artist.artist

Phil Yost (2)

Phil Yost (1930 - 1997) was an experimental composer and multi-instrumentalist from Santa Cruz who blended jazz, folk, rock, and psychedelia into his own hypnotic sound world. Beginning with his 1967 debut Bent City on John Fahey’s Takoma Records, followed by Fog-Hat Ramble (1968) and Touchwood’s Dream (1970), Yost recorded all instruments himself using early overdubbing and looping. Though he drifted into relative obscurity outside Santa Cruz—where he remained a revered figure in jazz circles—Yost spent his later years reengineering the upright bass from the ground up, a testament to his lifelong spirit of innovation. Long overlooked, his work is now being reissued and rediscovered, starting with Bent City in 2025, newly reissued with unreleased material and archival discoveries.