The Bass Chica | South Orange

THE BASS CHICA | SOUTH ORANGE

ALICE: Songs on Site is recorded on location and features each site’s unique soundscape as an audio backdrop. This episode includes aircraft, songbirds, cars, dogs, hikers, and a family celebration that we were not invited to. We recommend listening to Songs on Site with headphones for an immersive audio experience.
THEME

MUSIC: SONGS ON SITE THEME PLAYS UNDER.
SEAGULLS FLY OVERHEAD. A TRAIN PASSES BY.

MICHAEL: From Cocotazo Media and You Don’t Know Jersey—

A BUS PASSES BY.

MICHAEL: —this is Songs on Site—

BIRDS TAKE FLIGHT. A CAR BEEPS. A HORSE (OR THE JERSEY DEVIL) RUNS BY.

MICHAEL: —where we explore the music and environmental soundscapes of the Garden State.

CONDUCTOR: Stand clear of the door.

MICHAEL: I’m your host, Michael Aquino.

COFFEE POURS INTO A MUG. SILVERWARE CLINKS AGAINST DISHWARE. KIDS ON A PLAYGROUND. A CAR PASSES BY. CRICKETS ON A SUMMER NIGHT.

MICHAEL: Hey, there. It's Michael Aquino, the host of Songs on Site.
This is the first of two episodes featuring Caylen Bryant, a.k.a. The Bass Chica. I first saw Caylen play at Twisted Tulip Cafe in Livingston, New Jersey. Sometimes when my wife and I stop in for lattes, there’s a lovely jazz trio performing, led by big band legend Ed Palmero with Caylen on the bass. As far as I know, it’s the only upright bass that’s decorated with a dinosaur, a T-Rex named Milton.

MUSIC: “WE’RE FAR” PLAYS UNDER.

MICHAEL: Caylen Bryant's biggest musical inspiration and education came from her parents. Her father, a professional musician, and her mother, an expert music-lover, both ignited her passion for music. Caylen began singing as a young child, and at seven, she picked up the cello. Years later, she began playing bass at Oberlin Conservatory where she studied with Peter Dominguez and Gerald Cannon. Caylen is currently studying at Juilliard, pursuing her Master's degree. She has been touring with Blue Note Record artist Kandace Springs since 2018.

Here’s my interview with Caylen Bryant, The Bass Chica.

SONGBIRDS SING AND CHIRP THROUGHOUT THE INTERVIEW.

MICHAEL: Describe what you see at this site.

CAYLEN: I am surrounded by a lot of green right now. There are a lot of beautiful trees with wonderful spring foliage and a very wide open field with grass and a lovely, clear, open sky.

MICHAEL: Please introduce yourself.

CAYLEN: My name is Caylen Bryant. I am also known as The Bass Chica, and I am a musician who loves to sing and play the bass. And I'm from New Jersey, and I'm very excited to be here.

MICHAEL: Where are we?

CAYLEN: We are at the South Mountain Reservation in South Orange.

AN AIRPLANE FLIES OVERHEAD. A CHILD SHOUTS IN THE DISTANCE.

MICHAEL: Why did you want to play here?

CAYLEN: I used to live in South Orange, and this place is literally two minutes away from where my house was. And so, oftentimes I would just kind of drift out of the house to get some peace and quiet and—really just spend time in nature to reflect and relax.

MICHAEL: And it's a beautiful reservation. It's huge. So many trees. And as you can hear right now, the birds are just having a field day. Where in New Jersey have you lived?

CAYLEN: Well, I have lived in Chatham. I went to elementary school there, and then my family moved around quite a bit. We spent a little bit of time in Ohio, a little bit of time in Massachusetts. But when we came back to New Jersey, we came to South Orange, and then I lived in West Orange. And I currently live in Cedar Grove.

MICHAEL: That's a lot of different places in New Jersey. At what age did you start performing?

CAYLEN: So, my mother will always tell me that I always used to be a little bit of a stage ham. I always like to have eyes on me, and if I had something cool I wanted to show people, I would get to it.

AN AIRPLANE FLIES OVERHEAD.

CAYLEN: I would say I seriously started performing when I picked up the cello, which was my first instrument at seven years old.

MICHAEL: Very young to be playing the cello. The cello must have been as big as you probably.

CAYLEN: Well, they do make smaller-sized cellos, so…

MICHAEL: That's right. They have like three-quarter size, right?

CAYLEN: Yeah, yeah.

MICHAEL: Can you describe your music in 3 words to someone who has never heard it?

CAYLEN: I would say engaging, multifaceted, and genuine.

MICHAEL: One of the records that made it onto my You Don't Know, Jersey top 10 music albums of all time is Siembra by Willie Colón and Ruben Blades. The record played at all of my family gatherings back in the 80s and 90s. It was required listening in my household. You produced a project in which you recorded yourself playing each song from the album. You used costumes, props, and your own musical arrangements to create a unique character for each song.

A CHILD SPEAKS IN THE BACKGROUND.

MICHAEL: What inspired you to create the project?

CAYLEN: This idea struck me during the first wave of the pandemic and quarantine. I, like many other people, had to find a way to create something and function differently. And so, this really provided an outlet for me to do that. And it started by—a bassist that I had gone to for advice about how to play Latin music and where to get started—he recommended that I check out the album. So I was, like, Okay, I'll do that.

AN AIRPLANE FLIES OVERHEAD.

CAYLEN: I started playing bass rather late—quote unquote—when I was about 20 years old. And so, there were a lot of albums and pieces of music that I had grown up listening to but had never listened to as a bassist.

