The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Conn. bassist recruited for ‘Phish’ offshoot band
In April of 2021, accomplished bassist Tony Markellis died, leaving behind a crater in the jam band community.
The 68-year-old bassist was a founding member of the Trey Anastasio Band, an offshoot of the band Phish, who also played with a number of musical acts including The Mamas & the Papas, Dr. John and Jerry Garcia.
As a collaborator with Anastasio, the lead guitarist and principal songwriter of Phish, Markellis helped pen some of the band’s biggest hits including “Sand,” “First Tube” and “Gotta Jibboo.”
When it came time to find a new bassist for the Trey Anastasio Band after the loss of Markellis, Anastasio said he knew who to call.
Enter Dezron Douglas, a jazz bassist who was raised and educated in Hartford. The composer and producer studied at the Hartt School at the University of Hartford and was the protégé of jazz saxophonist Jackie McLean, a mainstay in the Hartford arts community and the founder of the Artists Collective.
“I’ve known Trey for 15 years now, courtesy of Jen Hartswick (trumpeter and vocalist for the Trey Anastasio Band) ... Phish was playing in Las Vegas and Jen got hired to do the after party. Trey came by and sat in, and that’s when we first met,” Douglas said.
Douglas said he was tapped by Anastasio to play bass for the band after Markellis initially fell ill. Douglas has been on the road with the band since Sept. 17, playing shows down the eastern part of the country, including a show at the Westville Music Bowl in New Haven on Sept. 19.
“I have a lot of affinity for Tony,” Douglas said. “Tony’s bass playing is a staple of the band and when I’m learning the music, I’m learning through Tony. All I can do is do my best to make sure the vibration of what he built is there combined with my own vibration.”
“Tony is getting love every night,” Douglas added.
The bassist, who turned 40 this year, has been deeply ingrained into the Connecticut music community since he hit the Hartford gospel scene as a kid.
Douglas said he played in a gospel quartet with his father and brothers, but it wasn’t until he saw Paul Brown’s Monday Night Jazz series in Hartford that he “first discover[ed] the vibration of African American classical music” in the
form of jazz, he said.
In the 1950s, Hartford was described as “Mars” or “The Black Hole” among jazz musicians, according to Douglas, due to its equidistant position between New York City and Boston. Hartford is also where Douglas’ great uncle Walter Bolden played with Horace Silver and Stan Getz before heading out to the New York City jazz scene. “Hartford has a rich history of jazz, gospel and soul,” Douglas said. “I was taught to learn the tradition and put your mark on it. Become you and then take it further. I’ve been doing that my whole life.”
Douglas studied at the Hartford Conservatory of Music and the Hartt School
while playing with staples in the Hartford jazz community. He would go on to first hit the U.S. touring circuit while still in school with blues guitarist Johnnie Marshall.
Detailing the explosion of jazz music in Hartford, Douglas credits the Connecticut education system for instilling a strong work ethic in budding jazz musicians.
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“The conservatories are really great. Just about every conservatory is fantastic,” Douglas said. “You have people there who believe that musicians should be great and it’s a
high standard.”
Years after studying under McLean, Douglas has become his own bandleader and has played with a number of modern-day jazz greats including Makaya McCraven, Brandee Younger and Ravi Coltrane.
This current tour with the Trey Anastasio Band has experienced some hiccups as Hartswick tested positive for COVID on Sept. 25, which removed
the horn section from the touring group. Three days later, drummer Russ Lawton also tested positive for COVID and was sent home. Phish drummer Jon Fishman has since stepped in to play the drums with three shows remaining on the tour, including two at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. In addition, saxophonist James Casey announced before the start of the tour that he had been diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer and would sit out in order to receive chemotherapy.
Despite the insurmountable circumstances, Douglas is keeping the faith and has described what he calls the “Trey Anastasio Warrior Tour” so far as “nothing short of epic.”
“I’ve witnessed a lot of beauty come out of chaos on this tour. This is prob