Melvin Gibbs is a Grammy nominated songwriter and musician. His many achievements include playing with Ornette Coleman, being a member of the bands Defunkt, Decoding Society, the Sonny Sharrock Band, Rollins Band as well participating in Power Tools with Bill Frisell and Ronald Shannon Jackson. Melvin is a long-time member of the band Harriet Tubman, whose record The Terror End Of Beauty was cited as the best jazz  album of 2018 by the New York Times. 

In this interview Melvin discusses growing up in Brooklyn on the boarder between Ditmas Park and East Flatbush, his musical influences and friends, including best friend Vernon Reid, and why bass players frequently become great record producers.