Bilbo

I was driving to a gig a few years ago and the other guys were talking about being approached by girls after gigs. I pointed out that, in 30 years of gigging with all sorts of bands, this had never happened to me in any way, shape or form. At the end of that same gig, there was this woman who had been taking photographs who approached the guitarist/singer/leader of the band and struck up a conversation in which she revealed that she played bass. After she had gone, he said to me 'Fcuk me, Rob, even the bass players don't want to talk to you'!

I figure, if you can't get it out of an Eden, you probably can't get it out of your bass EEEEEdun! EEEEEdun! EEEEEEdun!

What a beautiful looking (and sounding) couple of basses. How is the piccolo bass tuned? I enjoyed the tune too; did you play the keyboards etc as well? And what is the distortion effect? Are we there yet?

I am being unfair. I have seen LC live on several occasions and hear JP all over his playing but he is perfectly within his rights to do a Jaco tribute; as much as Joe Lovano doing Frank Sinatra, Dave Liebman doing Coltrane or the whole Mingus Big Band industry. My opposition to these types of project are a matter for me and do not negate the contribution made by these major players to the status of the wider Jazz idiom. I am not the Jazz Policeman, just a bloke in Suffolk who is probably too far up his own a*** for his own good

Nice one, Garry. Way off my radar!

I know LC is capable of making his own contribution and I guess that is why I get frustrated when I hear another 'Jaco' event featuring him. Seems such as waste. But, then again, I am a Jazz Nazi so my extreme views should be treated with appropriate contempt

Not on cobblestones, Spike. The three-legged milk stool was designed because cobblestones are always uneven. It doesn't matter how uneven the surface is, the three-legged stool remains stable where a 4 legged one is all over the place. It is perfect for the job it is required to do.

Cottle has made a career out of coppng Jaco licks and now his Big Band cops a whole chart. Talk aout missing the point. More evidence of Jazz as repertory. As 'accurate' as the performance is, he should be ashamed of himself. It's nice but so is this but this is also real..... [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27D-YUvgUOU"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27D-YUvgUOU[/url] (You knew, didn't you, Mike? )

We live in a state of technological flux that has created the belief that technolgy is always progressing and taking us forward into new and innovative places. But this is a falsehood. A lot of technological improvements are not about improvng the product but improving its marketability, cheaper production methods etc etc. The obvious example is the mp3; it is not as good as a lot of aother versions but, because it can be move around easily and 'transported' for minimal cost, it has found its way to the top of the tree. But there are plenty of examples of technological 'perfection' that have never been improved upon (other than aesthetically); the piano, the saxophone, the double bass etc have all been tweaked but are fundamentally unchanged for a hundred years or more. Or the three-legged stool. Or the knife, fork and spoon. If you think about it, technological 'progress' 'is not all its cracked up to be.

S'nice. Love the Rhodes sound.

I use various methods. Playing along with recordings is an abvious one but I do use a chromatic tuner also (one that clips onto the bridge). My ear is goo after 26 years of playign fretless electric so referencing intonation with open strings is usually enough to keep me on track.

Interesting point. I play with Brazilian guy and enjoy the Brazilian covers he does but hate all of the English language covers. The problem is, the English ones are, to him, 'exotic' and the Brazilian tunes are cheesy. I guess its all about context or familiarity breeding contempt!

[quote name='peteb' timestamp='1349898161' post='1832055'] I appreciate that it might not be the same as creating your own material but surely you must admit that it is great fun to get to grips with the music that your favourite bands made. Even players of the caliber of Paul Gilbert, Billy Sheehan & Mike Portnoy (along with various singers) get together to play tribute gigs of their heroes (Led Zep, The Who & Rush, etc) just for fun! [/quote] I guess its easier to enjoy playing this stuff for fun when you are generally satisfied with the stuff you do all of the time. If I did 200 great gigs a year, doing 2 tribute gigs or whetever may float my boat. It is the idea of doing the 200 gigs of this stuff that puts me off (mind you, doing ANY of the gigs by the three people you named would not really work for me either! ).

