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ATTENTION TO THE SMALL DETAILS |
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| I first saw Nippy Cripwell at the 1972 Rand Easter Show, when he played in Hocus, with Robert “Mutt” Lange, Stevie Lange (née Van Kerken) and Alan Goldswain, among others, the first bass player I experienced really close-up. Five years later, he was the first person I saw play an unlined fretless bass, with Scandal in Johannesburg’s Branch Office. Two years after that, he became the first bassist I ever saw slap, after he had replaced Les Goode in Backtrax. All these “firsts” (admittedly for me) indicate just how ubiquitous and innovative a presence Nippy had throughout the Seventies, influencing and inspiring many young bassists. It is both a privilege and a total pleasure for me to be able to interview the person who was certainly a major influence on me during my fledgling bass years. “The Seventies were certainly fruitful,” says Nippy when we meet for coffee in Rosebank just after Christmas. When that decade drew to a close and the Eighties began, Nippy had grown somewhat tired of nightclub gigs, even though he continued to play in Mike Faure’s soul band, music he thoroughly enjoyed. Yet he devoted considerably more time to ‘the classical side”, playing upright bass in a string ensemble and chamber orchestra. Asked what he has been doing since then, he mentions – inter alia – the Waldorf String Band, who play an eclectic mix of Celtic, bluegrass and other music. Nippy sees himself, as the only schooled musician, a kind of anchor in this outfit. He says that he loves playing bluegrass and country but emphasises that he plays “just about everything…with anybody who’s still moving”. In fact, Nippy (who jokingly refers to himself as “a rock ‘n roll has-been”) is called to play virtually everything, from so-called classical music to jazz to rock and soul. How did it all begin? “I played violin as a boy [at boarding school in Northern Rhodesia].” Then he stopped, but picked up the bass guitar “during my last two years at high school”. What were his early inspirations? “The Beatles!” he exclaims: “All of a sudden there was that gap that the bass could fill.” He also mentions the Stax-Volt-Motown sound as a profound influence: “I just had to play those lines!” After a two-year stint studying economics at UND, Nippy decided to follow his heart and go pro. He acquired a double bass and took lessons, and before long was well ensconced in the Johannesburg music scene. With regard to subsequent influences, to this day his favourite bands are Steely Dan (“Chuck Rainey!” whose pioneer double-stop playing and melodic bass lines graced many of their albums) and Weather Report. “A friend of mine, Arthur Stead, sent me an album from the States, saying that I had check this one out. It turned out to be Jaco’s first solo album.” It also turned out that the sleeve contained the wrong record, namely a Fleetwood Mac LP – ‘so I had to wait another year or so before I finally heard the album.” It was Jaco’s playing that moved Nippy to check out fretless bass. “Eddie Boyle did this crazy thing: he imported eight sunburst Precisions with unlined fretless maple necks and couldn’t sell them.” So Nippy persuaded Eddie to sell him a black Precision with a maple neck of his choice. He replaced the stock pickups with DiMarzio pickups and – still following Jaco’s lead – used Acoustic amplification. This combination was sufficient to wow Cliff Richard’s soundman at the time, himself a bass player. Nippy recalls backing Richard at the Durban City Hall with Backtrax, saying that he was given the most sublime sound. In fact, the group’s onstage sound was unlike anything he’d heard before, one of the three things that make a professional bassist go to sleep with a smile on his face - “a good sound or balance”. The other two are “when the drummer is not drunk … and when the sixth sense has somehow clicked in”. These three things make up what Nippy calls his “musical axiom”: “this happens at most 3 times out of 365.” What does he mean by ‘sixth sense”? “That indefinable, impalpable moment when something else just takes over, a superior kind of communication”. As examples, he cites a gig he did with Backtrax in Sun City’s Superbowl, when the entire band kicked in at precisely the same telepathic moment after a general power failure, as well as seeing Miles Davis at Jones Beach, New York, count off a ridiculously slow blues and smile almost perceptibly when the musicians (Marcus Miller and Mike Stern amongst others) delivered the goods. Given that he is capable of playing “anything pretty well, but no one thing really great”, what would Nippy have chosen if he had had to opt for a specific area in music? He loves any player who’s big on melody, he says, citing as more recent inspirations the Nashville double bass virtuoso Edgar Meyer (“There are not enough adjectives to describe the man’s ability. Let’s just say awesome”), as well as, and perhaps less obviously, Bonnie Raitt’s long-time stalwart James “Hutch” Hutchinson. “That’s the sort of stuff I would play…that’s the kind of approach I like in a player – inventive, melodic, versatile, covering a lot of terrain, albeit rooted in bluegrass and country.” He says he loves any player who knows how to make notes count, how to play “the one note that stands out”, and who concentrates equally on “the gaps between notes”. He finds that most of the bassists he enjoys are also strong composers – “they play with a strong grasp of the bigger picture.” He says that there are many who are technical wizards but whose playing is meaningless – “where is the one note that stands out?” - and they are usually also players who aren’t strong composers in their own right. Nippy still has and plays the customised fretless Precision