Steve Pikal took over the bass duties in The Jim Cullum Jazz Band on October 12, 2010.
He has been playing music professionally for many years and is highly regarded as a first call bass player from the Minnesota twin cities area jazz scene. He has had the pleasure of working with many top performers and bands over the years. Some of his credits include Butch Thompson, Artie Shaw, the Barbary Coast Dixieland Show band, the Bill Evans Jazz Band, Duke Heitger, and Butch Miles.
Steve’s many bass heroes include Milt Hinton, Pops Foster and Bob Haggart. Steve says, “I consider these bass players as some of my greatest role models for my approach to playing the bass. They always came alive and attacked the bass with so much energy and drive. I can’t think of anything more fun than when you really establish that 4-to-the-floor rhythm like those guys could”.
Steve plays with an “old-school” setup using guts strings and high action.
