Rippingtons, Spyro Gyra bassist on being an upright and electric doubler, stories from touring with Miles Davis
Exclusive video interview with FBPO’s Jon Liebman
April 14, 2025
Kim Stone is an upright and electric bassist and composer currently based in Albuquerque, NM. He has performed and recorded with renowned acts including Spyro Gyra, the Rippingtons, B.B. King, Jessica Williams, and the Lionel Young blues band. Throughout all his projects, Kim’s passion has always been improvisation. Recently he has been gigging and recording around the New Mexico music scene, most notably with electroacoustic jazz ensemble Present Moment, where he’s working on the band’s upcoming debut release with Psychosomatic Records.
Watch our interview with Kim!
Enjoyed your interview with Kim Stone ! Being originally from Denver I had the pleasure of watching Kim’s career and growth. He is a true artist and a super guy. Liked hearing about his great … that was fun. I too play upright and electric. At 76 I’m still gigging In Florida now. Love your show ! 😎🌴
Glad you liked the interview, Joe. Yeah, Kim’s amazing. I’m especially glad to hear that you’re gigging in Florida. Keep up the great work. Thanks for your kind words as well!
Hello, Jon. Watched your Kim Stone interview. Great! For your odd meter course, see if you can find “A Time Revolution” by Hank Levy. Hank taught at Towson University in Baltimore, and he was all about odd meters. Also check out the tune “Chain Reaction” by Hank. You can probably find it played by the US Army Jazz Ambassadors
Cool. Thanks, Dan!
We love Kim and see him around town with Joe Warner and others. I am looking forward to playing with him myself in time. My favorite genre of Jazz was the West Coast (Light’s Out) jazz that Kim played. Special Efx, Spyro Gyra, Rippingtons, Fattburger, Lee Ritenour and the likes. It got mostly crushed when the large corporations took over the jazz stations around 2000. They turned in into Smooth Jazz and got rid of anything interesting and edgy. Don’t worry, Kim. The best is yet to come.
Nice tribute. Yeah, Kim’s awesome. Thanks, Scott!