Bilbo

Some Latin loveliness from Ruben Blades and the Lincoln Centre Jazz Orchestra featuring the bass player Carlos Henriquez. The tune is 'Pedro Navaja' which is essentially Kurt Weill's 'Mac The Knife' with new lyrics. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/pedro-navaja-mac-the-knife-ruben-blades-w-lincoln-centre-jazz-orchestra/

28 pages of dots this weekend (Friday to Sunday) and 32 year to date 😊. The gigs are starting to filter through so it is likely to slow down but at least I have something to show for the 'downtime'.

Some New Orleans gospel, the complete Reginald Veal bass performance for the tune 'Pot Bellied Dinner' from the 1994 Wynton Marsalis Septet album, 'In This House, On This Morning'. Deep stuff but playable by most of us. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/pot-blessed-dinner-wynton-marsalis-septet/

A bit more Reginald Veal lusciousness. 'Benediction' from the 1994 Wynton Marsalis Septet recording, 'In This House, On This Morning'. Something relatively simple but watch the count, it does something wonderfully peculiar. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/benediction-wynton-marsalis-septet/

I have done a Blues/Rock gig with the 4 string but it was the first time out with the whole set up so it wouldn't be fair to say it didn't work. I did a Jazz trio (no drums) with it and it sounded great but that's kind of my thing so I would have been more comfortable from the off. I have more Rock gigs lined up so will have to report back. I do like the passive pick-ups, though.

I have a Cort Rithmic 4 and 5 string, Dave. And a MarkBass Jeff Berlin combo. Do I sound like him? Do I f***. The truth is that I didn't buy the kit because I wanted to sound like him, it was just that, for reasons I am not going into on here, I had to get some useable gear that didn't break the bank and this kit is all at the affordable end. I have to say that the 5-string is really exceptional but all of it is perfectly decent professional quality kit. It has really made me think hard about cost vs. value.

Oh, my giddy Aunt! Another impossible Jeff Berlin chart, from the 2005 album by Dennis Chambers, Jeff Berlin, T. Lavitz and David Fuiczymski, 'Boston T Party'. The track is called '(Great) Ball of Issues' and has some great grooves and a massive fusion-fest of a unison part, the kind of thing I used to love trying to get my head around. Completely impossible to read. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/great-ball-of-issues-dennis-chambers-jeff-berlin-t-lavitz-and-david-fiuczynzki/

Some great swinging bass. The complete Dwayne Dolphin performance of the tune 'Daydream' from the 1997 John Hicks album. 'Something To Live For: the Billy Strayhorn Songbook'. Easy to read but hard because of the tempo. Great fun though. I always have a big smile on my face when I listen to this performance. It's usually played as a ballad but works incredibly well at this tempo. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/daydream-john-hicks/

Something simple for the developing readers, the bass part for the Billy Strayhorn composition 'Blood Count' from the 1968 album, 'And His Mother Called Him Bill', recorded in tribute to the recently deceased Strayhorn. 'Blood Count' was reportedly the last tune Strayhorn wrote for the Ellington band and this is it's first recording. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/blood-count-duke-ellington/

Something more accessible for use mortals, the Victor Bailey bass part to the beautiful Joe Zawinul ballad, 'I'll Never Forget You' from the 1986 Weather Report recording 'This Is This'. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/ill-never-forget-you-weather-report/

Party's over, Dave. Back to work! The complete Jaco Pastorius part to the tune 'Young And Fine' from the 1978 Weather Report album, 'Mr. Gone'. There are a couple of 'Jaco' moments that I have had to approximate. To paraphrase the legendary U.S. Defense Secretary, Albert Nimziki. 'it may not be entirely accurate'. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/young-and-fine-weather-report/

Some more Pastorius but this is Felix! From the 2013 Yellowjackets album, 'A Rise In The Road'. this is the tune 'When The Lady Dances'. Great little tune that has some interesting harmonic shifts but the groove sits nicely. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/when-the-lady-dances-yellowjackets/

As promised, the complete bass part for the 11:44 minute version if 'First Snow' from the 2002 Dave Holland Big Band album, 'What Goes Around'. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/first-snow-big-band-version-dave-holland-big-band/

I was away over Christmas and then spent a particularly long time on another 12 minute Dave Holland Big Band tune. Should be up tonight. Thanks for your patience.

I probably did, Lloyd. There are a couple of dozen AJ transcriptions up there now, all equally impossible to play. How are you doing, my friend?

Complete fluke, the complete bass part to 'Fato Consumado' from the 1976 Djavan album, 'A Voz, O Violão, A Música De Djavan'. The bass player is Arthur Maia's uncle, Luizão Maia. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/fato-consumado-djavan/

Another from the 2001 Gilberto Gil video 'Acoustico' (MTV Unplugged) - 'A Paz' with the late Arthur Maia on acoustic bass guitar. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/a-paz-gilberto-gil/

There are so many Flim tunes I would love to get down but he is all over the place and it takes ages to even get close 😃

Tough one to crack, the complete Jimmy Johnson performance on the tune 'Ojai' from the 1986 Wayne Johnson Trio album, 'Grasshopper'. I got this when it came out because I had read about this guitar player in the Guitar Player magazine when it used to be good and full of top drawer players an not hair metal poseurs. he had a double-neck 6/12 and Flim had one of the first 5-string basses I had ever seen. More to the point, he used the whole damn instrument in a way that most Rock player would never do. One of my top 4 influences. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/ojai-wayne-johnson-trio/

I had another mad episode and took on the complete 17:24 bass performance on 'What Goes Around' by the Dave Holland Big Band. Some real challenges but the main thing is the alternating 6:4 and 5:4 bars throughout. I think they lost it at one point and had to adjust but I may be wrong and just lost track of the 'one'. Don't print it off. It is 16 pages long and took me days. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/what-goes-around-dave-holland-big-band/

John Illsley's bass part to the tune 'Down To The Waterline' form the 1978 Dire Straits debut. Not too difficult but one mad fill at the end. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/down-to-the-waterline-dire-straits/

I revisited this one today. This version has the shout chorus and the ending. It is also counted differently to the previous version I posted on here. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/blues-connotation-head-and-end-only-steve-kahn/

As simple as it gets, the tune is a one chorus melody rendering of 'My Foolish Heart' from the 1992 Victor Goines album, 'Genesis'. The bass player is Christopher Thomas who plays it as straight as they come. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/my-foolish-heart-victor-goines/

There is a thread on here somewhere referencing solo bass albums and I checked a load of them out. This album was the first time I have knowingly heard this guy (although, looking at his CV, I have probably heard him somewhere along the way). The tune is by Cuban folk artist Silvio Rodriguez and this is the complete transcription of the solo bass of Anders Jormin. The whole thing is a weird out of time vibe about it and you can take real liberties with the tempo throughout and it was all sound great. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/oleo-de-mujer-con-sombrero-anders-jormin/

Ella always sounds great and this is pretty cool but have you heard the Marsalis version with Jon Hendriks (same record as Winter Wonderland)?