Cliffie playing his bass with other members of Stuart Hamblin’s band. In one of Cliffie’s interviews, he said , “During high school, I took bass lessons from Phil Cushman who was a top bass player in the Los Angeles area at that time. I would go once a week and practice 2 hours a day. He taught me so much including how to slap the bass which is an old Dixie land sound. A few years later, Phil said he taught me all that he could and he wanted me to meet his bass teacher, a noted German bassist, Arthur Pabst (who played first chair with the Los Angeles Philharmonic symphony Orchestra). So while I played bass and did a comedy act with Stuart on his Lucky Stars show, I also studied with Arthur Pabst for several years. I’ll never forget my first lesson with him. He said, “You are going to learn about your instrument! We are going to totally dismantle your bass and then put it back together! You have to know what each piece is for and what it does in order to get its sound!” Arthur was a tremendous influence on my life. He did not let me fake it; he taught me how to read in groups of notes. Among the countless things I learned was how to play jazz bass as well as classical. He also taught me how to use the German and French bows.”