Bilbo

You haven't lived until you have seen this. My wife and I went to Ronnie Scott's to see Flora Purim and Airto. I have never heard of a pandeiro and had no idea that this was what Brazilians did with them 😄

The first fusion album I bought was Al DiMeola's Land of the Midnight Sun and I have been a fan ever since. I kind of lost interest in his electric work as I got older but his acoustic guitar playing has been a constant source of inspiration ever since. I own an Ovation Custom Legend because of the World Sinfonia albums. Tsis is the track that I could listen to and watch again and again and again. It is called 'Orient Blue' and featured on the first WS CD. If you are intrested enough to look for more, try World Sinfonia, Heart of the Immigrants, Cielo De Terra, All Your Life, Diabolic Inventions and Seduction for Solo Guitar.

I saw the John McLaughlin Trio with Trilock Gurtu twice, once at the Royal Festival Hall with Jeff Berlin and once at Bristol COlston Hall with Dominique DiPiazza. The funny part of the story is that I was having bass lessons in London at the time with a guy called Dan Quinton (Otis Grand and the Dance Kings). He was also involved in some sort of music production agency work. He knew I liked Jeff Berlin so he got us tickets to see the RFH gig front and centre. Right in front on Jeff Berlin. The fact was, I was glued to McLaughlin and Gurtu throughout. I had never heard anything like these two. McLaughlin's synth guitar and Gurtu's complete concept were absolutely unbelieveable. Their respective mastery of rhythm made Berlin look like the new boy (he played great, but the other two? Wow!) I then went to see them again in Bristol and DiPiazza, who I had never heard of, blew me away again. A stunning trio wit only two recordings, one with Kai Eckhardt and the other with DiPiazza. Highly recommended.

My big band's book has 780 tunes and is growing

A little light relief: Leland Sklar's bass part for 'Whenever I see Your Smiling Face' from the 1977 James Taylor album 'J.T.'. A lovely little line from one of the most recorded bass players in history. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/whenever-i-see-your-smiling-face-james-taylor/ I am still working on that other one!!

I was discussing this recently with greater minds than mine (remember; as a reader, I am self taught so there are inevitably gaps). I asked the question 'what key signature would you use for a Blues in F: would it be F or would it be Bb major (given that F is an F7 and, therefore, the V chord of Bb major)? It was explained to me that there is a subtle difference between different genres and the ways in which music is engraved (written down). Without over-generalising, what I was told was that, historically, music was written in certain keys e.g. Nobby Fishcake's Symphony in A minor, Giblin Blapp's Concerto in E and so on. With popular songs like Jazz standards or show tunes, it is common for the key changes to be all over the place with the harmony slipping in and out of keys throughout. Also, the use of dominant 7th chords in blues type tunes creates chaos when you try and put a key signature on the chart as the key centre and the passing chords are conflicting all of the time. As a consequence of this, there is a tendency in Jazz to write the whole thing out without a key signature and to include the accidentals in the way I have done. A lot of the lines in bass playing linked to Jazz and other secular musics are chromatic and lead into chord tones which means key signatures can interfere as you can have the same note three times in bar, one sharp, one flat and one natural; sometimes more than one of each. Key signatures can confuse the issue even more. In short, there is no universal solution to these pitfalls and people deal with it differently. I try to use key signatures when it makes sense to do so but, sometimes, it makes more sense to keep things open. I am constantly reviewing this, though, as I am aware that this is 'a thing' and that my knowledge of notation is potentially flawed.

My latest transcription is proving to be a real slog. It is over 14 minutes long and changes time signature almost every other bar. Love it, though. Something a bit special from my end but most people will never have heard it. One of the reasons I don't do this commercially is because I don't have to worry about how 'popular'' a tune is before I transcribe it and can just indulge myself.

Just practice reading in all keys, one at a time. It is as simple as that. If you haven't nailed it, you haven't practiced doing it enough.

