Stuart Patrick Jude Zender (born 18 March 1974) is an English bassist. He is best known as a former member of the band
Jamiroquai
Jamiroquai ( ) are an English acid jazz and funk band from London. Formed in 1992, they are fronted by vocalist Jay Kay, and were prominent in the London-based funk and acid jazz movement of the 1990s. They built on their acid jazz sound in th ...
.
Biography
Early life
Zender was born in Sheffield, England. He comes from a family with a musical background: Zender's father was a musician, his uncle was a flamenco guitarist, and his older sister participated in
punk bands
Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...
.
His family relocated to
Norristown, Pennsylvania
Norristown is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough with Home Rule Municipality (Pennsylvania), home rule status and the county seat of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States, in the Delaware Valley, Philadelphia metropolitan area. Located ...
, when Zender was seven years old.
He moved back to England at age 15,
where he attended
Leighton Park School
Leighton Park School is a co-educational Private schools in the United Kingdom, private school for both day and boarding pupils in Reading, Berkshire, Reading in South East England. The school's ethos is closely tied to the Quaker values, having ...
in
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...
, UK, for a year in 1988–89 before being expelled. Zender played the
snare drum
The snare drum (or side drum) is a percussion instrument that produces a sharp staccato sound when the head is struck with a drum stick, due to the use of a series of stiff wires held under tension against the lower skin. Snare drums are often u ...
s for his school's marching band before he started to play bass at age 16. He practiced the instrument playing by ear to ''
Black Market
A black market is a Secrecy, clandestine Market (economics), market or series of transactions that has some aspect of illegality, or is not compliant with an institutional set of rules. If the rule defines the set of goods and services who ...
'' by
Weather Report
Weather Report was an American jazz fusion band active from 1970 to 1986. The band was founded in 1970 by Austrian keyboardist Joe Zawinul, American saxophonist Wayne Shorter, Czech bassist Miroslav Vitouš, American drummer Alphonse Mouzon a ...
, and he was able to play all of the bass parts in two weeks.
Before leaving his home at age 17, Zender's mother had saved for him £2,000 () for the occasion. Zender initially played in pubs with a punk rock band, but he had creative differences with the band. He recalled being "stuck onstage, playing these little four-chord songs. I would always jazz the whole thing up and start doing solos and things like that, and they would just tell me to shut up."
Zender admitted that he never had good business acumen, so instead of investing his mother's parting cash gift in a traditional way, he visited a music store and bought a
Warwick Streamer bass guitar, which cost nearly the whole amount given to him by his mother. Before picking up a Warwick, Zender played a
Music Man Stingray
The Music Man StingRay is an electric bass originally made by Music Man. Introduced in 1976, the StingRay was co-designed by Leo Fender and followed a similar format to his namesake company's influential Precision Bass. The more notable des ...
bass guitar. Of his early bands, the most famous was the prank rock group Fabulous, a 1991 outfit chiefly made up of ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...
'' writers and photographers.
Jamiroquai (1993–1998)
Zender met Jamiroquai's original drummer Nick van Gelder through his sister.
He auditioned for the band in 1993 as the band's bassist,
and he played on studio albums from ''
Emergency on Planet Earth'' (1993) to ''
Travelling Without Moving
''Travelling Without Moving'' is the third studio album by English funk and acid jazz band Jamiroquai, released on 28 August 1996 in Japan, then on 9 September 1996 in the United Kingdom under Sony Soho Square. Front-man Jay Kay intended for th ...
'' (1996). From there, Zender was asked to become an official
Warwick basses endorser. He received a number of unique customised
Streamer models.
Zender left Jamiroquai in 1998 during the recording of their fourth album, ''
Synkronized'', primarily because of conflicts with the band leader
Jay Kay
Jason "Jay" Kay (born Jason Luís Cheetham, 30 December 1969) is a British singer and songwriter. In 1992, he co-founded the acid jazz and funk band Jamiroquai and still serves as their lead vocalist. As of 2017, the band had sold more than 26 ...
.
