Paul Gill

In the late 1970s, when Paul Gill was a senior at Cardinal Gibbons High School in his native Baltimore and a fledgling bassist with few skills, he made what might have seemed a surprising decision: He wanted to make his living as a musician.

“I didn’t know the fundamentals,” says Gill, 48, who lives in Manhattan. “I had taught myself by ear, but I liked music and wanted to give it shot.”

Armed with talent and a determination that kept him in the practice room for many a late night, Gill made good on his youthful desire. Today, he is considered a top modern jazz bassist, and has played with scores of aces, among them singers Elvis Costello, Diana Krall and Hilary Kole, pianists Hank Jones, Toshiko Akiyoshi and Peter Zak, and saxophonists Gary Bartz, Sonny Fortune and Jim Snidero.

This weekend, Gill will join Snidero (with whom he has recorded three albums, including the recent “Crossfire”) as well as guitarist Paul Bollenback and drummer Billy Drummond at The Kitano in New York. In November, he’ll play Sundays behind singer Kole at the Bemelmans Bar, and Thursdays with the Smoke Big Band at Smoke Jazz Club and Lounge.

While Gill is a complete musician who can play many styles with persuasion, three aspects of his artistry stand out: his round, full tones, his ability to play buoyant, meaty walking bass lines and his facility with the bow, playing what is called “arco.”

Beginning on electric bass at age 12, Gill turned to upright acoustic bass at 20, and began to develop his tone by listening to greats like Ray Brown. “Ray’s tone blew me away,” says Gill, who has a bachelor of science degree as a music major at Towson University in Towson, Md.

Brown was also a key influence when Gill began to learn to play walking lines that are at the heart of the jazz rhythm section. “It was a pure kind of thing, trying to copy what he did, get down to the essence of it without me knowing the academics of it,” he says.

Then there’s Gill’s acumen with the bow, a truly superb musical sound. “The bow is great, it’s like a whole different instrument,” he says. “You can phrase like a horn player.”

One of the first players Gill encountered as a young player was Snidero, with whom he used to play at the One Step Down in Washington, D.C., starting in the mid-1980s. “Jim’s a very serious artist who puts great bands together, and writes great music,” he says of the saxophonist.

Gill recorded Kole’s recently released “Haunted Heart” (Justin Time), and has toured Japan with her. “She’s very musical, does standards, and gives me some solo space,” he says.

The Smoke Big Band, led by trumpeter Bill Mobley, who provides most of the charts, is also a pleasure for Gill.

As to how the career is progressing, Gill keeps it simple. “I’m just focused on the fact that I like music and that’s why I’m doing it, and as long as the phone keeps ringing, I can’t complain,” he says.