Bilbo

I play Jazz 99%of the time but would love to specialise in Latin music, Brazilian or Cuban, or play in a decent Prog band. Never really get to do either.

I just noticed that I have posted Wrong Together twice.

I was just reviewing my Soundcloud page and I noticed that I have about 34 tunes on there that I recorded for Basschat Composition Challenges. That's nearly 3 hours worth of music. Some of it is dodgy but some of it is OK but all of it wouldn't exist without the challenge. I haven't done anything with it for a while. I should get back to it.

I saw that band with Gary Grainger in a pub in Cardiff. I learned several of Sco tunes including 'So You Say' those tunes around that time but realised that, whilst I admire the techniques and enjoy the spectacle, the music is less satisfying that a lot of other stuff. It also works better if you have Dennis Chambers with you. Seriously, though, that is another part of the problem. We can all bust are asses getting more and more chops but hwo many if us can find a Joe Zawinul or a Michel Camilo, a Michael Brecker or a John Scofiled to bounce off?

Jesus H..... Hernandez is playing that clave with his FOOT 😃

Some more Latin - this time a transcription of the bass part to Tres Deseos by Ednita Nazario. This is an old transcription I did off a compilation CD I have. The version attached is not the same one so the details are different but it gives you an idea of what the groove should feel like. I love this stuff. Tres Deseos - Ednita Nazario.pdf

Latin in 5:4. 😎 This is the bass part to the Alegre Correa Sextett version of 'Quinta Da Pontal' from his album 'Negra Coracao'. The bass player on the recording is Ronaldo Gringo Saggiorato. The version posted here is not the version I have transcribed which is available on Spotify but not YouTube. This bass player on this version is Eduardo Machato. I posted this so you could hear the main ostinato that the whole tune is built around. Quinta Da Pontal - bass - Full Score.pdf

I think things are dismissed because they are of limited use to the individual not because they are of no value. I completely agree with you that people are entitled to use music for whatever purpose they choose and good luck to them. I am perfectly well aware that I am so far up my own derrière that I am sure I can see daylight. My point is entirely moot.

Steve Swallow - Wrong Together (opening solo - 18 bars). No recording available for uploading. Wrong Together - Steve Swallow.pdf

Damaged In Transit 8 - Steve Swallow - sorry, no youtube version Damaged in Transit - bass.pdf

A three bar transcription. Richard Bona 'Mbanga Kumba' off his Celebration CD. The lick is at 1.25, where the fast ride comes in. When you can play these three bars, give me a shout and I will transcribe another three. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SGuP9knrPc Mbanga Kumba - Bona.pdf

I completely agree. Whilst there is a 'groove' in everything, playing in a 'Groove' (capital G) in the sense that it is used in Funk music generally means playing between one and two bars of music again and again and again or, in other pieces, the same phrase but with a changing root note. I can see why this might work in these genres but, for me, it's just a bit merrrr? I could play one note throughout Ravel's 'Bolero' and enjoy every second of it but a two chord vamp under some cheesy dance music? Not my bag..

Just thinking through a post I put on another thread and I thought it may be useful to open the discussion wider. I started playing bass in September, 1980, when, after starting work full time, I bought a black Hondo II Precision copy. I was playing Rock and Heavy Metal at the time but my head was already being turned by other music forms including Prog, Fusion and Jazz. As my playing progressed, like most of us, I was exploring the big names and couldn't get enough of everything. I recall reading bass magazines and hearing all these names and I would always check people out when I could (it was harder in those days as this is pre-internet and finding a recording with a certain player on it was not nearly as easy as it is now). I remember hearing names of the funk greats; Marcus Miller, Larry Graham, Bootsy Collins, Rocco Prestia and, much later, Victor Wooten etc. I also recall everyone getting excited about the tapping guys like Billy Sheehan, Stu Hamm, Jerry Peek and, later, Michael Manring. Both of these areas got a little attention for a while and I learned some slap playing (remember that Thumb Basics things with Jonas Hellborg) and tapping (I recall playing Jeff Berlin's Motherlode and a couple of things off Hamm's 'Radio Free Albemuth'. I recall a couple of years ago learning about double thumbing so I could 'do' it. Despite these forays, I never really used them because, fundamentally, despite 'enjoying' the challenge of applying the techniques, I never actually liked the music that is played using these techniques. I listen to Run For Cover by David Sanborn and LOVE that bass line but I cannot listen to the whole song. Same with Good Times by Chic; 'great' bass line but the much is a big fat nothing. I just find funk ultimately unsatisfying and hatefully repetitive. Two handed stuff is the same. Impressive as a technical exercise but, ultimately, pattern based, repetitive and not particularly nice to listen to. In modern bass playing, there is increasingly too much 'technique' for one person to be able to do it all at a satisfying level and, whilst I can (or, at least, could) slap and tap, I don't, for no other reason than I find that I don't like any music that uses those techniques. My pick playing, for instance, is very good although I never use it live but the other two have been consciously left to wither. Lots of great music out there to play, why bother playing stuff you don't like. Consequently, I don't need these techniques. Thoughts, anyone?

The entire Funk canon. I always hear these great lines and great techniques; slappin' (no 'g'), poppin' (likewise) etc, flamenco strums, two handed tapping etc. All great from a technical point of view but, God, the music is s***. The one that I love and hate at the same time is 'Run For Cover' by David Sanborn. The funkiest bass line ever but, basically, like all Funk, it's chewing gum.

You are welcome. Some of them have been lying around for years and I have posted them in case they may be of use to others. Seems a waste otherwise

Paul Chambers' bass solo on the Curtis Fuller version of 'Seeing Red' - starts around 4:51 Seeing Red.pdf

I have just posted my transcription of Geddy Lee's bass part for Show Don't Tell off their Presto CD in my transcription archive thread. My little tribute to Peart.

Benny Reitveld on Santana's 'Smooth' Benny Reitveld - Smooth.pdf

Ben Allison's version of We've Only Just Begun. The video is a live version whilst the transcription is off the recording. It's a really interesting approach. Only Just Begun.pdf

Jeff Andrews on Mike Stern's 'Sunnyside' Sunnyside - Jeff Andrews.pdf

Geddy Lee's bass part on 'Show Don't Tell' from the Presto CD Show Don't Tell - Rush.pdf

I use them for reading practice so I consciously don't learn them.

I recall someone saying that Prog is the only popular music that does not originate in dance. Which is why a lot of us gravitate to it.

As well as being before a Squire fan, my favourite bass sound is Martin Brierley on Greenslade 'Time and Tide' which is a Ric. The gritty bass referred to throughout this thread is the problem. I think the nuanced differences some of you reference goes over my head as, I would argue, the idea that other fusion players not sounding like Jaco does people who don't listen to a lot of those kinds of music. Beggs is a gritty growler, Jon Poole of Lifesigns. What set this off is the recording I did recently with a Prog band and the suggestion made during those sessions that the toppy growl was great because it 'cuts through' (the assumption being that cutting through was important. I always considered Geddy Lee to be a Squire disciple, even to this day.

Don't get me wrong. I love Chris Squire. I just don't want to be him 😃