Dominique, who resides in France, is of Sicilian origin and was raised by his gypsy stepfather, a heritage that would influence his musicality in later years. He played both guitar and bass for a period of time, and after hearing the infamous Jaco Pastorius in 1979 decides to focus strictly on the bass, and not long after starts finding the unique voice he becomes very well known for.
Being a self taught musician, he immediately started developing his own style of playing, and by the early 80’s had refined his signature right hand approach. It began by using the thumb, index, and middle finger instead of the traditional two finger approach, and that move gave birth to the four finger technique which is used as a secondary technique by many of the top players in the world. In addition to that, he also enhanced this technique by using a pedal steel guitar pick on his thumb and index finger, and carved out a unique and distinctive sound on the instrument.
Beyond that, he also made a change over from a 4 string to a 5 string and introduced using a high C string as the 5th string instead of the low B, which was uncommon, and once again was embraced by many of the top players. On the « Que Alegria » album with John McLaughlin, which came out in 1992, the solo bass tune « Marie » would become one of the highlights of the recording, displaying his new « picking technique ».
|