Mohini Dey has been the talk of every serious die-hard musician for years. A true prodigy, she has toured and performed professionally on various world stages as a renowned bass player with groups for nearly 19 years since she was a little girl in India.
But here in the States, we are only now getting to know her.
Twenty-nine-year-old fusion bass player extraordinaire from Mumbai India, Mohini Dey performed two one hour 20 minute sets in her phenomenal debut at the historic Blue Note Jazz club in Greenwich Village on Jan. 27.
It was a one-night only musical tour de force. The Blue Note billed her as the musical artist Mohini Dey, but in reality, this was Mohini Dey on bass playing with her long-standing amazing trio called MaMoGi, featuring Mark Hartsuch on saxophone, and Gino Banks on drums.
Mohini Dey and MaMoGi play a genre called “ragazz,” with a mix of funk, fusion, and jazz. One of her influences on the bass is the great Victor Wooten.
Dey and Hartsuch were once married. However they recently divorced in November 2024. Hartsuch continues to play in the band.
All three musicians are almost equally as astounding, although make no mistake. Long lines outside the Blue Note must’ve heard the buzz. Everyone in the club clearly knew they were going to see Dey. And she lived up to the incredible hype.
The trio played a combined mix of new songs from Dey’s recently released eponymous solo album Mohini Dey, as well as several songs from MaMoGi’s first album and other unreleased new material. The best word I can use to describe their performance is “unrelenting,” led by Mohini’s incredible physical technique and sonic fire on the electric bass that is simply jaw-dropping. It was an unrelenting full on assault.
It was her father, a serious working jazz session musician, who saw her unlimited potential and encouraged Mohini to begin playing bass by the tender age of three! He must’ve known that his daughter was a prodigy.
He would play DVD videos for her of amazing jazz fusion musicians performing on their TV, with little Mohini holding this huge bass guitar in her tiny hands. Her father would play clips of bass players such as Mark King (Level 42), Jaco Pastorius (Weather Report), Victor Wooten, and also great drummers like Denis Chambers, Bill Bruford, Terry Bozzio, and Cozy Powell.
When she wasn’t watching fashion shows, Dey would watch the DVDs of great musicians. It’s no wonder she quickly developed into the monster musician she would soon become.
Mohini Dey plays a 5-string bass like a lead instrument, often with superfast runs up and down the neck. She plays with her fingers, and also incorporates two-handed tapping with multiple fingers using both hands.
Her finger playing has a lot of attack and is tight. When she slaps, her tone is very deep mixed with high-mid tones, and her finger pops are highly percussive. She can slap at breakneck speeds which is an incredible sight to watch.
She uses several EFX pedals that give the bass a sound mimicking other instruments, such as a keyboard. Although Dey has all of these sounds at her immediate disposal, thankfully she uses these effects sparingly and with intent.
Dey has played with many well-known world-class virtuosos, and several played on her first album released in August 2023, i.e., Steve Vai, Guthrie Govan, Bumblefoot, Jason Richardson, Mike Stern, Dave Weckl, Narada Michael Walden, Marco Minneman, A.R. Rahman, Zakir Hussein, Dewa Budjana, Jordan Rudess of Dream Theater, and Willow Smith.
Some of the most bombastic virtuosic heavy experimental jazz fusion playing was exchanged between the trio, including original songs by Dey and Hartsuch, such as Introverted Soul, Meat Eater, Buttery Buns, Rise to Fall, Day by Dey, In N’ Out, and Raftaar.
There were also heavy MaMoGi tunes performed such as Backside Inn, and Harmonic Embrace. I have not seen such an explosive and prodigious display of jazz fusion fireworks since the super group Return to Forever performed their Romantic Warrior album live in 1975. That band consisted of fusion giants Chick Corea, Stanley Clark, Lenny White, and Al DiMeola.
Mohini Dey is a once-in-a-generation talent who is redefining the boundaries of bass playing. If you want to be blown away, then look out for Mohini Dey tour dates at mohinideybass.in
Read this article on the woman who is redefining the boundaries of bass guitar Mohini Dey where I originally wrote it in The Village View:
Mohini Dey: A Woman Who is Redefining the Boundaries of Bass Playing
Kaju Roberto is an accomplished musician, singer/ songwriter, journalist, and an award-winning producer. He is the artist Rad Jet on Spotify.