The bassist who has stood behind Bob Dylan longer than anyone else in his band's history, quietly anchoring the Never Ending Tour since 1989.
MOODS · steady · understated · versatile · road-worn · backing-band grit · jazz-inflected · bluesy · noir-tinged · reliable · eclectic
BIOGRAPHY
Tony Garnier is an American bassist born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and raised in southern California, into a musical lineage: his grandfather D'Jalma "Papa" Garnier was a New Orleans jazz trumpeter and bandleader, and his brother D'Jalma is a Creole fiddler. By the mid-1970s Garnier was touring with Asleep at the Wheel before moving into New York's avant-garde scene with The Lounge Lizards.
Through the late 1970s and 1980s he built a reputation as a versatile sideman, backing Robert Gordon, Otis Rush, Albert Collins, and David Johansen (as Buster Poindexter), and appearing on Tom Waits' 1985 album Rain Dogs. He also contributed bass to Jim Jarmusch films, including Down by Law, before joining Bob Dylan's band in 1989, a partnership that has continued for over three decades.
WHY THEY'RE COOL
Garnier's staying power is remarkable: he has played more shows with Bob Dylan than any other musician in Dylan's career, often serving as a musical director who helps shape setlists and bridges Dylan with the rest of the band. His path there was anything but narrow, moving from country-swing with Asleep at the Wheel to downtown jazz with The Lounge Lizards, then through rockabilly, blues, and film scoring work with Jim Jarmusch. That range, paired with decades of consistency behind one of music's most mercurial performers, makes him a study in adaptable, unglamorous mastery.
GEORGE'S PLAYS
First time on the station.
PLAYED ON WOKE1
