Bilbo

I got my arse kicked last night. By a girl. Did a trio gig with pianist Kate Williams. Great tunes and great arrangements but some seriously tough charts including Dienda by Kenny Kirkland (its in the Chuck Sher Real Book if you want to see it), a chart from Eliane Elias and one from Michel Petrucciani. Her website is here: http://www.kate-williams-quartet.com/

Deep Purple - Burn. Had forgotten how good the album is.

[quote name='alyctes' timestamp='1379369674' post='2211991'] jazz on Radio 3. I keep trying, but I still don't get it [/quote] Stop trying and just let it in.

You and me both, Skol. Trying to get a date for completion as we type. Next month is all but a write off for me BC-wise as my new studio arragement is to be an outbuilding that is not yet built!! October's entry could be a Zoom H1 recording of me humming an idea!!

Some lovely instruments on display here. I doth covet.

Take a photo of it with you playing it and we will all either reassure you that it is not a half size or we will all point our collective finger at you and laugh. Seriously, what are the dimensions?

You have to listen to what you are playing rather than rely on position playing. If you can't hear your notes, you can't guarantee your intonation. Make sure that, when you are playing your fretless, you can hear it. Practice listening. Sounds stupid but it isn't. And remember that you never get a day off of agonising over your intonation. Ever.

I had a great e perience last Sunday, playing with saxophonist Gilad Atzmon. Gilad has a reputation for furious tempos and high energy playing and, although he was not nearly as intense as his reputation suggested, it was a roast. I was required to play some of the fastest tempos I have ever experienced but got through the night all but unscathed. Nevrrtheless, expecting the worst, I had brought my Wal and played the encore, Georgia On My Mind, using the electric. Our usual drummer, who I have gigged with extensively and who has an enviable cv, was not on the gig due to back trouble but he was in the audience. He is very supportive of my electric playing but, for once, had the chance to listen from an audience perspective. His feedback was positive and included a comment I want carved on my gravestone! He said he couldn't hear much difference and that, like Steve Rodby, he heard only the music and not the change of instrument. I have spent a lot of time thinking about the electric in Jazz and, to my ears, it rarely works. Steve Swallow has it covered and there are others but there are recordings by Jaco, Gary Willis and 100s of other fantastic electric players playing Jazz but it so often lacks the depth I associated with the bass in this music and sounds, errr, pingy. Its not about technique, there are plenty of monster tecnicians out there, but about tone in context. Most electric sounds don't work that well for Jazz. What does everyone else think?

Customs do this all day every day. You are doing it once. What makes you think you are going to dream up the perfect plan? My advice? Don't even think about it.

Lots of great music in the 60s. Doubt you'll be playing any of it tho.

I know where Floyd is coming from. I am estranged from the electric. Not because of any innate flaw in the instrument, just because the gigs where I need to play it are my least favourite due to the nature of the music played.

Didn't know he had been born, let alone died. Guess he had never hesrd of me either.

I get a certificate.

Another Evah Pirazzi Weich user here. I use them because they sound like bass strings. To me, anyway. That's all. And they do a high C.

Crect.

The $64,000 question is 'what does the bass actually sound like'? All the mics, pick ups and pre amps in the world won't polish a turd. For me, it is all about mic placement. And good leads

Guitar and soprano sax bought through them without problem. Packing is second to none.

Anytime

That Roth bass is crap.

I think the transcribing thing is about absorbing the syntax of the language of Jazz. The characteristics of Jazz bass playing are easy enough to explain but, in practice, difficult to understand, Walking basslines are a simple example; follow the chords and play 4 notes to the bar. But that is a lifetime's work. Author Stephen King writes for 4 hours a day. He also READS for 4 hours a day. Listen to the greats, transcribe them and PLAY them (studying them is all well and good but hearing yourself playing the notes, the phrasing, the time feel etc is crucial to the absorbing of the concepts). As Dad says, don't just learn bass parts, learn melodies and solos from other instruments to take you out of the bass comfort zones. The problem you have is that the learning is incremental. You don't 'learn' stuff today and incorprate it into your playing tomorrow. It takes months, if not years. There is also a lot about playing Jazz that you can't pick up anywhere but on the bandstand and in the rehearsal room i.e. its not all learned in your bedroom. It is impoirtant to talk to and listen to other instrumentalists (my two greatest epiphanies as a bass player came about from conversations with a drummer and trumpet player respectively). I have been playing Jazz for 25 years and, yes, I am still learning big time. Playing your own lines is not something to get hung up about. You actually can't help but do it

I use this http://www.gollihurmusic.com/product/1366-SUPER_ENDPIN_BALL_ATTACHMENT_FOR_UPRIGHT_BASS_TIP_COVER.html

[quote name='Phil Adams' timestamp='1379081427' post='2208486'] Practice [/quote] Bloody good idea, old sport.

Whilst I try as hard as time allows to be the most rounded musician I can be, there are areas of my playing that are pretty much nailed but, equally, there are areas where I have to acknowledge shortcomings. My time is pretty good, I can find my way around most chord charts, my reading is ok, my Latin bass playing is quite sophisticated, my walking lines can be quite creative on a good day, I can improvise reasonably convincingly over most Jazz standards etc. On the other hand, I have no more than a rudimentary slap technique, my two-handed tapping is negligible, my knowledge of harmony is more limited than I would like it to be, my intonation on double bass is shaky and my thumb position playing is grim. Walking through town this lunchtime, getting some air, I was thinking about a gig I recently did with guitarist Nigel Price (who I have know for about 15 years). When I first gigged with Nigel, he was great but in the intervening years he has progressed at an astonishing rate and is now absolutely world class. Nigel still practices 4 hours a day. Running this over in my mind, I had a revelation..... [b]Things I have practiced diligently in the past[/b] Time Finding my way around chord charts Reading Latin bass Walking lines Improvisation [b]Things I have hardly ever or never practiced but just ‘picked up as I went along’[/b] Slap technique Two-handed tapping Intonation on double bass Thumb position playing I see a pattern developing.....

The interest shown has wavered so, if anyone wants it, let me know. Will give it a few days then offload to Oxfam.

I have an expression of interest so bear with, bear with!!