Solotude - a collection of pieces for solo bass by Marcus Darc

This is an album that I never imagined I would produce. Over the years, I have come up with a number of solo bass pieces that have never been performed to anyone; only ever played for myself. In fact, I’ve often made a joke of saying “of course, what the public is really screaming out for is more solo bass” – thinking that nobody (expect perhaps some bass players) would have much interest in it.

Then, when everything went into lockdown and all the gigs disappeared, I decided to send out some material that I found on a hard drive, which I’d never released, to some friends. This included a couple of rough recordings of some solo bass pieces. To my surprise, it got an amazing response – with some people saying the bass pieces were their favourite thing that they had heard me do.

So this prompted me to round up a collection of bass pieces into an album. It comprises tunes from 20 years ago up to a couple of new ones. They are performed on fretted and fretless bass guitar, double bass and acoustic bass guitar.

I have tried to select pieces that have an emphasis on musicality, rather than ones that I would play more for technical practice. I like to think that they represent how tuneful the bass can be, and reflect those special moments of solitude when one is simply appreciating and enjoying one’s own company.

Available to download here: https://marcusdarc.bandcamp.com/album/solotude-a-collection-of-pieces-for-solo-bass