Bilbo

I lost count many years ago. Certainly over 1,000 as I remember that landmark but that was a long time ago. Maybe 1400-1500 in 32 years. Good ones are still probably in double figures

The groove obsession is certainly a barrier to the acceptance of less repetitive genres. Personally, I find 'groove playing', particularly when it is locked into one or two chords, increasingly tedious, both as a listener and as a player. If the harmony is moving, it becomes less irritating but if the rhythm and harmony are static - yeeuch!

Makes sense.

[quote name='Spoombung' timestamp='1344207850' post='1761382'] BTW this kind of music is all [i]very[/i] readable and [i]not[/i] difficult to understand (or appreciate). [/quote] Can you elaborate on that? I'd welcome your views.

To me it was what evidence of the phenomenon that is often considerd to be what is wrong with session musicians. All the notes in the right place but still not there. A bit like 'James Galway plays The Beatles'. It's like asking Mike Batt to do a tribute to Metallica - its never going to gel.

Very Brand X; marvellous. There are acres and acres of great musicains out there who have no presence in the mainstream media and increasingly I am finding myself drawn to them.

I love Jazz but this is shocking.... [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzBCUIHE7zc&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzBCUIHE7zc&feature=related[/url]

And, of course, this monster from Metheny (solo starts with the greatest 'wow' moment in jazz guitar history...at 1.36) [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSmWCYNRpNs"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSmWCYNRpNs[/url]

+1 for Ladies Night In Buffalo but, for me, the most emotionally satisfying guitar solo ever (today) is The Un-Merry Go Round by Allan Holsdworth, The tune is over 14 minutes long and there are all sorts of 'sections but the bit that bleeds is from 9.42. You need to start listening at around the 6.00 minute mark in order for the solo to make sense. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DtvLxrL9VA[/media] Another favourtie of mine is Carlos Rios' solo on Chick Corea's Cool Weasel Boogie off the first Elektric Band lp. It isn't on youtube so you'll have to look it up on Spotify.... solo starts at about 3.06.

Got a couple of really nice downloads by Elvin Jones with Joe Farrell and Jimmy Garrison. Called The Ultimate Elvin Jones and Puttin' It Together, they both come highly recommended. They are rare and not on Spotify but I think there are selections on youtube.

I have been pretty much 'fret free' since 1986 when I got my Wal. I have owned fretted basses but, opposite to everyone else, on the rare occasion that one of them left the house, I only used the fretted for one song per set rather than the other way around. I have played jazz, Latin, rock, blues, small group and big band. Sold my last fretted several year ago now (to someone on here) and have no real intention to look for a replacement. With reference to fretless cliches and the usual tricks/slides etc, with respect, those are a matter for the player. I never really slide in a 'special effect' kind of way and my bass is pretty much a mwah free zone (I rarely hear it that way, anyway). My cliches are my cliches and are not fretboard/instrument specific! To be fair, I don't slap more than the occasional note and don't really play any music where the precision of a pick is essential but, to be blunt, you can easily play a fretless and not have it sound like one.

That Lenny White thing is nice. Would have avoided it as I am off tribute records of any kind so its good that it got posted here.

It sounds a litte iffy to me, as if his idea/intonation clash for a couple of beats. Personally, I wouldn't sweat blood over it as it is not a definitive or decisive line. Even people as great as LaFaro can mess up and there are plenty of examples all over the jazz canon of subtle mess ups of this kind, partiucuarly in the era during which this recording took place. I would try and work it out using TRasncribe but it is on a different PC and I woudl have to download the track etc etc and, for two bars of music...? My advice? Spend your time on the details you can hear and don't worry too much about the ones you can't. You won't be missing much.

I have to say, watching Steve's performance makes me realise the 'art' is in the writing and not in the performance. There are moments of 'wow' but a lot of it is not that hard to execute, given a relatvely small investment (the bass part and guitar parts are often the same, for instance). I always smile at this astonishing waste of time..... [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPWJc42n8iU"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPWJc42n8iU[/url]

It was 30 years ago today...... Far left, me age 17/18?

Simon's ideas work for double bass also. I found I was working far too hard and, using the amp and relaxing my left hand has made for a better sound and stronger swing feel. I am also working on gritting my teeth less......

