Jeff Sarli

Rhythm & Blues - Swing - Rockabilly - Early & Vintage Jazz - Rock & Roll - Jump

The Washington Area Music Association honored Jeff with a Special Achievement award at The 21st Annual WAMMIES at The State Theatre, 220 North Washington Street, Falls Church, Virginia on Sunday, February 18th, 2007.

Jeff Sarli died in Nashville, Tennessee on Tuesday, August 29th, 2006 of complications of kidney disease. Jeff moved to Nashville in January of 2006 and was working steady in the Nashville music scene and touring nationally and internationally with a number of artists. He had been on dialysis for about eight weeks and was being treated at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Jeff was 48. Please feel free to post a message or memories on Jeff's guest book page.

A memorial service for Jeff Sarli was held on Monday, September 11th, 2006 at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, located in Severna Park, Maryland.

Contributions in Jeff's honor may be made to the MusiCares Foundation. MusiCares will send an acknowledgement letter to Jeff's family and to the donor. Please mail checks to:
MusiCares
ATTN: Debbie Carroll
1904 Wedgewood Avenue
Nashville, Tennessee
37212-3733

"MusiCares provides a safety net of critical assistance for music people in times of need. MusiCares' services and resources cover a wide range of financial, medical and personal emergencies, and each case is treated with integrity and confidentiality. MusiCares also focuses the resources and attention of the music industry on human service issues that directly impact the health and welfare of the music industry."

Got this guy from Baltimore, Jeff Sarli, plays like Willie Dixon. I didn't want that same electric bass texture. I wanted a little more roll to it, 'cos we've got enough rock. Whatever did happen to the roll? Actually it probably lives in an upright bass.

-Keith Richards, Mojo

Ignore me if you must, but pay attention to this guy. He's as good as they get in the blues/rock/jump-swing categories; the "real deal."

-Tony Flagg, The Bottom Line

Photo: Sam Holden

I'm playing a 50's Kay which I've always played. It's an American-made plywood bass. In fact, it's actually two basses - the neck came off of a Kay I had been playing for years; the body was pretty worn out. I found another Kay body at a junk shop - they are pretty hard to find - and I took the neck off of my first one and I had it attached to the body of this new one. I have an old style sort of setup - I use two old gut strings.

Basses were built just like violins, in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries and early 1900's: Those basses apparently had a different tilt in the neck back, giving it more tension for the soft gut strings. I always loved the tone of old basses.

Starting in the 1950's, they began to reset the necks on basses for steel strings. So I thought, 'Wow! I'm just putting this neck on, why don't I tilt it back and make the gut tighter?". Then I had the bass sprayed black and red. My bass repairman thinks I'm out of my mind. but for some reason this bass just sounds incredible.

The first time I worked with producer Rob Fraboni was on John Mooney's House of Blues album. Later on, Fraboni invited me to meet Keith Richards at Keith's house in Connecticut. The first words Fraboni said were "You're bringing that bass, right?". It's funny cause it's just a spray-painted plywood bass - Not exactly a fine instrument.