Carmine Rojas is an American bass guitarist, musical director and composer. His musical styles include rock, R&B/funk, and jazz.
Music career
Early years, as sideman
Rojas toured the world with David Bowie from 1983–1987, playing bass on several multi-platinum hits such as "Let's Dance", "China Girl", "Modern Love" and "Blue Jean". Live DVDs include Serious Moonlight and Glass Spider. He recorded and toured with Julian Lennon as a musical director and bassist from 1985–1986. He recorded and toured with Rod Stewart as a musical director and bass guitarist from 1988 through 2003. One of the multiple albums recorded during that time includes the MTV multi-platinum live CD and DVD, Unplugged...and Seated. He also co-wrote songs on the albums Vagabond Heart and A Spanner in the Works. Carmine has also recorded, toured and played alongside Tina Turner, Keith Richards, Stevie Wonder, Ron Wood, Stevie Ray Vaughan, BB King, Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton, Joe Bonamassa, Eric Johnson, Peter Frampton, Al Green, Carly Simon, Ian Anderson, Paul Rogers, John Waite, Steve Winwood, Billy Joel, Herbie Hancock, Lee Ritenour, Julian Lennon,Richie Sambora, Robert Randolph, Joe Don Rooney, Trace Adkins, Nancy Wilson, John Hiatt, Carole King, Beth Hart, Bobby Womack, Sam Moore, Billy Squire, Olivia Newton-John, Michael Hutchence, Bernard Fowler, Blondie Chaplin, Billy Gibbons, Leslie West, Joe Lynn Turner, Carlos Santana, Todd Rundgren, Patti LaBelle, Nona Hendryx, Michael Bolton, Ivan Neville, Allen Toussaint, Phil Ramone, Kevin Shirley, Trevor Horn, Charlie Sexton, Jewel, Brandy, Dave Mason, Mike Patton, Glenn Hughes, Nektar, Belouis Some, Tetsuya Komuro, Hitomi, Ziroq, Modern Primitives, Simranking, Sass Jordan, Alphaville and others.
Ziroq
in 1998, Rojas with Rock / Flamenco guitarist Marcos Nand sang lead vocals in both Spanish and English The both arranging & composing, formed the band Ziroq in Los Angeles. The band blends Spanish, rock, flamenco, and other eastern European influences. In 2001 the band released the full-length album Ziroq. David Beamish of DVDActive praised the "fiery, passionate performances." A review by Mark Schwartz stated, "On their self-titled debut, Middle Eastern percussion, violin, and flamenco guitars take the fore, in counterpoint to Nand's smoky vocals." In support of the album the band performed throughout the west coast, appearing at the Whole Earth Festival in April 2002. The 2002 Putamayo World Music compilation Regueton, the Ziroq track "Que Peña," peaked at #11 on the Tropical/Salsa chart at Billboard.
