Concerts

Thundercat brings funky bass guitar jams to the House of Blues

Bassist Stephen Bruner, known as Thundercat. Rahim Fortune / The New York Times

By Adam 12

1 minute to read

It’s not often you have the opportunity to see a virtuoso in the flesh. I still kick myself for not taking the opportunity to see Luciano Pavarotti when he was still alive. Now, I’m not saying Thundercat is the greatest-living operatic tenor; that’s not his bag. Thundercat, a.k.a. Stephen Lee Brunner, is a bass guitarist. And he might just be the most gifted bass guitarist alive.

The two-time Grammy winner fuses funk, thrash, soul, jazz, R&B, and psychedelia into his sound, all thumped out on a custom-made six-string electric bass guitar. He’s played with artists from all over the musical landscape, listing the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Suicidal Tendencies, Erykah Badu, Flying Lotus, and Kamasi Washington on his musical CV. And I’ve seen the man do his thing with my own eyes, live at Boston Calling Music Festival in 2018. He’s a transcendent talent on the bass guitar who plays incredibly complex riffs with ease. And it all sounds so, so funky (his 2020 single “Dragonball Durag,” especially). So if you’d like to see a living, breathing virtuoso, see Thundercat at the House of Blues.

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