Remembering Bob Bowen- Great Spirit/Bassist
Bob Bowen played bass with me for many years in many different bands and situations. I met Bob at Cleopatra's Needle one night and he told me that he was a total fan of mine and that he would love to play with me, no matter what the money scene was?! I asked him to 'sit in' so I could hear him play-he was great. Bob's - Spirit, Passion and Musicianship blew me away. Bob knew all of my arrangements from my recordings and I could always count on hearing a hardy "Yeah!" behind me when I was singing. When I had an opportunity in 1999 to play the JazzYatra in Bombay, India, I could have taken any bassist with me because I received a grant from Arts International to bring a real upright bassist. Bob Bowen is who I brought with me. That was a trip that neither one of us would Ever forget. Bob wrote a blog about it. The Gully Trail, I think was the title of his blog which described the unbelievable sights, sounds and smells that Bob experienced in Mumbai. Last year, 2009 Bob was the bassist who toured with the JazzIam Band through South America for the Rhythm Road program. We ended our tour by playing the Estoril Festival in Portugal with Kenny Werner, Bob Bowen, Tim Horner and myself - there is a video posted on Youtube of "Freedom Jazz Dance" from that final concert together.
You don't come across many people like Bob Bowen in this life. His sense of family, his creativity, joy and most of all - spirit. Bob was alive at all costs and I really loved him and will miss him.
