Bilbo

This was nothing more that mischief. I wondered how long it would take me to transcribe this. I was actually transcribing massive chunks of the tune as it was playing (it is endless pumping root notes that move up fourths and fifths so it is mostly easy to hear) and only a couple of passages that needed closer examination. I give you Steve Dawson's bass part to Saxon's 'Dallas 1 P.M.' of their album 'Strong Arm Of The Law'. Dallas 1 PM Steve Dawson Bass.pdf

A little bit of old school Latin bass. From the Master Sessions CD, Israel 'Cachao' Lopez's bass line on 'El Son No Ha Muerto'. An easy read. El Son No Ha Meurto Cachao Bass.pdf

I was chatting to an old chum on Facebook and he reminded me of this old gem that I transcribed years ago. The transcription is long gone but I remember enjoying playing along with it so thought I would have a crack at it again. It is harder then I remember but, more to the point, the last time I did this was pre-computers and it would have involved the stop-start using a cassette player. I have no idea how I had the patience but I guess the world was a very different place then. Jaco Pastoroius's bass lines on Weather Report's 'Night Passage'. There are a couple of passages I have left blank; one is several bars of pedal A with Jaco fiddling about with roots and octaves, the other a passage where he is playing octave ostinatos and moving the notes by semitones - I just can't hear where the notes start and stop. 95% of it is there and it is a fun chart to read. Night Passage Jaco Pastorius Bass.pdf

I did a transcription of this many years ago but cannot find it (paper copy). I could knock something up after I have finished my current one (Night Passage by Weather Report). Have you got a timescale in mind, Ebenezer?

It doesn't go quite how I thought it did. Jumps around in different octaves. I remember I had to read it once. I was so impressed that I pulled it off (it is easier to read things you know by ear than to read things cold). Good job.

This is Steve Swallow's bass part to the trio performance of the Jobim tune 'Luiza' that he did with Lee Konitz and Paul Motian. A genuinely beautiful rendition of the lesser known Jobim tune from the trio album 'Three Guys'. Luiza - Steve Swallow bass part.pdf

I remember many years ago hearing that it was important to learn solos by people who played other instruments to the bass. This was an early transcription I found written out in a lever arch file from way back. What we have here is a Wynton Marsalis head and trumpet solo on the tune 'New Orleans' from his album 'Marsalis Standard Time'. I have transcribed it into bass clef so it is not in the right range - otherwise it would not have fitted on our instrument. There is one passage where I could not hear it as it was too quick but it's not a deal breaker. I love what he does with the bar lines here and often use the same technique when soloing myself. particularly on fast tunes where it allows you to be interesting without being 'quick'. Marsalis New Orleans.pdf

Another in my series of Jeff Berlin transcriptions. I was a huge JB fan when I started getting into the more advanced fusion bass players like Jaco, Percy Jones etc. I tried to learn what I could off the Bruford records available at the time but this predates the existence of technology that allowed you to slow things down so it was not as easy as it is now to write this stuff out. Now I have the kit to do this properly and can slow things down to 25% without changing pitch and write it out on charts that are clear and readable not written in pencil on bog roll. This one is 'Travels With Myself and Someone Else' from the Bruford album 'One Of A Kind'. There is a JB solo early on in the piece that is absolutely astonishing (2.19) and there is a half a bar of triplet 16ths that would never have been interpreted properly without Transcribe software. I would never have been able to pick this out in the old days Travels With Myself And Someone Else Bass Part.pdf

I used to play this with a band when I was about 17 and had exactly the same problem with the same section

Doesn't quite work, does it? 😀 VID_20181113_205305.mp4

I have been listening to this Al Dimeola for 40 years and he still has the power to astonish. This is 31 years ago, Live at Montreux. His right hand is just unbelievable. I play an Ovation and read though some of his charts regularly. He is an absolute monster.

Boom. https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/1845536363/ref=cm_sw_r_apa_i_hmiDEbDG4TS5S

I found this one on my PC. It is the bass/alto and piano part of the tine 'Barretto's Way' from the CD 'Panorama' by bass player Hans Glawischnig. The tune opens with an arco solo from the HG and then, at 0.45 point, he plays a 5:4 four ostinato over which the stunning melody evolves. The transcription is basically the head but it was this that attracted me and inspired me to transcribe all of the parts. I urge you to listen to the whole track not just the bit I transcribed because it breaks into a massive 5:4 Latin groove (montuno) later on (6:06). It is SOOO cool. The melody is repeated over the montuno but broken up and rephrased really creatively by the horn player (Miguel Zenon). Enjoy. Barretto's Way - Glawishing.pdf

