Tal Wilkenfeld

Tal Wilkenfeld
Wilkenfeld performing in 2008
Wilkenfeld performing in 2008
Background information
Born (1986-12-02) 2 December 1986 (age 37)
Bondi, New South Wales, Australia
GenresRock, blues rock, folk, indie rock, funk, jazz, jazz fusion, folk rock
Occupation(s)Musician, songwriter, bandleader
Instrument(s)Bass, vocals
Years active2002–present
LabelsBMG

Tal Wilkenfeld (born 2 December 1986) is an Australian bassist, singer and songwriter. She has performed with artists including Chick Corea, Jeff Beck, Prince, Incubus, Eric Clapton, Herbie Hancock, Toto (band), and Mick Jagger. In 2008, Wilkenfeld was voted "The Year's Most Exciting New Player" in a Bass Player magazine readers' choice poll. In 2013, Wilkenfeld was awarded the Bass Player magazine's "Young Gun Award" by Don Was; she then performed "Chelsea Hotel" by Leonard Cohen.

Wilkenfeld is a bandleader of her own bands in which she sings, plays bass, and plays guitar. In earlier work, she was backed by musicians such as Wayne Krantz and Vinnie Colaiuta. She opened for the Who on the North American part of The Who Hits 50! tour in 2016.[1] In 2016, she released a single entitled "Corner Painter" featuring Blake Mills and Benmont Tench.[2] Also in 2016, Rolling Stone said that Wilkenfeld was "working on new music that sees her evolving from an instrumental prodigy into a formidable singer-songwriter."[3] On 15 March 2019, Wilkenfeld released her vocal debut album Love Remains,[4] which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Heatseeker charts on the first week of its release.[5] Love Remains has been highly praised by the press and was featured in Rolling Stone, Relix, Paste, Billboard, and Forbes. Rolling Stone described her vocal debut as having "ten dense, riff-heavy tracks with brazen, introspective lyrics—prove her songwriting abilities."[6] Wilkenfeld has also been a guest on popular podcasts, including WTF with Marc Maron, and Bill Burr's Monday Morning Podcast.

Wilkenfeld has recorded on projects with Ringo Starr, Brian Wilson, Toto, Todd Rundgren, Macy Gray, Dr. John, Trevor Rabin, Jackson Browne, Joe Walsh, Rod Stewart, John Mayer, Sting, Ben Harper, David Gilmour, Pharrell, Buddy Guy, Billy Gibbons, Lee Ritenour, Hiram Bullock, Susan Tedeschi, and Hans Zimmer, and Playing for Change with Carlos Santana.

  1. ^ "Tal Wilkenfeld 2016 tour". bassplayer. NewBay Media. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  2. ^ "Meet the Who's Opening Act: Bass Sensation Tal Wilkenfeld". rollingstone. 3 March 2016. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  3. ^ "Meet the Who's Opening Act: Bass Sensation Tal Wilkenfeld". Rolling Stone. 3 March 2016.
  4. ^ "Bass Ace Tal Wilkenfeld Branches Out With Solo 'Killing Me': Premiere". Billboard. 29 January 2019.
  5. ^ "Billboard Heatseeker Charts: Premiere". Billboard.
  6. ^ "Tal Wilkenfeld: A Bass Virtuoso Steps into the Spotlight". Rolling Stone. 31 May 2019.