The ultimate birthday gift? For Eberhard Weber’s 65th, it was a concert hall, a clutch of talented friends, and a full orchestra celebrating a career that’s found the bassist/composer in the front rank of jazz visionaries. For the 2005 event, the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra joined Weber and such fellow free-thinkers as vibist Gary Burton, reed man Jan Gabarek, and pianist Rainer Brüninghaus for a pair of concerts that included expansive arrangements of touchstone Weber works such as “The Colours of Chloë,” “Maurizius,” and “Yellow Fields.” The resulting ECM release, Stages of a Long Journey, provides a career retrospective as well as luminous realizations of Weber’s compositions, which combine a jazz foundation with impressionistic harmonies and ostinato-based themes. At the center is the distinctive sound of Weber’s electric upright, an instrument he’s played in various incarnations since 1972.

The opening tracks of Journey—Weber’s first live album—light various facets of his work. Weber’s composition “Silent Feet” contrasts a galloping orchestra theme with modal improvisations featuring Burton and Garbarek. On Carla Bley’s thorny “Syndrome,” he tears through a high-energy walking-bass solo to the accompaniment of Marilyn Mazur’s decidedly cliché-free percussion. And on the Jerome Kern standard “Yesterdays,” Weber dusts off his acoustic upright to provide lyrical backup for pianist Wolfgang Dauner.

At the time of our interview, Weber was recovering from a stroke he suffered this past spring. Plans to present further Long Journey–style concerts have been put on hold, but Eberhard has set a goal of returning to the stage sometime in 2008.

What were the challenges of presenting your music in an orchestral setting?
 Jazz and classical people are very different. Jazz people are hooked on tempo, on rhythm, and on improvisation. Classical people are hooked on conductors. So, you have to tell classical musicians exactly what to do, how to react, and so on.

What about blending your electric upright with the orchestra?
You have to be aware that electrical instruments are generally louder than acoustic ones, and the acoustic ones cannot play louder than they usually do. So, it was up to me to turn down my level, which of course has a negative side, because electric instruments need a bit more volume to sound good. When you turn it down it sounds not very open or full. So, it’s a challenge to find the right balance and not disturb the classical people. It’s not easy, but it’s manageable.

Why did you choose to play acoustic on one song?
The first guy who was important to me in my musical career was a German piano player, Wolfgang Dauner. That’s why I invited him to the concert. And this was exactly the same acoustic bass that I used then, from about 1960 onwards. Since I invited him, I thought, Why not bring out my old bass and see how it sounds? Obviously, the people were satisfied.

Why did you start playing the electric upright?
In the ’70s we had been forced to play louder and louder, and also to play free jazz. What could you do? Everybody had to play “free”—whether you liked it or not. I realized that the double bass is kind of useless for free jazz because everybody plays as loud as possible. So I amplified my double bass with a pickup, and I realized, This is stupid—it’s not an acoustic instrument anymore. I would rather use a semi-acoustic electric. Plus, the huge acoustic body had the problem of creating feedback.

I didn’t invent it, but I rediscovered this kind of body-less upright electric. I added a 5th string, because I always wanted to have a high C. As inexperienced as I was then, I thought I could just switch from one instrument to the other. But my first concerts on the electric upright were a disaster, because I wasn’t into the instrument yet. It took me approximately one year to learn to play musically on it. Then it became a trademark, and now I have to live with it!

Did you encounter resistance when you played the instrument in traditional jazz settings?
Yeah, this happened in the beginning when it was real acoustic music, say four-to-the-bar swing. Now I agree—that music is better on a double bass. But back then it became a little bit of a fight. With an electric bass you can play not only loud but really clearly. And I’m kind of egoistic in that I would say, “I want to go this way,” and I would crank it up a bit and the conservative saxophone player would say, “Is this a bass solo concert, or what?” But they learned how to play with me. And the ones who didn’t want me didn’t call me anymore. So, that’s fine.

Was the narrow spacing—five strings on a standard-width fingerboard—hard to get used to?
No, because I started with the violoncello, where the strings are much closer. For me I don’t see any reason why they should be wider. It’s easier to play this way.

Did you have any particular influences for playing the electric upright?
No, not at all. I only had my heroes when I was really young and naive: Scott LaFaro, Ray Brown.

In my beginning days, there was no amplification at all for acoustic bass. And the first amplification for regular basses was just lousy. It was several years before they found the right pickup, the right cabinet, and so on. Nowadays it’s a lot better, but after I tried to copy these old heroes, I never tried to copy anybody else. I just wanted my own sound. As it turned out, without even knowing, I found it.