Yeah, I get that. I remember doing a version of the hateful 'Ain't Nobody' by Chaka Kahn that was so in the pocket it cmae out covered in fluff and stuck to a mint humbug. There have been others; a couple of versions of Canteloupe Island (but the hit rate over 30 years or so is appalling) and even Moondance has scored once or twice(no more as I refuse play it now).

I can't ever get past the fact that a great cover is only a cover. There is a simple buzz to be got from a job well done but it has always remained a shallow victory for me.

This is the main focus of my practice at the moment. I am seeking to develop consistency in my 'management' of my left hand position movements without compromising my intonation. It is easy enough when focusing on the issue but, if I am looking at a trascription or trying a bowing exercise, its the first thing to slip. Still, I guess that is why we call it practice. Baby steps, baby steps.

I'd kill myself.

I did a gig with Jim Mullen years ago, a real chance to work with a top player. The fanatasy outcome was 'Jim is stunned by my playing and offers me a regular gig or, at least, walks off into the sunset telling all of his professional peers 'that Rob Palmer is a great, great player'. The real ending. As he was leaving he thanked the other rhythm section players by name, shook my hand and said 'Nice one, [b]ROD[/b]'

Sounds a little bizarre to me. Any note played on a bass (or any other instrument) will have the fundamental note plus a range of overtones arising from the note that is resonating. To fret another string just for it to vibrate sympathetically (i.e not to play another note) woudl only add something that is already there, in theory. Where I can see a benefit is if the additional note is out of tune and a subtle chorusing effect takes place (like when a fretless player plays an octave that is not quite perfect) but in 99% of cases (i.e anywhere where the bass is not being played unaccompanied) all of this would be completely inaudible. Or am I missing something?

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1349862874' post='1831357'] "Real bass players intonate by ear, these new fretted basses are for lazy untalented people..." [/quote] That is, of course, entirely true and all fretted basses are just real basses with stabilsiers

Manring is s freak.

I love chicken sandwiches. If I had them for starter, main course and dessert every day for a month, I would soon hate them. All things in moderation. I can take a few minutes of these jugglers but, after the 'wow' has worn off, I quickly switch off. I think someone is right in that we need guys to push the boundaries but we also need guys who consolidate, who use the ideas of the trailbalzers in a more musical and less grandstanding way.

I saw him playing with Jon Anderson on the 1980 tour that supported the Song Of Seven LP; the band were called the New Life Band and included some major UK session talent. Willie Morrisey, Barry DeSouza, Lee Davidson, Christopher Rainbow, Morris Pert, John Giblin, Ronnie Leahy, Jo Partridge. Stunning band. It was at Bristol Colston Hall in the days when a band's tour actually involved touring. I had already heard of Giblin through Brand X and really enjoyed his (Wal) bass playing that night (I didn't get my Wal until 1986 - I was 23 which means I have now had my Wal in my life longer than I hadn't when I got it).

I guess there is also the thing about effects etc being used to enahnce what is there rather than to cover up for what isn't e.g. autotune. The problem with things like autotune is that you can hear it and it comprmises the product. Like theatre/film, the best examples are the one's where you can't see the 'acting' happening (my wife loves Miss Marple and I have always been impressed by Joan Hickson's acting in that she doesn't actually [i]look[/i] like she is acting, unlike, say, Geraldine McEwan or Julia McKenzie). In my entirely subjective opinion, if you are listening to a recording and 'hearing' all the bells and whistles, its probably not a good recording.

I find I am constantly changing the exact position of the r/h all of the time. I do go to 'electric bass' r/h technique on really fast passages but stick with more correct pizz technique until the 'tipping point'. As it only relates to a tiny part of my playing (I believe that most great jazz is not played at fast tempos), I don't obsess over it.