-year old guy and go, ‘Wow, that was really a long shot.’ [laughs] It’s kind of unbelievable. You know what, I mean? I’m just this kid from Brooklyn, you know?”YouTube It
This trio rendition of the Beatles’ “And I Love Her” showcases John Patitucci’s ability to add chordal textures on his 6-string bass to create a full sound, even without a conventional chordal instrument like guitar or piano.
