Bilbo

A great and challenging part from the Brazilian bass player Ronaldo Saggiorato and features his complete performance of the tune 'Pescador' from the 1995 Alegre Correa Sextett album, 'Negro Caocao'. I don't know how he actually does some of it (retuned bass or over dubs? - not sure). Give this one a listen even if you don't know the band and look up some of their recordings - 'Terra Magica' (1997) is especially good. You really are missing out if you don't. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/pecador-alegre-correa-sextett/

Matches my teeth, Paul.

I just couldn't wait - the complete Eddie Gomez performance on 'The One Step' from the 1978 'Friends' album. Great part, the written bits and the blowing. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/the-one-step-chick-corea/

Another simple chart, Eddie Gomez's part for the Chick Corea tune 'Children's Song No. 5' from the 1978 'Friends' album. I had forgotten about this album and came across it. Some great and more substantive tunes on there that I am going to work on soon. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/childrens-song-no-5-chick-corea/

Another gorgeous Kermit Driscoll bass part, this is his complete performance on Bob Dylan's 'Just Like A Woman' from the 1992 Bill Frisell album, 'Have A Little Faith'. Absolute perfection. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/just-like-a-woman-bill-frisell/

Another Jackson/Camilo chart - 'Piece Of Cake' from the 2001 album, 'Triangulo'. There are a couple of iffy bars in there (explanation on the website) but much Latin fun to be had - tempo is more reasonable - I love Horacio Hernandez's cowbell played with his foot. Christopher Walken would wet himself. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/piece-of-cake-michel-camilo/

Been thinking about this for a while and then this appears on eBay 28 miles away. Landed it for £599. Sounds HUGE!! I was using an AI Clarus and Ten2ex cab but it wasn't working for me so I added a Phil Jones cab but it still wasn't strong enough for the electric gigs I was doing. Now I am ready for Wembley!!

Saw him on the Jon Anderson Song of Seven tour. I loved him with Brand X and thought his tunes were generally more grounded than Percy Jones's. Great sound, great groove. Sorely missed. I only just learned of his passing and the circumstances. Tragic loss.

I only just learned John had passed away in 2023. Desperately sad.

I just discovered Richard Bona's 'Heritage' album with his Mandekan Cubano band from 2017. How did I miss that?!!

Unreadable and unplayable - Richard Bona's one chorus bass solo over the rhythm changes tune 'Good Question' from the 2006 Mike Stern album, 'Who Let The Cats Out'. The solo starts at 2:11. I can play it at half the speed Bona plays it. He plays it twice as fast as I can and is singing at the same time. Bloody foreigners coming over here and showing us how to play the bass brilliantly and singing like Gods and writing brilliant tunes and stuff. For the record, this one took me weeks. I kept getting frustrated with it and putting it down and then going back to it like a glutton for punishment. In the end, it just had to be finished. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/good-question-mike-stern/

The intro is the easy bit!!

Sorry, Prowla. I love Rush, really I do. I was playing Limelight with a guitarist friend only last Thursday (absolutely true - we also looked at YYZ but I can't say we 'played' it - too bloody hard). I also have a load of Rush transcriptions on my website if you want to have a look (I think all of Signals, Moving Pictures and Hemispheres are on there as well as some others).

Peart playing Jazz with that Buddy Rich thing was 'uncomfortable'. He played on Jeff Berlin's first album and had to be doubled by Steve Smith from Journey to make it work. Don't get me wrong, I am a fan but Peart stopped being interesting a loooonnng time ago and couldn't really move around freely outside of Rush.. So many players out there with more chops and fresher ideas. His first decade with Rush, though, was incredible. As for his lyrics, he had that enviable ability to make you think you were thinking. Some really great lines but some of it was, frankly, rubbish. As I said, I am a fan but I don't think they live up to the hype. And I agree, Lifeson was the more creative of the three.

