Tal Wilkenfeld

Tal Wilkenfeld (born 2 December 1986) is an Australian bassist, singer and songwriter. She has performed with artists including Chick Corea, Jeff Beck, Prince, Incubus, Eric Clapton, Herbie Hancock, Toto, and Mick Jagger. In 2008, Wilkenfeld was voted "The Year's Most Exciting New Player" in a Bass Player magazine readers' choice poll. In 2013, Wilkenfeld was awarded the Bass Player magazine's "Young Gun Award".

Wilkenfeld is a bandleader of her own bands in which she sings, plays bass, and plays guitar. In earlier work, she was backed by musicians such as Wayne Krantz and Vinnie Colaiuta. She opened for the Who on the North American leg of The Who Hits 50! tour in 2016. In 2016, she released a single entitled "Corner Painter" featuring Blake Mills and Benmont Tench. Also in 2016, Rolling Stone said that Wilkenfeld was "working on new music that sees her evolving from an instrumental prodigy into a formidable singer-songwriter." On 15 March 2019, Wilkenfeld released her vocal debut album Love Remains, which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Heatseeker charts on the first week of its release. Love Remains has been highly praised by the press and was featured in Rolling Stone, Relix, Paste, Billboard, and Forbes. Rolling Stone described her vocal debut as having "ten dense, riff-heavy tracks with brazen, introspective lyrics—prove her songwriting abilities." Wilkenfeld has also been a guest on popular podcasts, including WTF with Marc Maron, Lex Fridman and Bill Burr's Monday Morning Podcast.

Wilkenfeld has recorded on projects with Ringo Starr, Brian Wilson, Toto, Todd Rundgren, Macy Gray, Dr. John, Trevor Rabin, Jackson Browne, Joe Walsh, Rod Stewart, John Mayer, Sting, Lee Ritenour, Ben Harper, David Gilmour, Pharrell, Buddy Guy, Billy Gibbons, Wayne Shorter, Prince, Susan Tedeschi, Hans Zimmer and Carlos Santana.

Early life Born in Bondi, New South Wales to a Jewish family, Wilkenfeld began playing guitar in 2000 when she was 14 years old. Two years later, she dropped out of high school and emigrated to the United States, where she studied electric guitar. Within a year, Wilkenfeld switched to electric bass. In 2004, Wilkenfeld graduated from Los Angeles College of Music. She accepted an endorsement from Sadowsky Guitars, and devoted herself to forming a band and composing songs. At the age of 18, Wilkenfeld moved to New York City and began performing in New York's jazz clubs. her first time on a large stage. The jam was about 40 minutes long; Wilkenfeld sent a recording of the performance to Jeff Beck when she auditioned for his band.

In 2006, months after performing as a guest with the Allman Brothers Band, Wilkenfeld recorded her debut album, Transformation, in only two days. Wilkenfeld composed, produced, arranged and played bass on seven songs with Wayne Krantz, Geoffrey Keezer, saxophonist Seamus Blake and Keith Carlock.

Professional bass playing career

After learning that Chick Corea was seeking a bassist for an upcoming tour, Wilkenfeld sent him demos of Transformation, and was selected for his 2007 Australian tour, Prince had Wilkenfeld attend parties at his Los Angeles home. Sometimes he and his band played and she was the only other person there.

In 2009, Wilkenfeld toured Australia and Japan with Jeff Beck. Weeks later the group toured the United States, beginning with Beck's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They played Beck's Bolero there and were joined by Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page on Immigrant Song. A DVD of this performance, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: Legends, TV was released in 2010.

Between touring Japan and the US, Wilkenfeld performed with the Roots on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon as their first musical guest, after which she joined Jeff Beck's summer tour through Europe, Canada, and Britain. Pink Floyd's David Gilmour sat in with the group during a performance at the Royal Albert Hall.

In October 2009, Wilkenfeld reunited with Jeff Beck at Madison Square Garden for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 25th Anniversary two-night concert. The set included Buddy Guy on "Let Me Love You Baby", Sting singing "People Get Ready", and Billy Gibbons on "Foxey Lady". The 25th Anniversary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concerts DVD, which also included "Big Block", "A Day in the Life", and "Freeway Jam", was released in 2010.

Wilkenfeld was featured on four tracks on Jeff Beck's album Emotion & Commotion. In 2010, she contributed to Hancock's The Imagine Project on "A Change is Gonna Come" and "Don't Give Up" She played on Macy Gray's The Sellout on "That Man", Lee Ritenour's Six String Theory on "68", "In your Dreams", "Give Me One Reason" and Guthrie Govan's song "Fives".

In 2010, Wilkenfeld appeared in the Baked Potato's 40th anniversary show at the Ford Amphitheater with Steve Lukather's band; she accompanied Hancock across the U.S., Canada, and Europe promoting a new release on which she had played. The tour included a show at Carnegie Hall to celebrate Hancock's 70th birthday. In September 2011, Wilkenfeld accompanied Steven Tyler and Jeff Beck at the iHeartRadio Music Festival at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

On 19 May 2012, Wilkenfeld accompanied Beck and Mick Jagger on Saturday Night Live. In 2013, she joined alt-country singer-songwriter Ryan Adams as a collaborator on his studio album, Ryan Adams (2014). She contributed to two tracks on the Toto album Toto XIV, and co-wrote a song called "Running Whiskey" with ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons. "Running Whiskey" was released in 2016 by Supersonic Blues Machine.

