Stuart Zender

Stuart Patrick Jude Zender (born 18 March 1974) is an English bassist. He is best known as a former member of the band Jamiroquai.[1]

Stuart Zender
Birth nameStuart Patrick Jude Zender
Also known asStu, SZ
Born (1974-03-18) 18 March 1974
London, England
OriginSheffield, England
Genres
Occupation(s)Musician
InstrumentsBass
Years active1993–present
Associated acts

Biography

Early life

Zender was born in Sheffield, England. He comes from a family with a musical background, Zender's father was a musician, his uncle was a flamenco guitarist, and his older sister participated in punk bands.[2] His family relocated to Norristown, Pennsylvania when Zender was seven years old.[2] He moved back to England at age 15,[2] where attended Leighton Park School in Reading, UK for a year in 1988–89 before being expelled. Zender left his home when he was seventeen with two thousand pounds that his mother had saved, to give him a head start in life.[3]

As Zender said, he never had good business acumen, so instead of investing that money in some way, he visited a music store and bought a Warwick Streamer bass guitar which cost nearly the whole amount given to him by his mother. Before picking up a Warwick, Zender played a Music Man Stingray bass guitar. Of his early bands, the most famous was the prank rock group Fabulous, a 1991 outfit chiefly made up of NME writers and photographers. He also said that in another interview, he played a drum with a circus group without animals at that time.

Jamiroquai (1993–1998)

Zender was one of the members of the band of Jamiroquai. Jamiroquai has been in existence since 1992. He joined the band when the album released in 1993. To be auditioned for Jamiroquai, Stuart met leader Jason Kay (Jay Kay) through Nick Van Gelder(the first drummer in Jamiroquai), acquaintance of the circus group. While enrolled in Jamiroquai, he became famous by playing impressive melodic basslines. Zender was asked to become an official Warwick basses endorser. He received a number of unique custom shop Streamer models.

Zender left Jamiroquai in 1998 during the recording of their fourth album, Synkronized, because of conflicts with the band leader Jay Kay. The circumstances behind his departure have never been fully revealed, but Zender told of his anger that he and the other band members were not being credited enough for assisting in songwriting and producing. He also said that he resigned to spend more time with his new wife Melanie Blatt, one of UK girl group All Saints, and their new baby Lilyella.

(1998–present)

After Jamiroquai, Zender had his own project with the British soul artist, Don-E, called "AZUR" which signed a record deal with d'Angelo's label.[4] However, the project was shelved and was then available on the Internet for a short time. He has also played bass guitar with other artists, including All Saints, Omar, Lauryn Hill, D'Angelo, Gorillaz, Samuel Purdey, Ms. Dynamite and Stevie Wonder. He and Melanie Blatt were together for seven years. They have one daughter, named Lilyella. Some of Zender's most recent work should have been with his latest band "LEROI". Zender explained they were signed to Geffen Records in Los Angeles but the deal fell through after the heads of the company, Polly Anthony and Jordan Shurr, who signed them, were made redundant.

Zender left Los Angeles in summer 2006 to become the musical director and bass guitar player for Mark Ronson. The release of the album Version in 2007 proved to be a larger success than first expected. He has played bass guitar for Ronson at events such as "Radio 1's Big Weekend", "O2 Wireless at Hyde Park", "Global Gathering" and "Glastonbury", and festivals all over Europe including "Montreux Jazz Festival" in Switzerland and "North Sea Jazz Festival" in Rotterdam. They were also special guests on Jay-Z's UK tour.

Having left the Mark Ronson band in 2011, Zender runs his own record label, White Buffalo Recordings, and formerly ran the music publishing company Made Youth Inc.

Equipment
  • 1x Warwick SZ Signature Bass 4-string.
  • 1x Warwick SZ Signature Bass 4-string (Red one, saw live in Paris and Amsterdam for Mark Ronson).[5]
  • 1x Warwick SZ Signature Bass 4-string (White one, Zender posted the picture on Facebook).
  • 1x Warwick "Iroquai Rug Bass" Streamer 5-string.
  • 1x Warwick "The Chrome Ender Bass" Streamer Stage I 4-string.
  • 1x Fender 1964 Precision Bass.
  • 1x Warwick Streamer Stage II 5-string (used in 1995 live).
  • 1x Alembic Epic 4-string (onstage backup bass guitar).
  • 1x Warwick Streamer Stage I 4-string.
  • Ashdown Engineering ABM Amplification.
  • Ashdown Engineering SZ Funk Face Twin Dynamic Filter Pedal - Stuart Zender Signature Auto-Wah Pedal

Album appearances

References
  1. Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press. ISBN 9780857125958. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
  2. Duff, S. L. (May 1997). "Can Jamiroquai Take Over the World?". Bass Player: 28–33.
  3. "An Interview With Bassist Stuart Zender: Progressive Rock Update With Brad Houser". bassmusicianmagazine.com. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
  4. "DON-E: Right down to the letter". Bluesandsoul.com. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
  5. Archived 6 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine
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