Caress Of Steel was my first Rush LP. I had heard a live gig on The Friday Rock Show and had recorded it on a C90 cassette. Wore it out eventually. I remember getting Permanent Waves 'hot off the press' and loved that and Moving Pictures but Grace Under Pressure and Signals were a bit of a challenge. They lost me at Power Windows but I still have all of their catalogue except Clockwork Angels. There are highs and lows throughout. Their videos, including the stuff on the back screen at gigs, was always ropey as fcuk. I always thought it was in jokes that nobody laughed at except the band. Their MTV style videos were generally terrible. I loved the sense of camaraderie the projected but they will probably go down as the coolest uncool people in the World. Neil Peart is not even close to being the best drummer and Gary Weinrib is not the greatest bass player by a country mile. Nevertheless, the three of them were undoubtedly greater than the sum of their parts and I loved them until I didn't.

This just makes me happy (as most Kim Mitchell stuff does). Matthew Gerrard's bass part to the tune 'RocklandWonderland' from the 1989 Kim Mitchell album, 'Rockland'. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/rocklandwonderland-kim-mitchell/

Another fun chart, Joe Bouchard's bass part for 'We Gotta Get Out Of This Place' from the 1978 Blue Oyster Cult live album, 'Some Enchanted Evening'. A simple chart with enough challenges to keep it interesting. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/we-gotta-get-out-of-this-place-blue-oyster-cult/

A nostalgia trip - this is the complete bass performance of 'Sails Of Charon'. Francis Buchholz on bass from the 1977 Scorpions album, 'Taken By Force'. As an experiment, I have added the tab. I won't be doing that again in a hurry. Seems ridiculous to me. Just learn to read the dots and get with the programme!! https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Sails-Of-Charon-Francis-Buchholz-Bass.pdf

I just wanted to make a point here. The tunes are selected for the website as opportunities to practice reading and not based on the popularity of the musicians or tunes featured. If you only 'have a go' at the tunes you 'like', you are missing the point. The idea is to find the ones that test you enough to move your reading forward. Some of these charts will test the best of us but some are really easy which is why they are on there. If you only have a look at the tunes you know, you are missing out on a lot of learning opportunities. Dive in - it's all good.

Another complete Ruben Rodriguez transcription, this one is a tune called 'Go Home (Vete A Casa)' from the 2017 album 'Backlog'. A bit more demanding that 'Nature Boy' but still achievable and a great tune to move forward in exploring Latin grooves. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/go-home-vete-a-casa-steve-kahn/

Mine came with a wedge type thing that you can use to tilt the combo back so you can point it directly at yourself. I have a similar arrangement on the Acoustic Image Ten2Ex. It does help (although I also have a Phil Jones EarBox for double bass gigs also).

No but how cool does that look!! 😎

Another simple chart (easy to read and a very basis introduction to the most simple of Latin feels), this is the Ruben Rodriguez bass part for 'Nature Boy' a bonus track on the 2019 Steve Khan album, 'Patchwork'. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/nature-boy-steve-khan/

The bass part for the tune 'Mali' off John Patitucci's 2009 trio album, 'Remembrance'. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/mali-john-patitucci-trio/

I am, Dave. I am happy with my Acoustic Image Clarus for my double bass set up but it wasn't doing it for me on the electric front, even with a PJB extension cab, so I just got myself a CMD151P (the Jeff Berlin model). I also got frustrated with my 5-string bass earlier this year (a Marleaux Consat, I think) so sold that on here and bought a Cort Rithmic 4. I now have a complete Jeff Berlin fan-boy set up (not because it is Jeff Berlin endorsed but because it works). I got the Markbass (w. an additional New York 151 extension speaker) off ebay - a total bargain and the seller was only 30 miles away from me! The Markbass set up is astonishing - I tried the combo years ago and thought 'I have got to get me one of these' and it has taken me this long. I will be selling some other kit to off-set the cost but, frankly, it was an absolute steal.