After a 10 year musical hiatus, relative newcomer to the solo bass scene, JEFF SCHMIDT made a huge splash when he won the 2005 Bass Extremes International Solo Bass Competition – the biggest competition of its kind in the world, attracting entrants from all over the globe.
Competition judge and solo bass legend Victor Wooten of Bela Fleck & the Flecktones called Jeff's performance "some of the most beautiful music I've ever heard played on the bass guitar".
Since then Jeff has been writing and performing highly original solo bass compositions and conducting clinics on his unusual approach to solo bass guitar. Using exotic tunings, and un-orthodox techniques, Jeff creates exciting and emotionally charged music on 5 & 6 string fretted & fretless electric basses.
Jeff has shared the stage with some of the biggest names in the electric bass world - Michael Manring, Steve Lawson, Victor Wooten, Steve Bailey, Anthony Jackson, John Patitucci, Billy Sheehan, & Will Lee.
Solo Bass
Completely untethered to the tradition of the instrument - Jeff Schmidt expands the melodic and musical voice of the electric bass in ways more akin to Guitar legends Michael Hedges and Preston Reed than Bass heroes Stanley Clarke or Jaco Pastorius.