Jeff Ament
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Jeff Ament | ||
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 Jeff Ament, from Touring Band 2000.
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| Background information | ||
| Birth name | Jeffrey Allen Ament | |
| Born | March 10, 1963 (age 44) Havre, Montana, USA |
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| Genre(s) | Grunge Rock |
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| Occupation(s) | Musician Songwriter |
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| Instrument(s) | Bass | |
| Years active | 1984 — Present | |
| Label(s) | J Records Sub Pop Homestead Records Tasque Force Records C/Z Records Stardog Mercury A&M Epic Records |
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| Associated acts |
Pearl Jam Deranged Diction Green River Mother Love Bone Temple of the Dog Three Fish |
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Jeff Ament (born Jeffrey Allen Ament, March 10, 1963, Havre, Montana) is an American rock bassist and, along with Stone Gossard and Mike McCready, one of the founding members of Pearl Jam.
Jeff is a renowned bassist, and is particularly notable for his work with the fretless bass, upright bass and twelve-string bass guitar.
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[edit] Early Work
Ament grew up in a town called Big Sandy. He began playing the bass guitar as a teenager, often playing along with The Clash and The Police records. After quitting college at the University of Montana in Missoula, Jeff relocated to Seattle in the early 1980s with his band Deranged Diction. He became acquainted with fellow Seattle musicians Stone Gossard and Steve Turner, and he was asked to join their new band Green River in 1984. Green River is commonly considered to be the first grunge band. The band achieved a considerable local reputation, but in-fighting within the band led to a break-up in 1987.
Ament and Gossard recruited local 'celebrity' Andrew Wood and formed Mother Love Bone in 1987. Things looked to be going well, with the band signing to a major label and released the critically acclaimed album Apple, until Wood's tragic and untimely death shortly before the album's release in 1990. At this point Ament and Gossard almost parted company, but stuck around for the Temple of the Dog project, which was founded by Chris Cornell as a tribute to Andrew Wood. This project featured future Pearl Jam vocalist Eddie Vedder, who sang in the single "Hunger Strike". Pearl Jam was formed shortly afterwards, in 1990.
[edit] Pearl Jam
Jeff makes a major songwriting contribution to Pearl Jam. He penned the music for one of their biggest hits, "Jeremy", as well as "Nothingman". Ament has written the lyrics and music for the Pearl Jam songs "Pilate", "Low Light", "God's Dice", "Nothing As It Seems", and "Help Help".
In an interview, Ament stated:
I have to be able to feel the bass. I've worked hard with our producers to make sure that when you play our records on your stereo, you can feel the bass. You might not necessarily be able to hear it all the time, but if you turn it up you can feel the movement in the low end -- that it's moving the song. And when it's not there, it should be creating a dynamic.[1]
[edit] Other Work
Ament appeared in the 1992 movie Singles as himself, in lead actor Matt Dillon's backing band.
During Pearl Jam's dispute with Ticketmaster in 1994 over prices and surcharges, Ament appeared along with fellow Pearl Jam member Stone Gossard before a congressional subcommittee to testify on the issue.
Jeff has had a side project band named Three Fish.
With his brother Barry, Jeff runs Ames Bros., an art production company that produces tour posters and album artwork for many bands, including Pearl Jam.
[edit] Personal life
Aside from music, Jeff is a skilled skateboarder and basketball player and a talented graphic artist. At the University of Montana, he studied art and played basketball.[2]
Jeff currently lives in Seattle and Missoula. He and his partner, Pandora, climbed Africa's Mount Kilimanjaro in support of Save the Children.
[edit] Discography
[edit] References
- ^ Coryat, Karl. "Godfather of the "G" Word". Bass Player Magazine. April 1994.
- ^ "The Sky I Scrape: Pearl Jam FAQ". theskyiscrape.com.
[edit] External links
- Pearl Jam's Ten Club
- Ames Bros Homepage
- All Music Guide entry for Jeff Ament
- Interview with Jeff Ament
| Mother Love Bone |
| Andrew Wood | Stone Gossard | Jeff Ament | Bruce Fairweather | Greg Gilmore |
| Discography |
| Shine | Apple | Stardog Champion |
| Related Articles |
| Green River | Malfunkshun | Pearl Jam | Love Battery | Temple of the Dog | Grunge music soundgarden |
| Categories |
| Mother Love Bone | Mother Love Bone albums |
