Bilbo

Has anyone noticed that there are a zillion pieces of music out there without basses in and a zillion with? The world doesn't revolve around the White Stripes, even if they are from the city that brought us Paul Chambers, Ron Carter, Al McKibbon and Doug Watkins. Music doesn't HAVE to have a bass in it but nor does it HAVE to have anything else in it - the instruments used are the creative choice of the composer/arranger. Its a colour to use as and when you see fit. If the Stripes don't want to use one, it's their call. But I doubt the impact on the presence of our shared instrument will be any greater than when the keyboard bass was touted as the death of the bass guitar. I agree - bad journalism (although I am beginning to wonder whether there is any GOOD journalism left?)

The band taht recorded 'Mr Benn' has some top notch players in it, including Kenny Wheeler. To the Producers credit, the musicians are listed on the end credits. I once saw Alphonso Johnson's name on a US kid programme.

Its a matter of perspective: A millionaire that plays 'art music' with no commercial value has no more integrity than a man or woman that plays a commercial gig to put food on the table of their children. Integrity is great if you can afford it!

[quote name='kevbucket' post='195211' date='May 9 2008, 09:02 AM']YEAH, GREG LAKE IS VASTLY UNDERATED , AMAZING BASS LINES AND SOUND !! LOVE THE BLOKE [/quote] Yeah but the worst sound in history - I had a live LP of theirs and the bass sounded dreadful - like a cheap guitar badly miked in a cardboard box full of marbles....

www.wajoco.com (I think)

Did you hear that stuff Jimmy Johnson did with the Wayne Johnson Trio (no relation)? Some of his best work for me.

Not being able to play the double bass will always be a regret for me. I bought a small double bass in the late 90s and tried to nail it but did some damage to may hands that still lingers today (I use an ergonomic PC keyboard and vertical mouse to allow my wrists to remain relaxed when I am typing - if I don't, I get acute pains in my hands and upper arm). The problems are in my left hand and can be linked directly to poor experiences with the upright. I tried to get lessons in Farnham, Surrey but noone was around when I was (the main tutor locally, a highly rated player, would only teach during 'office hours' so I was unable to take advantage of his services). So I tried to teach myself, got it badly wrong and did some CTS type damage that continues to affect my stamina today. It doesn't seem to affect my jazz playing (thank God) but, in funk/Latin things, where there is a tendency to play more repetitive figures, the weaknesses can show by the end of a gig (and, more often, afterwards). So I had to find my voice on electric fretless. I do OK (12 gigs a month) but the prejudice against the electric still means that I don't get to do the more classy and creative jazz gigs that DB players can get (that or the fact that I am crap and noone is telling me!!). I think one of the factors that militates against a successful outcome for me is that, being a semi-pro, it is harder to find time to 'shed' on a new and demanding instrument like the Double. So you can't build up the stamina you need to develop to nail a long gig or fast tempos on DB. So you do damage. My favourite players are upright players: Dave Holland, Marc Johnson, Paul Chambers, Ron Carter etc and many electric players leave me cold (Marcus Miller, Victor Wooten, Steve Bailey, Bill Dickens, Jeff Berlin - they all lack soul to me). Most good jazz is played on DB and the exceptions (Steve Swallow and, eh, Steve Swallow) are few and far between. But I still get to play so can't complain (sighs). Could have turned out a LOT worse!

S'alright, HH, no need to apologise. Most jazz out there isn't jazz, most jazz venues don't put jazz on very much and most aftershaves don't swing. Most jazz festivals are chock full of stuff that isn't jazz and most jazz bins in record shops are not full of jazz cds. And most owners of Fender Jazz basses STILL don't play jazz on them (despite my campaign). Have a good one.

[quote name='silverfoxnik' post='193471' date='May 6 2008, 10:45 PM']I thought it was Gary Tibbs but according to the Wiki, it's Gary Tibbs on some tracks, a guy called Neil Jason who I've never heard of on a few and Alan Spenner on the others.. Follow this link:[/quote] Neil Jason is great - there is a Brecker Brothers tune called 'Funky Sea Funky Dew' on Youtube with him on (now THAT's a beard!!). Grooves like a mofo - watch for the funky break in the middle.

[quote name='mcgraham' post='182781' date='Apr 22 2008, 02:04 PM']Hang on a second, are you saying that learning a piece from written music falls under the category of 'transcribing'? I'm not disagreeing by the way, I'm just wondering if the generally accepted definition of transcription is a lot broader than I imagined it to be. Mark[/quote] THat is what I said but it isn't what I meant Transcribing would literally mean writing the notes down. I guess what I meant was 'learning pieces of music off recordings' is easier/quicker if you can write stuff down (transcribe) and read it than it would be trying to learn it by rote. Not like me to talk b******s!

