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Born in Alton, Illinois (Miles Davis’
home town), Kash was raised listening to jazz—his brother
was a jazz trumpeter—in the very fertile music scene in and
around East St. Louis. Drawn first to clarinet, then voice, flute,
electric guitar and electric bass, Kash started performing at
age ten.
Through high school he was working in
doo-wop, funk, soul, rock and church groups. In 1974, he entered
college and started studying classical contrabass. Soon he was
also studying violin and cello. Moving to L.A. City College in
1976, piano giant Horace Tapscott became his mentor and Kash played
bass in Tapscott’s Ark Orchestra; drummer Billy Higgins was
part of that scene, too. This rekindled his interest in straightahead
jazz. On the straightahead jazz front, Kasha has played with great
players like Donald Byrd, George Cables, Billy Higgins, Bobby
Hutcherson, James Newton, and Billy Bang.
Kash’s interest in avant garde
jazz was ignited by Sun Ra in 1978—and further heightened
by meeting and playing with Pharoah Sanders. In L.A. Kash was
playing bass as his primary instrument, but getting more and more
interested in cello. When he moved to the Bay Area in1984, he
switched almost entirely to cello, mainly because of the freedom
to use it in roles as diverse as a horn or a guitar or a bass.
In the Bay Area he started playing and
touring with a number of avant garde groups, notably one with
Paul Murphy, Glen Spearman and India Cook. That was the beginning
of his long musical association with Paul Murphy.
Kash has played extensively in avant
garde circles with such icons as Cecil Taylor, John Zorn, Julius
Hemphill, Reggie Workman, Sun Ra, Butch Morris and George Lewis.
Kash also has a deep interest in world
music. He is studying with the great Indian musician, Ali Akbar
Khan, and is touring and recording with his orchestra. He has
recorded Afro-Cuban music with several salsa groups. He composes
and performs for both dance troupes and poets. Major poets he
has accompanied including Amiri Baraka, Alice Walker, Quincy Troupe,
Shirley Le Flore and Jessica Hagdorm.
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