Gaskin, (Roderick) Vic(tor) (New York, 23 Nov 1934)

Double bass player

He learned guitar from his father, a flutist, and undertook conservatory study in New York. After playing with a rock-and-roll group in San Diego he moved in 1962 to Los Angeles, where he worked for a year with Paul Horn's quintet (recording in 1962). During this time he also played with Shelly Manne, Oscar Brown, Jr., Bud Shank, the Jazz Crusaders, and Harold Land; he joined Les McCann's trio in 1964. Gaskin played with Cannonball Adderley from 1966 to 1969, appearing with him at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1967. Thereafter he worked briefly with Thelonious Monk (1969), Duke Ellington (1969-70), the Harlem Philharmonic Orchestra (1970), and Chico Hamilton (1971), and performed at the Montreux International Jazz Festival (1971, 1972) with such musicians as Oliver Nelson, Hamilton, and Leone Thomas. From 1971 he played in a group led by the English blues singer and harmonica player John Mayall, with whom he performed at the Newport Jazz Festival New York in 1973. In the 1980s he has recorded with Billy Taylor (1980), in Hank Jones's quartet (accompanying the vibraphonist Darji, 1982), and in a sextet with Doc Cheatham and George Kelly (1985); he has also worked as a commercial photographer.

 William S. Brockman

The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, © Macmillan Reference Ltd 1988