I have now transcribed the whole Cozy Powell 'Over The Top' album - this one is 'The Loner' and features some very clever Jack Bruce parts. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/the-loner-cozy-powell/

Shadows and Light for the band. After that, I love them all and think that ranking them is a completely pointless exercise because it doesn't change the way I think or feel about them. She is a genius : end of. 😀

Another one nearly 40 years in the making (I saw Rush on this tour) - Geddy Lee's bass part for 'Red Barchetta' from the 1981 Rush album 'Moving Pictures'. Monster part! https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/red-barchetta-rush/

Objective criticism of music. Is that even possible? Depending on the publication, I think it is important for critics to engage as well as inform. I think a stinking review can be really funny if we'll written. I grew up as a Prog fan in the Punk era. Nobody liked anything I listened to 😃 Writing is always about the writer.

Sounds like a lot of unmet expectations to me. What do you want from a critic? Do you want them to agree with you or to disagree? I think people forget how subjective music is and how, frankly, pointless it is to write about it. I recall a clip from Good Will Hunting where Robin Williams talks about reading 1000 books on flowers but never actually smelling one. Critics can be useful. If you learn to recognise which critics like what you like, then you can follow their recommendations. I have loved records critics hate and have hated records that critics love. Its not their fault. In truth, it is all about selling magazines not music. Like musicians, there are great critics and there are poor ones. It's not important.

A further transcription of a Jack Bruce bass part, this one being the Max Middleton penned tune 'Sweet Poison' from the 1979 Cozy Powell album, 'Over The Top'. Great bass parts featuring poweful rooted playing with some great counterpoint lines. A really influential album for me, personally. Only one more track to go ('The Loner') and I have transcribed the whole album! https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/sweet-poison-cozy-powell/

Chip Jackson's bass part for the tune 'July' from the 1985 Al DiMeola album 'SOaring Through A Dream'. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/july-al-dimeola/

A simple part and and easy read for beginners. Jerry Duplessis's bass part for The Fugees version of 'Killing Me Softly' from the 1996 album 'The Score'. Because I am a massive Hip Hop fan. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/killing-me-softly-the-fugees/

Thanks for the feedback, Dave. I still haven't got a 'proper' copy I like to think that my approach was a bit different to the norm and I tried very hard not to be too 'obvious'. I only got to play on the one track.I recorded two more (Celluloid Star and 'Rebel Inside') but they wanted something more traditional than a fretless Wal and I wasn't in that space.

I had a request for a Jimmy Haslip part that I did not think was accessible in terms of the mix so went for this one instead. 'Sonja's Sanfona' from the 1986 Yellowjackets album 'Shades'. Haslip held the 'Jackets' bass chair from 1977 to 2012 - 35 years. Not a bad innings by anyone's standards! https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/sonjas-sanfona-the-yellowjackets/

A new player on the scene..... don't be daft. John Paul Jones's bass part to the tune 'Ramble On' from the 1969 LP 'Ld Zeppelin II' https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/ramble-on-led-zepellin/

There are transcriptions of 'Fool For Your Lovin' by Whitesnake and 'Down To You' by Coloseum on my transcription site. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/fool-for-your-loving-whitesnake/ https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/down-to-you-colosseum-ii/

For me, it is not as much a question of what I like as much as it is what I prefer. I have 'enjoyed' all sorts of weird and disparate stuff over the 5 decades I have been listening to music but, when I have a choice, I gravitate towards the stuff I like the most. Listening time is a precious resource which I try to maximise the benefits of. I am not completely unapproachable on rap but am unlikely to prefer it Jazz, Latin, Prog, classical etc. So I don't go looking for it.

Bit of fun, this one. A transcription of one of my own solos! A single chorus of Charlie Parker's 'Yardbird Suite' (single because the solo went awry during the second solo as the band went into the B section prematurely). It is an interesting exercise to look this closely at your own work! https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/yardbird-suite-the-good-things/

Did you know that Brittany Spears is Brian Ferry's daughter? She took her mother's name apparently.

I have heard recordings and asked who played bass only to find out it was me. If you do a session with layers of the track not yet added, it is easy to loose perspective. It's always funny, though.

I am a Jazz musician. I never play the same thing once. Seriously, I have played tunes significantly wrong for decades. Nobody died.