bass. His other instruments include an old ‘64 Jazz Bass, SDGR 6-string, Crafter acoustic bass guitar, as well as an Emmanuel Wilfer double bass. Amp wise, he is committed to his “old Roland Cube 100”, although “Graeme Currie talked me into trying a Raven Lab Red Box – it’s really good”. Asked what instruments he would like to own if money were no object, he mentions the Sadowsky Five (again, with a maple neck), as well as a light responsive upright. Asked what recordings he has played on that he would recommend for listening, if any, Nippy’s initial response is, “a few things I really enjoyed never made it to release. The rest is pretty general stuff.” When I pursue the issue and ask him about these unreleased recordings, he smiles. “Well, you’ve got me there. I can’t actually think of any right now that I’m completely happy with.” It turns out that Nippy tends to be very critical of his own playing. “There’s hardly anything where I didn’t think, ‘I could have done this better’”. Has he considered embarking on any solo projects? “To be a great bass player is one thing, to be a great soloist is another, it’s almost diametrically opposed.” Nippy mentions Jaco as a notable exception. He says that there is hardly enough time for solo projects, when one considers the time spent on regular and unscheduled gigs. Although he sometimes wishes that he had been able to specialise and devote time to his own musical conceptions, Nippy has few regrets. “It has been worthwhile. I guess I’m a bit of a fatalist. I consider myself fortunate to have been able to play with the musicians I did…and to be playing still!” He says that this is one thing he keeps telling older-generation musicians who may be a little sceptical or wary of the bass players club: the mere fact that they have been around for thirty years or more and are still active indicates that they have been doing something right – and that they have nothing to prove to anyone anymore. “Why not share their experiences and knowledge? It’s almost like some are scared to do so.” Nippy strongly believes that it’s all about sharing. Sharing means neither loss of identity nor passing on part of one’s individuality to others. “Everyone is unique, individual. One can only help others to discover their uniqueness, their individuality.” This is also why he welcomes the institution of the bass players collective we have in South Africa now, thanks to Martin Simpson’s initial brainwave and continuing enthusiasm. “There’s so much to learn, also in terms of integrity and honesty, not only for young bassists, but also for older players.” Is there any advice he has for young bassists, or players who are just starting out? “Find a way to play that suits you. What do you need to practice? It is important to identify any problems you have before you start practicing. Never stop listening. Dave Hewitt used to say, ‘for every hour you practice, play and listen.’” Nippy emphasises the importance of finding a way of playing something that suits one’s own purposes. Half an hour to an hour of constructive practice, he asserts, is more fruitful than several hours of unfocused playing. Does he still practice? “Not as much as I perhaps should. Only specific things that I am called for, or if there’s something that I hear which intrigues me.” Nippy is also an ultra-marathon runner, something I didn’t know until this year. Is there a similarity in attitude or mindset in preparing for and participating in big races like the Comrades, and preparing for and playing particular gigs? Nippy smiles. “Certainly in terms of preparation, taking care and time, being alert, healthy, fit and pacing oneself, and of course attention to detail.” What has been the high point of his career so far? “The most profound experience was playing electric bass on the Three Tenors Concert in the Amphitheatre beneath the Union Buildings. The sheer power of a full symphony orchestra and choir reinforced by a near perfect sound crew equates to something similar to that Tsunami ad you see on TV. Perfect gig, perfect setting, perfect audience (from the State President down) ...” As far as future plans are concerned, Nippy expresses a sort of fatalism similar to that concerning his past as he reflects on his long and illustrious career. He will certainly remain more focused on the double bass. “Perhaps it has to do with age”, he says, but he enjoys the upright’s depth and its purity of tone, which to him lends itself better to expressing the passion he has always had about music. Quoting Myles Shannon - “we always tend to forget the reason why we started playing in the first place” - he emphasises pleasure and passion, as opposed to burning ambition. “Giving in to burning ambition means missing the big picture.” Nippy also keeps “finding that paying attention to the small details [like choice and length of notes, sound, tone, intonation] makes a big difference…and playing each gig like it’s your last.” We talk about children and what it means to be a musician and a parent. Nippy chats about colleagues and friends throughout the years (he is full of praise for Mutt Lange, both as a friend and as a producer), about the lack of humility, integrity and honesty in some musicians, and relates some of the droll and quaint events that mark his life in music. I could easily listen to Nippy for several hours longer if time weren’t such a precious commodity. Yet right now, it’s not business but (listening) pleasure that demands his attention. Nippy heads for the nearby CD store so he can put an all-too-rare royalty cheque to good use. The album of choice: Edgar Meyer’s Uncommon Ritual (which also features Bela Fleck and Mike Marshall), an eclectic mélange of neo-classical, chamber jazz, bluegrass and Appalachian mountain music. Right up Cripwell Street, one might say. Kai Horsthemke/ December 2002 |
