John Porter
Bassist and Tutor
About
After many years of being involved with numerous areas of performance - on both double bass and electric bass - he is now based in Suffolk.
He is skilled in both sight-reading and improvising, with jazz particularly - in all its forms - being his forte.
His versatility and command of many genres of music has allowed him to consistently work over 30 years all over the world - be it cruise ships, recording sessions or musical theatre tours.
He currently plays regularly, but not exclusively, with the resident band Crackerjax - at Warners, Gunton Hall near Lowestoft. This involves playing for dancing, with the music ranging from ballroom to contemporary pop.
The gig also involves playing for click tracked production shows along with team of resident vocalists and dancers which is usually 45 minutes of continuous sight reading of long medleys of songs. Lots of concentration needed !
The job also includes the band backing many of the visiting guest cabaret artists , for which he also takes the role of Musical Director. Both of these tasks require first rate sight-reading skills as the band-call will last only an hour.
Along with being involved in freelance gigs ranging from function bands, backing tribute artists to jazz trios, John now offers private tuition locally, on both instruments, as well as theory, enabling students to improve their playing from beginners to professionals.