In 2018, Wilkenfeld performed with Bob Weir and his band Wolf Bros at the Arlington Theatre in Santa Barbara, California, and the Beacon Theatre in Manhattan. She was featured on the cover of Bass Player magazine's March 2019 issue. On 22 July 2019, Wilkenfeld appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, performing "Killing Me" and "Corner Painter".

In 2022, Wilkenfeld recorded and performed "Oye Como Va" alongside Santana, Cory Henry and Becky G for "Playing for Change".

In January and February 2023, she played five shows with Incubus while their bassist Ben Kenney recovered from brain surgery. She also made two appearances at Bonnaroo alongside Cory Wong from Vulfpeck and JP Saxe. Scary Pockets released a single featuring Wilkenfeld singing "Big Yellow Taxi" alongside Larry Goldings. She also performed live at the Newport Jazz festival and Monterey Jazz festival with "Scary Goldings" featuring John Scofield.

In 2024, Wilkenfeld was interviewed by Lex Fridman on his podcast. Wilkenfeld sang and played the National Anthem on Kill Tony. At the end of the year, she produced, musical directed and performed on Jeff Ross’s comedy special on Netflix called Torching 2024 alongside John Stamos.

In September 2025, she made a guest appearance on The Jimmy Kimmel Show with Spinal Tap performing live on "Big Bottom", adding further bass alongside Derek Smalls (bass), Nigel Tufnel (bass), David St. Hubbins (bass) and Thundercat (bass).

Solo career On 3 March 2016, Wilkenfeld released a single, "Corner Painter", which featured Blake Mills and Benmont Tench. She opened for the Who on the North American part of The Who Hits 50! tour, starting in Detroit on 27 February 2016. On her own she headlined between the Who dates, beginning in Toronto on 29 February 2016. In a Popdust interview she added, "Meditating helps creativity flow. The more you meditate, the more you realize that everything is a meditation. The silence is important." Bass Player magazine asked about what it was like to work with Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter. She said, "It's comforting to know that two of the greatest musicians alive are just as focused on their spiritual paths as their musical paths, and for them, they're one and the same. I remember standing at the side of the stage a few minutes before I was going to play with Wayne, and he came up to me and said, "Play eternity!" Leonard Cohen, who I was lucky enough to spend time with, was also deeply focused on his spiritual journey. Self-inquiry is a very important part of my life, and it's reassuring to meet other like-minded people."

Wilkenfeld says that stand-up comedy is one of her favorite forms of entertainment. She has appeared on many comedians' podcasts including Marc Maron, Bill Burr, and twice on Jeff Ross's podcast, one time with Dave Attell. She co-wrote and produced a song for Maron called "New Boots" for a movie titled Sword of Trust. In 2023, Joe Rogan and Eric Weinstein discussed their friendships with Tal on the Joe Rogan experience, citing her as a "next level human being".

Equipment Wilkenfeld endorses Sadowsky electric basses and strings, EBS Professional Bass Equipment amplifiers, as well as cabinets, and effect pedals.

Discography Solo artist Albums 2007 – Transformation 2019 – Love Remains

Singles 2016 – "Corner Painter"; Album: Transformation 2018 – "Under the Sun"; Album: Transformation 2019 – "Killing Me"; Album: Transformation

With Jeff Beck 2007 – Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival, Wilkenfeld with Jeff Beck on "Cause We've Ended as Lovers" and "Big Block". 2008 – Live at Ronnie Scott's, Jeff Beck 2010 – Emotion & Commotion, Jeff Beck 2010 – The 25th Anniversary Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Concerts, featuring Wilkenfeld with Jeff Beck, Sting, Buddy Guy, and Billy Gibbons. 2010 – Rock and Roll Hall of Fame + Museum Live Legends DVD, featuring Wilkenfeld with Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. 2013 – Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival

With Herbie Hancock 2010 – The Imagine Project, Herbie Hancock CD 2013 – Experience Montreux, Herbie Hancock Blu-ray 3D

With Macy Gray 2010 – The Sellout, Macy Gray CD, Wilkenfeld performs on the track "That Man"

With Lee Ritenour 2010 – 6 String Theory, Lee Ritenour 2012 – Rhythm Sessions, Lee Ritenour

With Jackson Browne 2012 – Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International, on "Love Minus Zero/No Limit", with Jackson Browne, Benmont Tench, Jonathan Wilson, and Jim Keltner 2014 – Standing in the Breach

With Trevor Rabin 2012 – Jacaranda, Trevor Rabin

With Wayne Krantz 2012 – Howie 61, Wayne Krantz

With Steve Lukather 2013 – Transition, Steve Lukather

With Ryan Adams 2014 – Ryan Adams, Ryan Adams

With Toto 2015 – Toto XIV, Toto

With Todd Rundgren 2015 – Global, Todd Rundgren

With Keith Urban 2016 – Ripcord, Keith Urban CD, on the track "Break on Me"

With Prince 2021 – Welcome 2 America, Prince CD – recorded in 2010

DVD and Blu-ray With Jeff Beck 2007 – Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival DVD, Wilkenfeld with Jeff Beck on "Cause We've Ended as Lovers" and "Big Block". 2008 – Live at Ronnie Scott's, Jeff Beck DVD and Blu-ray 2010 – The 25th Anniversary Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Concerts DVD, featuring Wilkenfeld with Jeff Beck, Sting, Buddy Guy, and Billy Gibbons. 2010 – Rock and Roll Hall of Fame + Museum Live Legends DVD, featuring Wilkenfeld with Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. 2013 – Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival DVD and Blu-ray 2018 – Still on the Run (Jeff Beck DVD) Jeff Beck DVD