Weber’s Eyal Vodnizky Bass

In 1996, opportunity found itself at Israeli luthier Eyal Vodnizky’s doorstep in the form of Eberhard Weber. The distinguished German bassist’s 5-string electric upright, built by Munich’s Paul Lijsen, had been damaged in transit—and with a solo concert just hours away, the instrument needed emergency treatment. Vodnizky patched it up to playable condition, and he also offered to build Weber a new, improved bass. “I wanted to make an instrument that would satisfy his main design demands,” Vodnizky says. “Though there was one major difference: The bass should have an acoustic body to replace the old solid body.”

Eberhard gave Vodnizky nearly complete freedom in materials and design. “He had just a few basic demands. The bass should be lighter than the old one, and as short as possible but with the same 1,000mm scale length; it should have a standard D neck and scroll; and—of course—better sound. The design part took almost as long as actually building it. I am a violin maker in my soul and experience, so I went for traditional materials and building methods.”

Weber’s hollowbody Vodnizky bass has a maple neck, a top carved from Swiss pine, and a back and rims made from maple seasoned for over 20 years. Vodnizky placed a small oval soundhole near the end of the ebony fingerboard, and he finished the instrument with traditional violin varnish. Other features include a set of Wilson piezo transducers in the bridge, a custom-made magnetic pickup at the fingerboard end, and two removable endpins. “Since Mr. Weber usually plays seated, the endpin on the back supports the instrument’s weight. The bass has a loud and clear sound, and thanks to the piezo pickup, the body resonance adds richness to the tone compared to his old solidbody.”

Based on the experience he gained from making the Weber bass, Vodnizky has since built several more electric uprights; made to order, they cost about $8,500. Vodnizky also builds acoustic double basses.
—Mikael Jansson

Journey Back From A Stroke

At the end of our interview, Eberhard Weber spoke about his stroke and rehabilitation, and offered advice to his fellow musicians.

My left-hand side was totally paralyzed—I couldn’t do anything. I went through some therapies and now I can walk again, with a stick. I try to play, but my left hand makes lots of problems. I play for maybe ten minutes and then start to get frustrated, so I walk around for ten minutes and then come back—interval training. Then I show the therapist what I need to do, and he corrects my arm or my fingers or gives advice. Musically I don’t need advice, but physically and mentally, I do.

As you might know, a stroke is not just a muscle situation; it’s a nerve situation. You have to build new nerves, which also means you have to learn anew how to do things. Suddenly you have to think, How does one walk? Which foot goes first? How high do you lift it? And so on. It’s nerve-racking, and it requires patience, patience, patience. That’s the keyword for me.

[Musicians] should not smoke so much. They should watch their blood pressure. And they should be aware. I did not know what a stroke was, what the symptoms were. I just walked out of an elevator and my left foot was a bit awkward. I thought, What is this? I didn’t think of a stroke, but I should have, because when you get medication within the first three hours, you might get through it without being paralyzed.

For detailed information on stroke prevention, symptoms, and treatment, see strokeassociation.org.

Eberhard Weber At A Glance

Born 1940, Stuttgart, Germany
Current home France
Education Cello lessons with his father at age six; picked up acoustic bass at age 16
Major early gigs Hampton Hawes, Stéphane Grappelli, Joe Pass
Solo career 12 albums for ECM
Frequent collaborators Gary Burton, Jan Garbarek, Rainer Brüninghaus, Kate Bush

CURRENTLY SPINNING

“Nowadays I don’t listen to anything because I’m not at home. I went through a stroke and I have to cure that. I’m on my way up, and that’s my only concern—to get back to regular playing as soon as possible.”

GEAR

Bass Hollowbody 5-string (high C) electric upright by Tel Aviv violinmaker Eyal Vodnizky; no-name acoustic upright
Rig Walter Woods amp, stereo cabinets “homemade by a technician”
Effects T.C. Electronic analog chorus, Gibson digital Echoplex, reverb of unknown origin
“I’ve always believed equipment is the least important thing. As long as it’s decent quality—when you send in good stuff it puts out good stuff—that’s enough.”

Selected Discography

As a leader (all on ECM)
Stages of a Long Journey
Later That Evening
Fluid Rustle
The Colours of Chloë

With Gary Burton
Passengers
Ring

With Pat Metheny
Watercolors

With Jan Garbarek
Photo With White Cloud
Wires
Windows and a Red Roof

With Kate Bush (both on Columbia)
Aerial
The Sensual World