Avery Sharpe

Who is Avery Sharpe?

Avery Sharpe is an American jazz double-bassist.

Sharpe began playing piano at age eight and also studied accordion in his youth. He learned both electric and acoustic bass as a teenager, then studied with Reggie Workman at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He played with Wynton Marsalis and Pat Metheny before joining McCoy Tyner's sextet; from 1984 through 2002 he played with Tyner's trio. He has also played as a sideman with Archie Shepp, Yusef Lateef, Ricky Ford, Joe Ford, and others. As a leader, he has release on Sunnyside Records, and several albums on his own label, JKNM.

Although not as well known as Ron Carter or Christian McBride, he is remarkably versatile as a bassist. A switch-hitter on bass guitar and upright bass, his humming-and-bowing, à la Slam Stewart, as well as his chord work on stand-up bass make quite an impression when seeing and hearing him live.