Bilbo

It may be my imagination but every band I see, live or on video seem to with have a Rickenbacker or SOUND like they have a Rickenbacker. Maybe Progressive Rock has stopped Progressing (Chapman Sticks are another frequent offender - The Levin Factor!)

Wow. Another blast from the past.

My passion for Jazz is taking a knock lately for reasons that are to do with the dearth of meaningful playing opportunities where I live and the disconnect between the amount of time you need to spend keeping your chops together and the amount of work you get. Anyway, I have been revisiting an old friend in the form of Prog Rock and started looking at what's new out there and I am enjoying checking out stuff I have missed over recent years. Whilst there are a lot of interesting things out there to take stock of, one of the things that I am finding a little tedious is the over-reliance on Chris Squire-esque bass playing whether it is the ownership of a Rickenbacker 4001 or just the purloining of Squire's rattly, crunchy sound. One of the attractions of Prog originally was the diversity. It seems like a lot of the New Prog is arguably derivative but, whereas no-one steals from Steve Howe, Alex Lifeson, Peter Banks, Steve Hackett or Bill Bruford, Alan White, Phil Collins etc, every other bass player wants to be Chris Squire. Is it me or am I just seeing ghosts?

Shakti meets Chick Corea's Electric Band

I disagreed with a lot of what Neil Peart said over the years but I also disagree with some of the things that I have said over the years. He wasn't perfect, as a drummer or as a lyricist, but he kept trying and growing and for that he was a real example. He was a man of integrity and for that he has my eternal respect.

Jon Poole again; At The End Of The World of th Lifesigns 'Live In London' DVD. Not entirely accurate as some of the parts of a bit mad and off piste and difficult to hear even with Transcribe software but there is enough here for folk to play the tune. No video of this version on YouTube as far as I can see but this is the original track. Lifesigns At The End Of The World.pdf

I thought it was MP because I recall Red Barchetta on the video malarkey. May have been ESL. I saw them at Wembley on the Signals tour also.

I am learning to sight read so I won't have to learn anything. 😃 Seriously, though, I am transcribing the whole Lifesigns catalogue (2 cds and a live dvd) but I have a gig tomorrow with one 'unreadable' chart I need to look at tonight.

I saw them at Bingley Hall on the Moving Pictures tour. Anyone know what year that was?

I never took much notice of the ages o Rock stars but have just realised that Peart was only 21 when he joined Rush and 22 when they recorded 'Fly By Night'. Amazing.

Jack Bruce was an early influence on me and his sound on Cozy Powell's 'Over The Top' has been the one I have heard and sought ever since. What is absolutely lovely for me personally is the fact that I occasionally get to play with the drummer in the OP's video, Brendan O'Neill.

Wow. That came out of nowhere. Explains the retirement. A complex man who I would love to have spoken to but would never have tried. RIP, Professor.

Jon Poole again, this time on the track 'Open Skies' from the Lifesigns Live In London CD/DVD. No video available that I can find. Open Skies Lifesigns.pdf

There comes a point where you 'see' rhythms as a lump in the same way you see words not letters or phrases not words. It all comes with practice.

Lifesigns Impossible - Bass.pdf

Six String Bass https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/0769209645/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_o8hfEbZ5SYDTP

John Patitucci does some nice chordal things on 6 string. Other players you can check out include Steve Bailey, Tye Zamora, Jon Stockman, Stefan Fimmers, Oteil Burbridge, Alain Caron, Jimmy Haslip, Ben Shepherd, Adam Niti, Rich Brown, Phil Lesh, Jojo Garza, Tony Grey, Boris Koslov, Miguel Ramirez, Henrik Linder and Damian Coccio. That'll get you started

Jon Poole's bass part for the Live In London version of A Fridge Full Of Stars - there are some small gaps due to my not being able to catch the details because of the mix but it' mostly here. Notes only; no chords. A Fridge Full Of Stars Bass.pdf

I have the advantage of most of my gigs being scratch bands working with charts and not 'bands' in the sense that one is a member of a regular ensemble. I think the most I did last year with entirely the same line-up was two.

Damn right, it does.

I do this every year (except last year when I was busy having a heart attack ). How many gigs did we all have, January to December 2019? My total was a pitiful 38 but I focus on quality these days and that total included gigs with John Etheridge, Nic Meier, Laura Jurd, Paul Higgs, Alice Zawadski, Sue Richardson, Derek Nash's Picante, Nat Steele, Simon Spillett, Ines Loubert, Joanna Eden, Laura Zakian, Chris Allard and several other real quality players; no real duff gigs in the whole of 2019. For the record, I don't get to play with these people because I am any good. It is because I pay them I also got to record a track for a forthcoming Prog cd (see another thread somewhere nearby) and I am hoping to do some more Prog stuff in 2020. To be fair, my heart attack meant that I couldn't gig for the first six weeks of the year so that cut the total down. How was your year?

I have found this a problem for decades. I have used fretted basses intermittently but find them to be a bit like jogging with a stone inside your trainer!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiuJizXHII8 The Wal sounds great on this.

Boosh!

I recently found out that the NWOBHM I was in in the 1980s told their previous bass player before me, after the fact, that they thought they would have had a better chance of making it if he hadn't left. Now, bearing in mind my bass playing was very much controlled by the guitarist and singer (the songwriters) in the band and bearing in mind that the band had more national recognition when I was with them that when the other guy was, I have no idea where that rationalisation came from. I am glad I found out now rather than then because it would have destroyed my confidence as a 17 year old whereas, as a 56 year old, I couldn't give a rat's derrière what they thought. 😃 The truth is that they probably didn't make it because they weren't actually very good. A lot of issues around band membership have no musical roots but are linked to human relationships. People get on with some people more than others and being liked and fitting in is probably more important than being a great player. Be selective about the f***s you give. 😉