[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1435753012' post='2812089']
Cottle seems to do alright without playing upright...
But then again, with skills like his, people can turn a blind eye
[/quote]
Cottle is a great bass player but he is not a first call Jazz guy. He is a guy with sufficient 'kudos' attached to his reputation that some people book him as a name for their albums etc and, if there is a 'fusion' element to it, he is number one. But the hardcore Jazz cats would only call him as a last resort.
The discussions on who to call need to remember that there is a marked difference between who Fred call for his gig at the Dog and Duck (a lcoal guy he knows and can afford) and who Tony Kofi calls for his gigs at the London Jazz Festival (a 'celebrity' double bass player like Dave Green, Arnie Somogyi, Andy Cleyndert, Mick Hutton, Larry Bartley, Gary Crosby etc. If a Jazz cat is playing Jazz at a Jazz event, especially if it is a 'standards' band, it's 99% double bass. If a Jazz cat is moving towards some aspect of a fusion vibe, electric is a possibility and Cottle, Mike Mondesir, Dudley Phillips, Kevin Glasgow etc may get a call. Yes some of this depends on your definitons of Jazz but consensus suggests that the 'Jazz' professionals tend to distinguish acoustic Jazz and electric/fusion styles quite consciously.
A lot of 'local' Jazz and Jazz performed at functions is a bit sad, if we are honest, and using it as a means of defining how an idiom is presented is problematic. Personally, I think there is nothing sadder than an electric bass player trying to 'approximate' a double bass. I should know; I did it for 25 years.