The musical journey of Tyrone Allen II is anything but a straight line. The bassist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist grew up in a musical household, started on recorder, went to guitar, played bass in church, dug into djembe and African dance, and landed on upright, which led to Eastman School of Music and a master’s degree from Berklee’s Global Jazz Institute. Since arriving in New York in 2018, he has built a diverse musical ecosystem that includes the bass chair of Moulin Rouge! on Broadway, membership in the Sullivan Fortner Trio, and a wide variety of collaborations and sessions with Tyshawn Sorey, Jazzmeia Horn, Rodney Green, Marta Sanchez, Kazembe George, Wendy Eisenberg, Lester St. Louis, Luke Norris, Nicole Glover, Abe Nouri, Louis Cole, Miki Yamanaka, and many others. Meanwhile, his personal projects include TY.000 (“ty-thousand”), Tyrone Allen II and Travelers, as well as the Tyrone Allen II Quartet, prominently featured on this year’s Upward, which he co-produced, co-engineered, and released on his own label, Dreams & Fears Records.

You are doing all the things! Do you feel scattered, or does your soul need that kind of input?

Even if I feel scattered, my soul needs it. It is imperative for me to express myself in all the ways that I feel necessary to do so. Sometimes it’s definitely hard to focus so broadly; I would never say it’s easy, because it’s quite difficult. But over time, it’s been getting better. I do feel increasingly more and more comfortable doing as much as I do.

Is it important for you to be known as more than an accompanist?

When you’re primarily doing accompaniment work, people can make you feel like you’re only really doing one thing, so it was imperative for me to have my regular jazz quartet, where I’m playing more electric bass. I’m using samples and sequencers and synthesizers, and the Upward band was a jazz quartet augmented with harp and synthesizers. I’ve been playing the cello a lot in that ensemble, too.

What pushes you to lead your own band?

I need to do it for my own sake; I also think it’s cool stuff and it should be out there. I want people to have examples of what they could be doing. Not that they should be doing what I’m doing, but if I can do this, then they can do whatever they’re thinking of.

Your rhythm-section connection with fellow Sullivan Fortner Trio member Kayvon Gordon is a beautiful thing.

We moved to New York around the same time, and we met shortly afterward. The first time we played, I didn’t think anything of it; I don’t think either of us really did. But my friend and collaborator Kazemde George, a saxophonist, called us together on a gig at Midwood Flats in Brooklyn. It was a good time, but I didn’t think too much of it. Then we played that same gig a couple weeks later, and on the first tune, there was something special, something I had just never really felt before. A few records later and a few different bands later, we’re playing together all the time.

When did you start playing electric bass?

The year before high school, and I had been going to a church in my community, Cornerstone Baptist Church, and when the choir director heard that I played guitar, she asked me to play guitar with the pianist who accompanied the choir. I’d been meddling around on my dad’s electric basses, so I told her I’d play bass—we were playing with the choir, and playing guitar with the pianist didn’t seem right to me. I was 13. 

You went to a jazz camp at Eastman before you attended the school?

During the summer between my junior and senior years, I was trying to figure out how I could play more music, and I found this two-week camp. I basically begged my parents, and they figured out how to get me in. My dad and his friend ended up driving me there.

How did it change things for you?

Up to that point, I had occasionally met someone interested in playing music, but not many people playing swing and Miles, Coltrane, and Charlie Parker. But I remember leaving that camp thinking, wow, there’s people my age who are actually serious about playing, which was just so baffling to me! By the time I came back from the camp at Eastman, I realized that there could be a life in this if I just keep playing. I only had one more year left of high school at that point, and that kind of put the bug in my ear.

How was your experience at Eastman?

It was really helpful in a lot of ways. Eastman was good for just forming these relationships that end up being my musical collaborators. They really showed me a lot of possibilities as far as playing music and doing music as a living. 

What was your main takeaway?

Being able to do a double major in classical music and jazz really shaped the way I play now. It was incredible to play in a 60-piece orchestra, have dinner, and then go play an Eric Dolphy composition in a quintet. That was a really unique experience that I never take for granted.

What would have been different experience if you had studied just classical or strictly jazz?

Part of the reason I get called is because I have certain sensibilities that I learned from classical music, certain technical things with the instrument. I make sure the sound — and the way that I conceptualize the instrument — is as full of a conception as possible, whether I’m using the bow, playing regular pizzicato, trying to slap, or use extended techniques. I make sure that everything is covered. I don’t want to have any holes.

Did your time at the Berklee Global Jazz Institute broaden your horizons after Eastman?

Definitely. There were the core teachers — Danilo [Perez], Terri Lyne Carrington, John Patitucci — as well as people like Ben Street and Joe Lovano, who were there often. It was great to hear them play, talk music, and just be around those masterful people in action. I have to give it up to Ralph Peterson Jr., who had me in his band for a while and took me to Europe for the first time in an ensemble. He was one of the biggest influences on my musical life. May he rest in peace.

And how about your peers?

Between NEC and Berklee, the level of improvised music in Boston is very high. There were cats who had been on the road before, who had maybe lived in New York, been touring, and decided to come back to school. My playing had to rise to be able to accompany these folks who were already touring and had already had professional experience.

Did either program prepare you to handle the business of being a professional musician?

Everybody in the Global Jazz master’s program had to take a business class and learn how to make a website, which was such a great thing. If you’re at a music school that doesn’t offer a business class, I would encourage you to make it a part of your own study. Start learning about the business of being a musician, because obviously there’s a lot that goes into it outside of playing.

What would you like to do in the future? What’s your dream?

I love to tour, and I love playing in the studio, but I would say that composing is my real dream. I love to write music, and I consider producing part of writing music. I love coming up with something, either by myself or with some trusted companions; I love experimenting, making form out of sound, the process of just making it up and seeing what happens. I would happily compose for films, but also music for music’s sake. Whatever it is, whatever I can get into as far as composition, I’m here for it.

If someone wanted to move to New York right now and making a living as a bass player, what would you tell them?

Have enough money in your bank account to live as though you were only going to have one gig a month for three or four months. Sometimes it starts really fast, and sometimes it takes a little time. Just make sure you can survive once you get here. Have an open mind and be ready to learn because once you move to New York, congratulations — you’re in school. It’s just the beginning.

HEAR HIM ON (all on Bandcamp): Upward (2026) and The Bond: Chants of the Political Prisoner(2018). As TY.000: Tour of Dreams (2024) and Prelude (2023). With Brahim!: Brahim! (2021)

GEAR

Basses Shen upright, 1976 Fender Precision Bass, Ibanez BTB 5-string

Synth Moog Sub Phatty 

Strings Thomastik Spirocore (G and D) and Pirastro Perpetuals (A and E) 

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