Traditionally as a young artist’s career develops, the proverbial “music business” whittles their musicianship down to the most narrow box it can fit in, finding a neat label to pigeonhole their name into for all futureofferings. Occasionally, singular artists rail against that conformist machine, and put out a wide range of music that encompasses the entire breadth of their influences and taste, labels be damned. Alex Claffy is one of those artists.

To call him just a bassist is to only tell a part of the story. With Music From Big Orange his latest album as a bandleader, “Claffy” serves as his own Executive Producer, as well as Composer/Arranger on all of the songs. He switches seamlessly from acoustic bass to electric depending on the sonic flow of any given tune, and even layers in some auxiliary keyboard parts, further underscoring his penchant for harmonic depth and density. As a lyricist, he leans into his personal experiences to lend to the storytelling, which showcases an admirable comfort in expressing his vulnerability – something many artists never delve deep enough to display, but Claffy has been willing to bare since his very first album as a bandleader.