| Verdine White | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | July 25, 1951 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Genres | R&B, funk, soul, jazz fusion |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, singer-songwriter, bassist |
| Instruments | Bass guitar, vocals |
| Years active | 1969–present |
| Associated acts
Notable instruments: |
Earth, Wind & Fire Level 42 |
Verdine White (born July 25, 1951) is an American musician, best known as the bassist for Earth, Wind & Fire and the younger brother of band founder Maurice White. White is known for his high energy and dancing while playing his bass guitar during Earth, Wind & Fire. Verdine is the only remaining founding member left in the band.
Verdine was born in Chicago, Illinois, on July 25, 1951. His father, Verdine Sr., was a doctor who also played the saxophone. He grew up listening to recordings of Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and other jazz musicians. He was also influenced by his two drummer brothers, Fred and Maurice White, the Motown sound, and the Beatles. When he was 15, he saw a Double bass in his high school orchestra class and decided that he wanted to play bass.
He soon got a red electric bass and, taking the advice of brother Maurice and his father, took private lessons from Radi Velah of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, learning the Bille double bass method and on weekends learned the electric bass with Chess Records session bassist and trombonist Louis Satterfield, who would later become a member of Earth, Wind & Fire’s famed horn section, The Phenix Horns. Verdine says he learned everything about the bass guitar from Louis Satterfield, and some of his early bass influences were James Jamerson, Paul McCartney, and Gary Karr.
Moving toward a newly bought Fender Telecaster bass instead of the upright bass, Verdine began working the Chicago club scene with local bands. Meanwhile, brother Maurice, who was a former session drummer at Chess Records and a member of pianist Ramsey Lewis’s trio, had formed the Salty Peppers, scoring a local hit that caught the ears of Capitol Records.
In early 1970 Maurice moved to Los Angeles, hoping to record the group, which he had renamed Earth, Wind & Fire and called up Verdine asking whether he would like to join, which he did, arriving in Los Angeles on June 6, 1970.
How do you anchor a band like Earth, Wind & Fire? If you’re Verdine White, you do it with bass lines as powerful and memorable as the songs they support. White’s running-start pickups and pocket-widening post-one pops are key components to the EWF sound. The Chicago native credits such mentors as his brother Maurice, Charles Stepney, and especially Chess session bass ace (and later EWF trombonist) Louis Satterfield—but Verdine is the true shining star.
As Earth, Wind & Fire’s bassist since the band’s inception, White has won six Grammy Awards, has been Grammy nominated seventeen times and has also been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In November 2008 White was presented with Bass Player magazine’s Lifetime Achievement Award by Nathan East.
Bass Stuff 