The unique stylings of solo bassist Julian Vaughn are born of a love for the smooth jazz genre. The Kansas City native takes from his historic surroundings, long known for its important contributions to jazz, and adds his youthful yet soulful style to create his debut CD entitled The Purpose Project.
Vaughn is a self-taught bass player. Born March 3, 1980 the musician grew up in the church where his grandfather pastored until turning over the reins to Vaughn’s father. Like other kids at the church, he began his music career playing the drums, but says, “Trying to play the drums at church was like ten football players going after a fumble. Everyone wanted to play.”
Years went by and the fight over the drums got old. At 15 Vaughn decided to try a different instrument. He picked up a bass guitar that another man in his church was playing and immediately fell in love. This was truly love at first sight. Vaughn was blessed with the ability to play by ear. He soon discovered how to play songs and special techniques.
One day Vaughn found his father’s Najee cassette “Tokyo Blue.” He listened, this was the first time he had heard smooth jazz, and fell in love again. He was hooked. To this day “Tokyo Blue” remains his favorite jazz recording.
The 6 foot, 7 inch Vaughn was a shoe-in on the high school basketball team. During the season, while his teammates listened to rap music on their headphones, Vaughn listened to smooth jazz. He began to realize he was different from his peers when it came to music.
When Vaughn was about 19 his grandfather bought him a 6-string bass guitar. It was black with gold trim. He discovered the art of bass soloing and knew it was his passion. “My friends use to get on me because I would stop playing the bass line and start soloing,” he remembers.
Vaughn began developing his solo skills along with composing and arranging. He performed his first composition in church on Father’s Day when he was 21. A two-minute, standing ovation at the end of the song let Vaughn know that he was destined to be an artist.
Now at 29, Vaughn culminates his musical preparation with “The Purpose Project,” featuring eleven songs he has written and produced. The title cut” The Purpose” displays fine-tuned composition and musicianship. Notable jazz musicians on this recording include Mel Brown, Frank Selman, Darren Rahn, and Joey Woolfolk. These guys have played on a list of artist albums including Marion Meadows, Chuck Loeb, Wayman Tisdale, Jeff Lorber, Eric Darius, Fred Hammond, and Donnie McClurkin just to name a few. Saxophonist and producer Darren Rahn, who is considered to be one of the jazz industries top producers and young artist, is being featured on a couple of tunes and mixing as well. This CD release promises to be very successful.
Rapidshare / Hotfile @vbr
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