Bilbo

I went looking for this one yesterday as I was sure that I had done it before but I couldn't find any sign of it anywhere so can only assume I have never actually transcribed it. This is the head only dots for the tune 'Bait Tone Blues' from the 1996 Mike Stern album, 'Between The Lines'. The bass, played by Jeff Andrews on the record, plays the head alongside guitarist Stern. It's a chopsy little b***er so is likely to take some time to internalise. It is written 8va otherwise it's a ledger line nightmare. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/bait-tone-blues-mike-stern/

I have often wondered whether more people than we would like to admit have an Oppositional Defiance Disorder and don't like what everyone else likes simply because everyone else likes it. The more popular an artist is, the more a certain section of the community don't like them.

A request that came in through the website, this is a complete transcription of the Larry Sims bass part to the tune 'Peacemaker' from the 1976 Loggins and Messina album, 'Native Sons'. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/peacemaker-loggins-and-messina/

A partial transcription, this is the head bass line (and closing 8 bars) of the tune 'No Moe' from the 1993 Bill Frissel album, 'Have A Little Faith'. The bass player is a personal favourite, Kermit Driscoll. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/no-moe-bill-frissel/

Benjamin F. Brown's bass part for the tune 'Do Nothin' 'Til You Hear From Me' from the 1994 Lena Horne album, 'We'll Be Together Again'. Horne was 77 when she recorded this and was still recording when she was 89. This one swings like a beast. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/do-nothin-til-you-hear-from-me-lena-horne/

OK - I'm obsessed.... Another complete Reginald Veal performance, this is the bass part for 'Skylark' from the Wynton Marsalis album 'Standard Time Vol: 3: The Resolution of Romance'. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/skylark-wynton-marsalis/

Got another one in this morning. This is the complete Reginald Veal bass part from the tune 'Flamingo' of the 1990 Wynton Marsalis album, 'Standard Time Vol. 3 - The Resolution of Romance'. A lovely swinging bass line. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/flamingo-wynton-marsalis/

I am on (another) Dave Holland buzz so here us a full transcription of the tune 'The Leak' from the same 'Critical Mass' CD. I have written in 3:4 but it could have been written in alternation 7:8/5:8 or even 12:8 but, either way, it would be challenging to read. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/the-leak-dave-holland-quintet/

Reply from GM - 'Very cool! Fetish Guitars is the place to go poking around. You’ll find that this harp guitar (which I read as S. Castorina) is a variation on their 1957 jazz “model 22 cello guitar.” I read his address as Via Biscari, 7, which it’s not Carmelo’s. I see that others built this same basic design (and there were DOZENS of Sicilians building, sharing & copying from each other). What’s unusual here is that is a super late harp guitar (I’d say late ‘50s). Though American harp guitars died out quickly through the 30s, Italians (in most locales) kept at it a good decade longer, but this is really an anachronism. An “old” harp guitar with a thoroughly modern body/design. Probably a custom order – would love to know the player’s story! Best, g Gregg Miner President, The Harp Guitar Foundation Board of Governors, American Musical Instrument Society Have passed this on to the owner.

All the gear is so heavy........ too many trips to the car. Can't buy a nice car, have to buy one that can take a double bass. Often can't park near the house or near the venue. Long carry ins and outs. I hate the physical work before and after gigs. My gear is relatively light compared to the 1980s Trace Eliots etc but it is still a grind and double basses are a hassle to move around wherever you are.

Have emailed Gregg. Many thanks. I know BC would deliver!!

Could be, Pete. We are only guessing.

Very odd Sicillian (we believe) 9 string Harp Guitar. Does anyone recognise the maker? We think it may be from the 1960s?

Wood finishes always do it for me.

I have played primarily 4-string fretless since 1986 - most fretted playing has not been on gigs. I recently joined a Prog band and needed a 5-string for the low B so I got a Marleaux Consat 5 off warwickhunt on here. Since that arrived, I haven't played the fretless. Simple fact is, after 35 years of being slightly out of tune, I am enjoying the accuracy of pitch! I have a double bass gig tonight so I can quietly revisit dodgy intonation for a couple of hours but it is certainly 'easier' to play fretted is so far as you don't have to fret about the intonation (see what I did there?).

Read one edition and you've read 'em all..... 😉

Dave Holland's bass part to the opening head of the tune 'Vicissitudes' from his 2006 Quintet album 'Critical Mass'. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/vicissitudes-head-dave-holland-quintet/

https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/la-villa-strangiato-rush/ https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/yyz-rush/

https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/dual-of-the-jester-and-the-tyrant-return-to-forever/ https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/duel-of-the-jester-and-the-tyrant-excerpt/

I do remember a brilliant story about a gig I did with a guitar player who knows me well and a drummer and singer who didn't. Before we started playing the gig, we sat down to talk through the set list. This amounted to the singer asking me ' do you know this one'? and me replying 'no'. As we were called to the stage, I was listening to the first tune on my phone just to get a sense of the groove. It turned out later that drums and vocals were freaking out because we were about to play and I didn't know any of the tunes. We played a blinder. With vague notions of the tunes, good eye contact, watching the Guitarist's hands, 30 years of experience and big ears, I was able to keep the whole thing together without any difficulties whatsoeve. If I had said we can't play anything I don't 'know' , it would have been 2x45 minute versions of Johnny B Goode. Most of my best gigs ever have been playing things I have never learned.

I almost never learn anything. I read dots and chord charts so can play most stuff cold. The trouble with learning stuff is that you have a very narrow available body of work at any given time. I learned lots of tunes in the past but cannot remember them. If I have the dots, I don't need to remember the tune, I just play it off the paper. If you have to learn something (because the band leader doesn't like music stands on stage), learning stuff off the paper is the best way and saves you a lot of time finding out what is happening. I read through this last night relatively cold (not the solo, just the 'bass' line). Listen from 5:44 onwards. I could never have done it by rote.

Sorry it's been a while but this is the Robert Hurst bass part for the tune 'In The Afterglow' from the 1991 Wynton Marsalis album, 'Standard Time VOl. 1'. It is a slow ballad but the phrasing of the bass lines is incredibly nuanced and it took several passes to get some of the phrasing right. Ballad playing for Jazz bassists is a very subtle art form. Staying on the root works perfectly but this part shows how sophisticated you can get whilst remaining sympathetic to the main themes. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/in-the-afterglow-wynton-marsalis/

Jaco spent 9 years on Donna Lee. I spent 32 on Al DiMeola 's guitar part for Suite:Golden Dawn 😄

https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/the-analog-kid-rush/

Or his take on 'Tears In Heaven'. Both of these tunes are the real deal: harmonically and melodically sophisticated music that is rhythmically strong. These are 'solos' that are not based on silly tricks and 'juggling' but on melody, harmony and rhythm. I don't live everything JB does (I don't like his High Standards and Low Standards cds, for instance) but you cannot deny this guy has chops, technically, compositionally and harmonically.