Victor Gaskin


Roderick Victor Gaskin was an American jazz bassist.
Gaskin was born in The Bronx, New York and moved to Los Angeles in 1962. He started playing with Paul Horn and Red Mitchell and went on to become one of many bass players for the Jazz Crusaders. He also recorded with Curtis Amy and Dupree Bolton, before becoming a part of the West Coast jazz scene, accompanying Buddy Collette, Shelly Manne, and Bud Shank.
Between 1966 and 1970, he was a member of Cannonball Adderley's groups, and in 1970 recorded with Duke Ellington's octet, quintet, quartet and trio.
He started playing with the Billy Taylor Trio in the late 1970s, continuing until 1993, as well as with Johnny Hartman and Hank Jones.
Between 1994 and 2001 Gaskin was in Singapore and performed regularly at The Four Seasons Hotel with Boni de Souza & Friends for the iconic Sunday Jazz Brunch. They were pioneers of the Sunday Jazz Brunch scene in Singapore, setting the trend for other similar hotel offerings for years to come. During Gaskin's stay in Singapore, he was also featured on two jazz albums produced by Boni de Souza. The first was a Latin jazz-infused CD featuring Wendy Low, Boni de Souza, Gaskin and Sanip Ismail. The second and more definitive offering was Eau de Vie featuring some original compositions by Boni de Souza as well as alternative arrangements of jazz standards which featured Gaskin, Farid Ali, de Souza, Low and Ismail, with various guest musicians.
Gaskin died in Frederiksted, U.S. Virgin Islands.

Discography

With Cannonball Adderley
With Monty Alexander
  • Alexander the Great
With Curtis Amy and Dupree Bolton
  • Katanga!
With Hal Galper
  • The Guerilla Band
  • Wild Bird
With Johnny Hartman
  • Once in Every Life
With Paul Horn
With The Jazz Crusaders
With Herbie Mann and Tamiko Jones
With John Mayall
  • Moving On
  • Ten Years Are Gone
With Les McCann
With Susannah McCorkle
With Oliver Nelson
  • Swiss Suite
With Billy Taylor
With Buddy Terry
  • Awareness
With Clark Terry
  • Portraits
With Leon Thomas
With Larry Willis
  • Inner Crisis
With Gerald Wilson
  • On Stage
With Attila Zoller
  • Gypsy Cry
With Boni de Souza'
  • Eau de Vie
  • ''Busy doing Something''