Juan D. Nelson
b. August 24th, 1958 - Cincinnati, Ohio

Bass player - He joined the band during the Welcome To The Cruel World tour, on April 30, 1994 at Nick's Caffé Trevi, Claremont, CA. He played bass on all of Ben Harper albums and tours after that. He's the pillar and soul of the band.

Ben Harper : "Juan nelson is a miracle, a genius. He brought so much to my music!"

Juan Nelson : "Ben Harper songs are spiritual. And me comin' from church and being playin' in church all my life. A lot of bands don't have this spiritual thing about their songs. And the band itself is very spiritual, we pray a lot together. And it comes through the music as well... Give a Man a Home, that kinda thing... I'm just glad to be a part of this, it's such a positive move for me. I've played in a lot of different bands but this one really means something to me." — transcript by Gavin Conaty / benharper.net

Side Project

Big Advice | www.bigadvice.biz

From official website — "Singer/songwriter/drummer Ahaguna G. Sun, of Sunbear, The Looters, Maze and Soul Train Gang fame; bassist /singer Juan Nelson, best known as the jovial massive talent with Ben Harper and The Innocent Criminals and guitarist Werner Schuchner, with his stylings found in Sunbear, Maze, Soul Train Gang and The Whispers, are the heart and soul of BIG ADVICE and are engineering the direction in which the future of funk will follow. Influenced by the R&B sound of the Seventies, including Earth Wind & Fire, Tower of Power and Stevie Wonder along with inspiration coming from numerous Jazz luminaries, coupled with the addition of youthful exuberance, BIG ADVICE takes on the industry to create and capture the new sound of R&B."