Just Outside Of Normal

Featuring a stellar array of guest artists including Joe Satriani, Robert Fripp and Frank Gambale on guitar and Stanton Moore on drums, Just Outside Of Normal is the the most compelling release yet from one of our generations most influential and innovative bassists. Through his innovative work as a solo artist and his contributions as a sideman to Joe Satriani and Steve Vai, Stuart Hamm has firmly established himself as one of the most influential electric bassists of the past half-century. Extending the non-traditional function of the electric bass previously revolutionized by Jaco Pastorius and Stanley Clarke in the 1970s, Hamm helped to reshape the contemporary concept of the bass guitar as an unaccompanied instrument with the utilization of polyphonic, two-handed tapping, slapping and popping techniques, chords, and harmonics. Although Hamm certainly wasn't the first bass player to debut during the 1980s and employ an unorthodox approach to playing the electric bass, he was undoubtedly at the forefront of his generation who effectively fused the application of these unconventional techniques. As one of today's leading bassists, Hamm has released four critically-acclaimed studio recordings, including Radio Free Albemuth (1988), Kings Of Sleep (1989), The Urge (1991), and Outbound (2000). Additionally, "Live Stu X 2", the fifth solo project produced by Hamm and his first as a solo artist in nearly seven years, was released in January 2007.