[quote name='urb' post='192203' date='May 5 2008, 01:25 PM']god arrangements[/quote] Is she freelancing now, then?

Ah - my first 'posh' bass (actually it was just a little less cheap than my firs Hondo II Precision copy) - I recorded with the SB700 at the BBC Maida Vale studios - still have the tape and the bass sound is great. I say go for it!

There is a guy called Paul Herman who used to live in Epsom. He used to work for Wal and did mine as few years ago. Look up Herman guitars on the net and see if he's still around. Tell him Rob Palmer recommended him (he'll say 'who the f*** is Rob Palmer'?)

If this is done on one mic, you are lucky to even get what you have. Just think of all those frequencies coming at the poor little thing! I would suggest you have too muh of a clash betweem the tones of the guitars and the bass. The bass needs some frequency seperation from the guitars if it is tpo be heard. You may need to take some mids OFF your sound so it sinks to a lower place than those guitars. There is a lot of spillage across the mix - everything sounds like everything else (not really but you getmy point).

[quote name='rodneymullen' post='189950' date='May 1 2008, 08:00 PM'][url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzRT3yu-3dc"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzRT3yu-3dc[/url] Marco Panascia is fresh [/quote] Thanks man! I'm going looking for these guys!!

'Julia', a Lennon and McCartney tune performed by John Scofield, Medeski, Martin & Wood on their Out Louder CD. It BLEEDS, man! and the World Saxophone Quartet with our very own Tony Kofi on board - HEAVYYYY!! I need to get some more of their stuff!

When I arrived on the Cardiff scene (1988), Paul was playing a 4 string Gibson Grabber. He was playing with the likes of Rob Haddon and Dick Hamer. I saw him a couple of times with the new Wal but then he seemed to disappear. I left S. Wales in 1994 so have lost contact with most of my old colleagues down there but I still get down to see Julian Martin occasionally. I'll ask him what happened to Hillman. Did you ever see Jon Caulfield play? I gave him some lessons way back. He worked in Cranes (sales).

I played a beautiful 5-string Wal at Cranes in Cardiff not long after it opened. I am not sure but I think Paul Hillman bought it in the end (he had one anyway). It was a blinding bass but I didn't have £1,500 at the time (still don't for that matter!). Paul was an OK player - what's he doing now? Dreadful to say it but I can't remember where Livewire was.... I recall Gamlins and Gwent Music and, of course, Cranes but where was Livewire?

Only ever played one once (1988) and wasn't impressed - not that there was anything inherently wrong with it, it just didn't float my boat. I may have missed something as I lacked the experience I have now and, not knowing what I didn't know, would have probably missed an opportunity to explore a deeply respected instrument. Reputations like Alembic's (and Wal's) are not built in a day. They take many years to develop. What I will say is that many of the classic Alembics (not the cheap one like the Epics etc) look stunning. Take a look at their archive of custom models. [url="http://www.alembic.com/info/fcvault.html"]http://www.alembic.com/info/fcvault.html[/url]

Don't like them. Slippery little suckers!

Linley Marthe died? When did that happen?

First thoughts! I think one major aspect of these developments is that the internet has the potential to increase the capacity of musicians to shortcut the monopolies that the major labels have on distribution. By cutting out the need to ship truckloads of cds to stores all over the world, small operations (even one man projects) can complete with Columbia or Sony on a level playing field. These developments will best suit minority musics like jazz etc where sales of 1,000 cds are considered successful but the principles will apply to all. This is all particularly true of MP3 downloads where you don't even need to get the material pressed onto a cd to get it out there. The problem that arises, however, is that there will cease to be any form of editing so the market will potentially become flooded with second, third to tenth rate product. Most of this stuff will never be reviewed in industry magazines or be placed in strategic positions in music shops. Most of it will never see TV or radio airplay. It will thus become harder to search through the piles of cr*p the is out there in order to find the diamonds. There will also be fewer opportunities to earn massive sums of money from CD sales because fewer people will have the massive marketing machines that defined the majors. There will be fewer bands touring the bigger venues and the smaller venues will get smaller until a 400 seater will be the maximum. It will be a kind of musical communism where the biggest marketing strategy will be word of mouth. As a minority interest musician, I find it all quite encouraging!

20 years with an ebony fretboard and groundwounds and no problems with fretboard wear. Can't be bad.

Jaco was top banana well before he died, Astronomer. And well before his mental health deteriorated. We were all singing his praises in the late 70s. He died in '87. His death has no doubt added to the legend but his playing was what got him noticed, not his lifestyle.