MICHAEL: Mm.

CAYLEN: Or with the point of view that—Oh, I could play this. Although I was familiar with the album, familiar with Ruben Blades, it was very interesting to revisit it and be, like, Wow, I can actually play this. I could do something with this. Usually, when a musician says to someone to check something out, it means to learn it. So, I started by transcribing all of the basslines in the album.

MICHAEL: Wow.

CAYLEN: And for those who might not know, transcribing means to write something down. So, if you've ever seen sheet music, you know, with all the lines and the dots and the dashes, that is—somebody wrote down some musical ideas.

CAYLEN: So, I listened to the album from top to bottom, and I wrote out all the basslines and then the pandemic hit, and we were all inside. And I was left with this whole notebook of basslines. And I was, like, Well, I might as well learn it. And so as I was learning to play it, all of these ideas and characters were flooding my head, and I just couldn't shake them. It started with the first song on the album, “Plastico.” Ruben is such a masterful storyteller. He describes people who live their life in a superficial way. And I was just inspired. I did the whole thing from my phone. I went online, and I ordered costumes and a wig, and sunglasses. It was very, very fun to put together. And—all in all—it was received very well. Because I think a lot of other people, like me, were looking for something inspiring during that time.

AN AIRPLANE FLIES OVERHEAD.

CAYLEN: And I shared it on Facebook and on Instagram and online, and it grossed over 10,000 views roughly.

MICHAEL: Nice. And someone reached out to you, didn't they?

CAYLEN: Oh, yes. I also shared it with Ruben Blades himself, and he wrote back this wonderful, heartfelt email saying that he loved what I had done and he thought it was a very, very lovely piece of work.

MICHAEL: I watched the videos that I loved seeing you take out on the characters. Amazing bass playing.

CAYLEN: Thank you.

MICHAEL: And there's a video of you that you created.

CAYLEN: Oh yeah. You know your stuff.

MICHAEL: With all the transcription. So if people wanna check out what that is, they can see it in that video. All right, Cayeln, a.k.a. The Bass Chica, are you ready to perform your music—

A SONGBIRD FLOURISHES IN SONG.

MICHAEL: I think the birds wanna hear you play your music—in the lovely South Mountain reservation.

CAYLEN: Claro que sí.

MICHAEL: Let's do it.

THEME MUSIC TRANSITION.

MICHAEL: Tune in next week to hear the second half of the interview with Caylen. And now, enjoy this performance of “Prelude to Sundiata” written and performed by Caylen Bryant, The Bass Chica at South Mountain Reservation.

A DOG BARKS IN THE DISTANCE.

CAYLEN: This song is something that I pulled from an epic called Sundiata. It is an epic of old Mali of Africa. And it is like the Iliad or the Odyssey. It's a story handed down for generations. And this was kept alive by the griots, and I learned about this when I went to school in Oberlin in my Black history class. And I was so inspired by it that I set it to this musical motif and I wanted to, kind of, simulate the way a griot would tell the story. So, I hope you enjoy.

MUSIC: “PRELUDE TO SUNDIATA” LIVE AT SOUTH MOUNTAIN RESERVATION.
AN AIRPLANE FLIES OVERHEAD.

CAYLEN:
Listen then, sons of Mali, children of the Black people,
listen to my word, for I am going to tell you of Sundiata,
the father of the Bright Country, of the savanna land,
the ancestor of those who draw the bow,
the ruler of a hundred vanquished kings.

I am going to talk of Sundiata, Manding Diara,
Lion of Mali, Sogolon Djata, son of Sogolon,
Nare Maghan Djata, son of Nare Maghan,
Sogo Sogo Simbon Salaba, hero of many names.

I am going to tell you of Sundiata,
he whose exploits will astonish men for a long time yet.
He was great among kings, he was peerless among men;
he was beloved of God because he was the last of the great conquerors.

I am going to talk of Sundiata
of Sundiata
of Sundiata
of Sundiata

BIRDS CHIRP.

MICHAEL: Beautiful.

MUSIC: SONGS ON SITE THEME (INSTRUMENTAL) PLAYS UNDER.

MICHAEL: Thanks for listening to Songs on Site. I’m your host, Michael Aquino. Songs on Site producers are Michael Aquino and Dania Ramos for Cocotazo Media, and Ed Magdziak and Alice Magdziak for You Don’t Know Jersey. If you’ve enjoyed this episode, please follow the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. If you’d like to hear bonus content with the featured musicians, you can unlock it by supporting us at Patreon dot com slash Cocotazo M.

MUSIC: SHIFT IN THEME MUSIC (INSTRUMENTAL) CONTINUES UNDER.

ALICE: Audio editing, design, mixing, and theme song by Michael Aquino. Story editing, scriptwriting, and additional audio editing by Dania Ramos.

The featured musician was Caylen Bryant, The Bass Chica. Caylen performed vocals and bass on “Prelude to Sundiata.” Learn more about Caylen at the bass chica dot com. You can find a link to her website and our website in the show notes.

This episode was recorded in South Mountain Reservation in South Orange and was produced in Essex County, New Jersey. Both locations are situated on the traditional territory of the Leni Lenape people.

As always, thanks for listening.

KIDS PLAY ON A PLAYGROUND.
BIRDS CHIRP.
MUSIC: CAYLEN WARMS UP ON THE UPRIGHT BASS.

MICHAEL: Sounds good.

CAYLEN: Um, you need me to talk more?

MICHAEL: I think you are good.