Tyson Ailshie

As an innovative yet traditional jazz bassist, Tyson strives to always be musically in the moment, and to communicate at a high level through his bass lines and solos.

About Me

Tyson Ailshie (ALE-shy) is a bassist, composer and educator living in Denver, Colorado. His versatility in different musical settings as well as his proficiency on the double bass and electric bass have earned him praise in the Denver metro area. He released his first CD entitled, “The Send Off,” in 2011 which features original compositions and was showcased in a performance at the award winning Denver venue, Dazzle Restaurant and Lounge. He is joined on the record by nationally renowned jazz trumpeter Brad Goode as well as saxophonist Serafin Sanchez and drummer Antwon Owens. Mr. Ailshie is currently finishing up a duo project of jazz standards entitled, “Duological” set to be released within the year. As a sideman, he has appeared on multiple releases by local artists including drummer Gabriel Beach’s quartet release “February Meet” and a bonus track from award winning singer songwriter, John Common’s “Beautiful Empty”.

Mr. Ailshie began performing on the electric bass at his middle school jazz ensemble in his hometown of Garden City, Kansas at the age of thirteen. After auditioning for the Garden City Community College jazz ensemble, he was selected by Grammy Award winning jazz pianist and composer, Frank Mantooth to be the band’s bassist. He later went on to study the double bass as a music major at Washburn University, where he studied string pedagogy with nationally renowned cellist, Steven Elisha and jazz with Frank Mantooth. Upon receiving his Bachelor’s in music, Mr. Ailshie was accepted as a graduate student at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado where he received his Masters in Jazz Performance and Pedagogy in 2006. Under the tutelage of nationally renowned jazz masters such as Brad Goode and Dr. John Gunther, he was selected as the bassist for Downbeat award winning CU Jazz Combo I. The combo was selected to record both live at Denver’s jazz station, KUVO and for a featured CD at Coupe Studios in Boulder.

Over the years, Tyson Ailshie has built an impressive performance resume, sharing the stage with national and international jazz artists; Frank Mantooth, Ira Sullivan, Irvin Mayfield, Gilad Atzmon, Andrew D’Angelo, and Matt Wilson and as a freelance jazz bassist with local artists Dave Corbus, Pat Bianchi, Brad Goode, Serafin Sanchez and John Gunther. His innovative bass style and technique is inspired by the masters of double bass, Niels- Henning Ørsted Pedersen and John Patitucci. Mr. Ailshie is currently the bass instructor at Regis University as well as an instructor of jazz and general music classes at Front Range Community College and Arapahoe Community College. He maintains a private studio for bass, guitar and cello lessons teaching fundamentals, repertoire, string pedagogy, performance techniques, theory and improvisation.