Bilbo

And, PS< to those who think 'oh no, not that argument again'. As I type this, 14 people are reading the thread, 9 of whom are regulars. Its not the kill, its the thrill of the chase.

Because more people eat MacDonald's than at Michelin star restaraunts - not just because it costs less but because they don't like to be challanged. Its a strange thing, isn't it. In every other walk of life; furniture making, fashion whatever, the customer expects to pay more for a specialist quality product and less for mass produced/production line stuff (like buying a bass?). More to the point, the workers involved in the production line work are paid less than the real craftsmen and are generally less skilled and certainly less satisfied. In music, it seems to be the other way around. The gigs go to those who reproduce the mass market material whilst the more creative/demanding skills of composition, arranging and the performance of art music etc are devalued almost to oblivion. I say leave the production line work to them that likes it and I'll go apply for Arts Council funding for my musical theatre production based on the Communist Manifesto

[quote name='risingson' post='973760' date='Oct 1 2010, 11:48 AM']Gaslighting Abbie.[/quote] Never heard of it....

Which tune is it? Can't watch video in work.

Mine is the best one that money [b]can't[/b] buy......

Yum yum pig's bum...... Its brill.

Great latin funk tune I picked off a compilation of Latin styles. Its a great introduction to the that anticipation (playing grooves on the 4 and instead of the down beat). There are versions of the tune on Spotify so you will get the idea. Chords for each section are included but I did not put them throughout as I could not be arsed. I also stopped indicating every popped note as it was taking too long. If you want that kind of detail, get onto it... Here is a link to the cd it came off.. [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Salsa-Merengue-Mambo-Various-Artists/dp/B000005GZ8/ref=sr_1_122?s=STORE&ie=UTF8&qid=1285789344&sr=1-122"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Salsa-Merengue-Mam...44&sr=1-122[/url]

I have to hold out a flag for IT: home recording technology, transcription software, Sibelius etc, the internet. There is so much more material for the developing player to absorb nowadays compared to the darkened cupboards we all learned in in the early 1980s!!

[quote name='jakesbass' post='970775' date='Sep 28 2010, 03:24 PM']Ahmad Jamal Live at the Pershing.[/quote] A classic. I think Israel Crosby is one of the unsung greats of jazz bass (not forgetting the fact that he has one of the collest names in Jazz)

Dave Holland's Extended Play - Live at Birdland

Count me in. Would love to play loads of other double basses for comparisons sake, just to see how mine competes in terms of playability and tone. And to hear all the different amp set ups availabel etc. Sounds line a great idea.

I'm clearly missing something here. I just use my finger.....it came free with the rest of my hand.

I am finding, as I get better, that the side of the finger and the use of the second finger are becoming more and more natural and that, as they become more engaged with the process, the tone and technique are advancing. ANother interesting point for me, and this is an aside, comes from watching the strings vibrate when you bow. If you catch the low E right, the thing vibrates like a mother.... It really evidences the relationship between string movement and volume. I agree its warmer the further away from the bridge you get but you sometimes need a sharper attack. Its a judgement call based on the pieces being performed.

Bob Moses - Love Everlasting

I was led to believe that Jaco used two Acoustic amps that were out of phase, causing a 'natural' chorus effect (as opposed to an electronic one). No idea of the veracity of that 'legend' but there you are. I find playing the strings lightly and turn the amp up gives you a better chance than playing hard. And, yes, nearer the fingerboard is best. Here's my take on it (di'd Wal Custom Fretless bass, ebony finger board, groundwound rotosounds) [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=42836&st=0&start=0"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...t=0&start=0[/url]

Glad to have been of help.

I drove 17 miles to a gig once only to realise I had left my bass at home - I thought I had left it on the kerb so drove home in a panic to find it was still in the house. Sods Law, I had to cross the Severn Bridge twice as a result, costing me two tolls as well as the additional petrol!! Best one was driving 18 miles to a rehearsal to find I had propped my bass against the car before driving off. It fell over and lay in the car park outside my flat for most of an hour before I got back to recover it - still there, lying in the middle of the car park. The worst one was losing a GK MB150S and SWR Baby Blue cab from the back of a car. I had gone into Aust services for food and came back to see two oiks nicking the gear. The gutter was that there was someone in the car 'looking after' the gear. The bloke had fallen asleep and was lying down on the back seat. The thieves hadn't seen him and he thought it was us messing around so hadn't bothered to get up.

You are, of course, completely correct, cetera. Its an art/commerce argument. I like music as an art form and, by definition, reproducing someone else's art is not art but craft. I prefer artists to craftsmen primarily because, despite my aspirations, I am probably the latter rather than the former. I am rehearsing with a Kool and the Gang tribute act this Sunday

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='966008' date='Sep 23 2010, 07:48 PM']And Bilbo, as we have said before - you play jazz standards. ie. covers.[/quote] And I hate them too Always feels like the path of least resistance and the head solos head formula always sounds tired. Doesn't make tribute bands more attractive though.

No need. He can make a quick getaway in his Porsche.....

[quote name='bassbluestew' post='965475' date='Sep 23 2010, 12:13 PM']I played with Middle of the Road for a number of years[/quote] That's not a tribute band, tho'. Its the original, surely! Nowt wrong with an act capitalising on its own history. All of those bands have every right to do what they are still doing. Its the people who are pretending to be them that I have a problem with (even when I am doing it).

I am a bad Bilbo and must be punished... Lock me in a room with Bela Fleck playing Watermelon Man......

My problem is that the results just aren't worth the effort. Just because its hard, doesn't mean its good.

A club in Oxford street is going to be massively expensive in terms of rents etc. The venue is competing with high street retailers for a prime site in the primest location in the capital city. They had no chance and its to their credit that they held out for so long!! Its hardly the same pressures at the Dog and Duck in Ipswich. When I started playing jazz gigs, there was a venue in Cardiff that put jazz on six nights a week and twice on a Sunday. It stayed there for years before the brewery wanted them out. It wasn't that they were making a loss, it was that the profits weren't as high as they could be if the premises were used for something else (i.e. a theme pub). The gig moved to another venue and is still putting on jazz at least five nights a week - 20 years later. I had a mate who had a jazz residency in Newport which he had held (last count) for 14 years - it may still be going for all I know. There is a jazz quartet playing Centre Parcs in Thetford that has been there every Sunday 21 years. Its not about pulling crowds, its about pulling bigger crowds. It is not about [b]making [/b]a profit it is about [b]maximising[/b] a profit. My grievance is not about the thing itself (you can play in as many tribute bands as you like), it is about what is lost as a consequence of assuming that the market is as narrow as you think.

I always worry that, when I gig, both of the people in the world who can recognise the difference are going to be in the audience that nght and are going to laugh at me for playing in Gb not F#. Terrifies me.