Timothy Emmons is an instructor of jazz bands; lecturer of history of popular music, music in world cultures, music and human communication and beginning jazz improvisation; and is the director of commercial music combos. He is also a member of the bass section of the Grand Junction Symphony Orchestra.
He is an active freelance musician in Los Angeles, California and a veteran of more than 300 film, record and television scores including Mission: Impossible III and Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol , Super 8, Cars 2, John Carter, the 2010 Winter Olympics, Up, Star Trek XI: The Undiscovered Country, The Tale of Despereaux, Lost, Battlestar Galactica, Ratatouille, The Simpsons, Family Guy, The Incredibles, The Day After Tomorrow, Something's Gotta Give and The Wedding Planner.
He has played in the pit and on stage for dozens of major theatrical productions including Curtains, Swing, Candide, Swan Lake and Ragtime. Gamers can hear him on the low end of the soundtracks of Fall of Liberty, Splinter Cell, Halo, Call of Duty, Jumper, Assassin's Creed II and Bioshock2.
An eclectic musician, Emmons has played Contrabass on recordings for Stevie Wonder and Beyonce, Barbara Streisand, Josh Groban, Justin Timberlake, Michael Buble, Kenny G, Andrea Boccelli, young opera phenomenon Jackie Evancho, as well as Katherine Jenkins and Paul Potts and pop singers Rufus Wainright, Brandy, John Tesh, Celine Dion and Toni Braxton.
He has performed live with a diverse array of artists including Natalie Cole; jazz guitar virtuoso Joe Pass; rhythm and blues pioneer Bo Diddley, master jazz saxophonist Art Pepper; Motown artists Mary Wells and Martha Reeves; swing-era staples Lionel Hampton and the Glenn Miller orchestra; British Invasion stalwarts Ian Whitcomb and Peter Noone; musical theater diva Liza Minelli; blues mistress Linda Hopkins; disco queen Donna Summer; Hollywood legend Mickey Rooney; Broadway icons Carol Channing, Shirley Jones and John Raitt; rock veteran Rod Stewart; Harlem Renaissance dance titans The Nicolas Brothers and scat-singing innovator Cab Calloway.
Emmons is a dedicated music educator and is on the faculty of Occidental College in Los Angeles where he conducts, and arranges for, the Jazz Ensemble. He also teaches Electric Bass Guitar and Double Bass at OXY. In 2010 he was hired to teach college level Theory and Counterpoint at Musician's Institute Hollywood. He also wrote curriculum for his Odd Meter Basslines class at MI. Emmons is also involved in education as an adjunct faculty member at the The University of Redlands, where he is co-principal bass with the Redlands Symphony Orchestra and as an adjunct faculty member at the University of California Riverside, Cal State University Los Angeles, Azusa Pacific University.
Tim is the author of Odd Meter Bass, a book/CD bass method published by Alfred Music. He is co-author, along with Fred Sokolow, of Fretboard Roadmaps, published by Hal Leonard Music. He is a contributor to The Funkmasters: The Rhythm Sections of James Brown and has written articles for Bass Player magazine.
A chance call to research a bass line in a music copyright lawsuit involving the movie Ghostbusters opened the door to work in forensic music research. Tim has been an expert witness and consultant on more than three dozen copyright violation cases involving major recording artists such as Taylor Swift, Janet Jackson, Greenday, Mariah Carey, Rascal Flatts, Eminem, Dr. Dre, Billy Joel, Gotye and Babyface, as well as Pope John XXIII. He has also researched musical issues and written reports and depositions on songs used in the movies Ghostbusters II, Iron Eagle, St. Elmo's Fire, Top Gun and The Doctors.
Selected Published Work
Author of "Odd Meter Bass" published by Alfred Music.
Co-author of "Fretboard Roadmaps for Bass Guitar" and contributor to "The Funkmasters, The Rhythm Sections of James Brown" published by Alfred Music.