You think that was hard? Try this sucker. Sample and Hold from the Feels Good To Me album. This took so slowing down to find the notes (25%). It is basically unplayable by mere mortals. The problem I have with a lot of these tunes is that, learnign to play the bass parts is fundamentally a waste of time because you will never find a drummer/percussionist/keyboard player/guitarist to play the other parts 😃 Interesting to see how the lines evolve though. Sample And Hold Bass Part.pdf

Another Jeff Berlin transcription; 'The Abingdon Chasp' from the Bruford album 'One Of A Kind'. Some really intense sections here. For the record, I can't play this yet so am happy to have the transcription to study. The Abingdon Chasp.pdf

As perverse as this sounds, getting the thing and recovering is the best way to protect ourselves. That feels like Russian Roulette though. I think most of us are concerned for the vulnerable around us. Many of my audience at Jazz gigs are of pensionable age and we have several attendees who are clearly not in tip top condition. I kind of hope they don't come. It would be awful to think that someone caught the bug at a gig I was promoting.

I am running my Jazz East event in Felixstowe this Sunday. I spoke to the venue yesterday and we are still planning to go ahead. At last count, we were looking at one confirmed case in Suffolk so we are choosing not to over-react to the threat. We have one more gig before the gig closes for the summer (we operate September to March) so I am hoping it will have all blown over before we re-open and, if we close the last gig in the season, it is no hardship. I don't pay myself for these gigs so the consequences are minimal for me and the last gig is a big band so nobody is doing it for the money. I guess I am lucky in that respect. After 29/3, I have two gigs in May that I fully expect to see cancelled but, as it's not be bread and butter, it's ok. I am far more concerned about the day job. I work as a Child Protection Social Worker. We are worried about the impact of the virus on the capacity of families and professionals to keep children safe (if children are placed with grandparents because their parents are unsafe, what do we do if the grandparents succumb etc). What happens if social workers are self-isolating and can't get to families? What do we do about visiting children if there is a risk that someone is infected? Things could get complicated as things progress.

I have been a massive fan of Chris Squire since discovering him when I first hear Yes around the time of the release of Close To The Edge. I don't think he is the best bass technician in the world but I think his ideas and creativity are incomparable and I think he deserves all the credit he gets. As a bass player and Genesis fan, I never really rated Mike Rutherford. I considered him more than competent but believed that he lacked Squire's panache. For reasons I cannot explain, I have started listening to him recently and rediscovered this version of In The Cage/Afterglow. Listen to Rutherford from 5.21 onwards. It is absolutely on a par with anything Squire did (I make comparisons with Gates of Delerium off Relayer - not in a 'sounds like' way but in a 'blows me away in the same manner' kind of way). I have gone on to listen to more Rutherford and think he is more subtle that Squire and never forward in the mix like the Fish but, man, what a mind. To make matters even sweeter; I was at this gig!

That last one reminded me of the times when the Welsh Jazz Society asked to borrow my Trace Eliot AH250 and two reflex extension cabs (I cannot recall the model no) for gigs featuring Miroslav Vitous and Arild Anderson. I got free tickets to the gigs but didn't meet the players (I don't do that, I always feel too uncomfortable).

I played in a band with Grant Nicholas for Feeder when he was 18. 50 people would have been a real result.

Just a bit if fun for the old farts on here..... I just saw a post on Facebook that reminded me that I was there when Marillion were doing their early gigs and were making a bit of a splash. I saw their first appearance at the Reading Festival. I began considering what other musical events or occasions we have all been party to that turned out to be important in some way. It doesn't matter how trivial it may have been. A few I can recall include: Owning the first Def Leppard single 'Hello America' as a 7" single on Bludgeon Riffola records before they went on to play stadiums all over the US. I was at the first Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donnington in Derbyshire. I saw New Wave of British Prog band Twelfth Night when Geoff Mann was the lead singer. I saw Iron Maiden when Paul DiAnnio was the lead singer and Janick Gers was in the support band (White Spirit). I used to watch Motorhead guitarist Phil Campbell in a band called Persian Risk at The Isca, a local pub in Newport (Wales), before he got the gig with Lemmy. Persian Risk singer Carl Sentence went on to front a load of HM legends including Krokus and Nazareth and has recorded with Geezer Butler (Black Sabbath) and Don Airey (Rainbow, Deep Purple). There will be more. What about you guys? We are all part of history. Where were you?

I am working on two Jeff Berlin transcriptions at the moment, The Abingdon Chasp from One of a Kind and Land's End from Gradually Going Tornado. Nearly finished the first and have miles to go on the second. I have two computers in two locations with the requisite software on for transcribing and I work on different charts at different times depending on circumstances.

I think it is making a difference, tiny. I have to play less aggressively which helps with intonation.

Massively. I play mostly Jazz and everyone prefers the double bass.

Last night's gig at Jazz East at the Alex in Felixstowe. Essex players Marc Cecil, Zak Barrett. Graham Harvey and me.