A spokesperson for the band said that Zender also expressed his desire to spend more time with his then-girlfriend
Melanie Blatt
Melanie Ruth Blatt (born 25 March 1975) is an English singer. She rose to fame in 1997 as a member of the girl group All Saints (group), All Saints. The group have gained five UK number-one singles, two multi-platinum albums and two BRIT Awards, ...
and their new baby.
1998–present
After Jamiroquai, Zender had his own project with the British soul artist
Don-E called ''AZUR'', which signed a record deal with
D'Angelo
Michael Eugene Archer (born February 11, 1974), better known by his stage name D'Angelo (), is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He first garnered attention after co-producing the single "U Will Know" ...
's label. However, the project was shelved and was then available on the Internet for a short time. He has also played bass guitar with other artists, including
All Saints,
Omar,
Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975) is an American musician. She is celebrated as one of the most influential musical artists of her generation. Hill is credited with breaking barriers for female rappers, contributing to the popular music, m ...
,
D'Angelo
Michael Eugene Archer (born February 11, 1974), better known by his stage name D'Angelo (), is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He first garnered attention after co-producing the single "U Will Know" ...
,
Gorillaz
Gorillaz are an English virtual band created by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett in London, England in 1998. The band primarily consists of four fictional members: (vocals, keyboards), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar), Noodle (gui ...
, Samuel Purdey,
Ms. Dynamite
Naomi Arleen McLean-Daley (born 26 April 1981), better known as Ms. Dynamite, is a British singer and rapper. She is the recipient of the Mercury Music Prize, two Brit Awards and three MOBO Awards.
Early years
She was born Naomi Arleen M ...
and
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...
.
In summer 2006, Zender became the musical director and bass guitar player for
Mark Ronson
Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, record producer, and songwriter. He has won nine Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year for Amy Winehouse's album '' Back to Black'' (2006), as well as two for Record ...
. The release of the album ''
Version
Version may refer to:
Computing
* Software version, a set of numbers that identify a unique evolution of a computer program
* VERSION (CONFIG.SYS directive), a configuration directive in FreeDOS
Music
* Cover version
* Dub version
* Remix
* ''V ...
'' in 2007 proved to be a larger success than first expected. He has played bass guitar for Ronson at events such as
BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend,
Wireless Festival
''Wireless'' Festival is an annual rap and hip-hop music festival that takes place in London, England, which is owned and managed by Live Nation Entertainment, Live Nation. Debuting in 2005, the festival's earlier years primarily featured rock an ...
,
Global Gathering, and
Glastonbury
Glastonbury ( , ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury is less than across the River ...
, and festivals all over Europe, including
Montreux Jazz Festival
The Montreux Jazz Festival (formerly Festival de Jazz Montreux and Festival International de Jazz Montreux) is a music festival in Switzerland, held annually in early July in Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline. It is the second-largest annu ...
in Switzerland and
North Sea Jazz Festival
The North Sea Jazz Festival is a festival held annually on the second weekend of July in the Netherlands at the Ahoy venue. The festival moved to Rotterdam in 2006 after the demolition of the Statenhal in The Hague where it was originally held. ...
in Rotterdam. They were also special guests on
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...
's UK tour.
Having left the Mark Ronson band in 2011, Zender started his own record label, White Buffalo Recordings, and formerly ran the
music publishing
A music publisher is a type of publisher that specializes in distributing music. Music publishers originally published sheet music. When copyright became legally protected, music publishers began to play a role in the management of the intellectua ...
company Made Youth Inc.
Some of Zender's most recent work was with the band Leroi. Zender explained they were signed to
Geffen Records
Geffen Records (formerly The David Geffen Company from 1980 to 1992 and Geffen Records Inc. from 1993 to 2004) is an American record label, founded in late 1980 by David Geffen. Originally a music subsidiary of the company known as Geffen Pi ...
in Los Angeles but that the deal fell through after the heads of the company, Polly Anthony and Jordan Shurr, who signed them, were made redundant.
In March 2023, Zender released the song "Happy Feelings", featuring
Omar and
Ana Tijoux
Anamaría Tijoux Merino (, ; born 12 June 1977), commonly known by her stage name Ana Tijoux or Anita Tijoux (), is a French-born Chilean musician. Her music contains political and popular themes. She became famous in Latin America as the master ...
