DAVE BASS

Dave Bass grew up in the rural and suburban New Jersey towns of Lakewood and Red Bank respectively. At an early age, Dave was affected by the music he heard while attending his uncle’s Pentecostal church. Uncle Jim (Deacon Marshall) played the drums and provided the steady beat for the bluesy sounds coming from the red guitar of Elder Reed, the pastor. Dave developed a love for gospel music which eventually led to his membership in two groups: First, “The Mighty Royal Trumpets” of Montclair, N.J. (1979-82) and, secondly, “The Spiritual Volunteers” of Washington, D.C. (1982-95).

Dave Bass, former lead singer for “The Spiritual Volunteers”, is a gospel songwriter and vocalist in the Sam Cooke tradition of gospel music. As lead singer with “The Spiritual Volunteers” for thirteen years, Dave worked with other noted groups such as “The Soul Stirrers”, “The Sensational Nightingales”, “Willie Neal Johnson and The Gospel Keynotes”, and “The Harmonizing Four”. In addition, Dave has written over 70 songs and contributed the title song, along with one other (“A Strange World”), to the 1984 Spiritual Volunteers release entitled “Over On The Other Shore”. Because of this exceptional background, Daniel Wolff, author of “You Send Me (The Life and Times of Sam Cooke)” asked Dave to bring Sam Cooke’s music to life at book signings in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. in 1996.