It's one of those tunes that I feel an emotional pressure to learn so I can say to my peers that I can play it and the learning of which I intellectually know would, in reality, be a waste of precious rehearsal time. You can't learn eveything and have to choose where to focus your efforts and mine are elsewhere. It's a great rock tune, though, and one of Rush's career highlights. Daaa n da da daaa n da da da daaa n n daaa n da da daaaa nn da da da daaa n n ......

Transcribe at severnthstring.com. It's about £40 and is marvellous. Yo can slow down the music without changing pitch to 70%, 50% 35% etc and loop sections, even individual notes etc. Highly recommended. [url="http://seventhstring.com/"]http://seventhstring.com/[/url]

Transcribe at severnthstring.com. It's about £40 and is marvellous. Yo can slow down the music without changing pitch to 70%, 50% 35% etc and loop sections, even individual notes etc. Highly recommended. [url="http://seventhstring.com/"]http://seventhstring.com/[/url]

Better to do your own but try these.... [url="http://www.jazztranscriptions.co.uk/"]http://www.jazztranscriptions.co.uk/[/url]

Won't play and is marked as private. Is that normal?

Very much so and its is an established tradition going back throughout the history of jazz. Louis Armstrong, Lester Young, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman, Bill Evans, Bud Powell... the list of soloists who have influenced generations of jazz musicians on other instrument is endless. I have transcribed Parker, Coltrane, Gerry Mulligan, Joe Lovano, Miles, Cannonball Adderley, Branford Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis, Michael Brecker, Mike Stern, Javier Navarette, Astor Piazolla, Gary Burton, Pat Metheny.... the list goes on. Bass players tend to think in a certain way whilst horn players and other instrumentalists think in different ways and transcribing solos from other disciplines allows you to braoden your perspectives on the art of the soloist. It is not only time well spent, it is arguable the BEST way to spend time. You learn a lot about phrasing, rhythm and note choice that may otherwise escape you

It is difficult to get a sesne of what your problem is without seeing you play, my friend. What I can say os that many of these kinds of problems are sorted out by concerted pracice and experimentation. You use the term 'correct' when actually you shoudl be looking for something that is efficient. Correct is only ever one person's perpsective and the greatest players in the world are often playing incorrectly. String skipping always feels awkward when you start playing but it gets easier as you get more comfortable.

Today I am mostly listening to Dave Holland's 'Conference of the Birds', his 1972 free jazz debut as a leader (he co-led the 1971 'Music From Two Basses' with Barre Phillips). It is beautiful chaos and, for me, represents one of the most successful examples of free playing that ever found its way onto vinyl. I have been listening to this recording since I got a copy of it from Newport saxophonist/bandleader Paul Hornsby in about 1988 and its is as fresh now as it was then (the recording of the bass is a little dated but the music is incredibly vibrant and edgy). Anthony Braxton and Sam Rivers on reeds/flutes and Barry Altschul on drums and percussion. The flute duos are particularly exciting, the compositions really interesting and wonderfully twisted. If Holland had never done anything else as a band leader (he has put out 23 other cds out as a leader as well as hundreds if not thousands of sideman dates), his place at the head of teh bass table would have been assured. Highly recommended and one of my top ten 'must have' jazz cds.

I was a YES nut up to Drama (saw that tour). They nearly lost me on 90125 but I was gone by the next one (was it Big Generator?) and have never heard anything they have done since. I rarely go back to them but when I do I am struck by the creativity which was a lot more common in Rock and Prog Rock during this era, before punk rendered anything longer than 3 minutes as 'self indulgent'. The groove thing is an interesting point. One of the important facets of UK prog rock was the fact that it was the first substantive movement in popular music that was not based around dance music and the blues. It isn't [i]supposed[/i] to 'groove' (even though much of it does, albeit in a different way). Loved TOrmato, loved Going For The One, loved CTTE and Relayer, loved TAAW and The Yes Album.... all great stuff. It was through buiying all of their solo LPs that I got into Jazz. I was a Squire/Howe fan but, when I bought the Bruford 'Feels Good To Me' lp and heard Jeff Berlin and Allan Holdsworth, I realised there was more to listen to.