, on all major streaming platforms.
In November 2024, Zender released the song "Run" (originally recorded in 2000) on all major streaming platforms under the alias LeRoi74.
Artistry
Zender has cited players such as
Nathaniel Phillips,
Stanley Clarke
Stanley Clarke (born June 30, 1951) is an American bassist, composer and founding member of Return to Forever, one of the first jazz fusion bands. Clarke gave the bass guitar a prominence it lacked in jazz-related music. He is the first jazz-fus ...
,
Alphonso Johnson
Alphonso Johnson (born February 2, 1951) is an American jazz bassist active since the early 1970s. Johnson was a member of the jazz fusion group Weather Report from 1973 to 1975, and has performed and recorded with numerous high-profile rock and ...
,
Chuck Rainey
Charles Walter Rainey III (born June 17, 1940) is an American bass guitarist who has performed and recorded with many well-known acts, including Aretha Franklin, Steely Dan, and Quincy Jones. Rainey is credited for playing bass on more than 1,00 ...
,
Larry Graham
Larry Graham Jr. (born August 14, 1946) is an American bass guitar, bassist and baritone singer, with the psychedelic soul/funk band Sly and the Family Stone and as the founder and frontman of Graham Central Station. In 1980, he released the si ...
,
Bootsy Collins
William Earl "Bootsy" Collins (born October 26, 1951) is an American bass guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Rising to prominence with James Brown in the early 1970s before joining the Parliament-Funkadelic collective, Collins established himse ...
,
Verdine White,
James Jamerson
James Lee Jamerson (January 29, 1936 – August 2, 1983) was an American bassist. He was the uncredited bassist on most of the Motown Records hits in the 1960s and early 1970s (Motown did not list session musician credits on their releases un ...
,
Bernard Edwards,
Paul Jackson,
Hellmut Hattler
Hellmut Hattler (born 12 April 1952 in Ulm, West Germany) is a German jazz and rock bassist and composer.
Hattler took much of his early influences from Jimi Hendrix. As a child, he received violin lessons, and in the 1960s, he played guitar. ...
as his influences.
Personal life
Zender and
All Saints singer
Melanie Blatt
Melanie Ruth Blatt (born 25 March 1975) is an English singer. She rose to fame in 1997 as a member of the girl group All Saints (group), All Saints. The group have gained five UK number-one singles, two multi-platinum albums and two BRIT Awards, ...
were in a relationship from 1998 to 2006. They had one child together, Lilyella, born on 20 November 1998.
[New member for All Saints](_blank)
Accessed 2 January 2006 The couple split in 2006.
Equipment
* 1x
Warwick
Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined wit ...
SZ Signature Bass 4-string.
* 1x
Warwick
Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined wit ...
SZ Signature Bass 4-string (Red one, saw live in Paris and Amsterdam for Mark Ronson).
* 1x Warwick
Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined wit ...
SZ Signature Bass 4-string (White one, Zender posted the picture on Facebook).
* 1x Warwick "Iroquai Rug Bass" Streamer 5-string.
* 1x Warwick "The Chrome Ender Bass" Streamer Stage I 4-string.
* 1x Fender 1964 Fender Precision Bass, Precision Bass.
* 1x Warwick Streamer Stage II 5-string (used in 1995 live).
* 1x Alembic
An alembic (from , originating from , 'cup, beaker') is an alchemical still consisting of two vessels connected by a tube, used for distillation of liquids.
Description
The complete distilling apparatus consists of three parts:
* the "" ...
Epic 4-string (onstage backup bass guitar).
* 1x Warwick Streamer Stage I 4-string.
* Ashdown Engineering ABM Amplification.
* Ashdown Engineering SZ Funk Face Twin Dynamic Filter Pedal – Stuart Zender Signature Auto-Wah Pedal
Discography
References
External links
Stuart Zender
on Myspace
Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...
Interview with Stuart Zender on Warwick Forum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zender, Stuart
English bass guitarists
English male guitarists
British male bass guitarists
English people of Dutch descent
English people of German descent
1974 births
Living people
People educated at Leighton Park School
Jamiroquai members
Grammy Award winners
21st-century British bass guitarists