Bilbo

That Dry Cleaner From Des Moines clip is a 12 bar blues taken far out but there is nothing random about it. It isn't a Motown pop song. It is a Jazz blues and goes where it goes. It was clearly a showcase for Brecker and Jaco and Don Alias let go a bit. The rest of the gig was incredibly tasteful. In France The Kiss On Main Street is pure Jameson.

There is no nonsensical noodling in most of Jaco's work. If it sounds like nonsense, it is because you aren't hearing it. As a fan of some of the more extreme Jazz forms, my interest in Jaco wained a long time ago but, to continue your analogies, Jaco was pretty much Jameson plus. There isn't much that he does that isn't intensely melodic or riff orientated. Sometimes he went up his own arse a bit but that is the nature of improvisation; sometimes you fuck up. Jaco pushed the envelope. A lot of what he did had precedents but he just took it all further. Except the harmonics. That was all him.

I got my PC in 2001 and have used it for recording since day one. Today, with the help of my kid brother (aged 50), I have finally worked out how to play and record VSTs in real time with a midi keyboard. I now fully expect to spend the rest of my days trying to find sounds.

I have almost never played the music I gravitate towards as a listener. I believe that this is because I have always lived away from larger metropolitan areas where better players congregate. On the two occasions when I have run my own band, the lead players, guitar and saxophone respectively, have resolutely refused to learn the material and the whole thing has ended up being something of a 'nearly but not quite'. Never gigged in a Prog band either although I did rehearse with one once in the 1980s. Interestingly, I am currently practicing guitar solo pieces so that I am NOT reliant on other players. I have had to accept that I am nobody's first call player

I agree with Hector. Nothing can kill your sound better than digging in too deep. I have a vivid memory of playing a tune at a ridiculous tempo and reaching a moment of profound peace when I relaxed and found all the muscles in my arms working efficiently so the tempo became effortless. I now play regularly with people like Simon Spillett and Gilad Atzmon at crazy tempos with no real difficulties. Also, use your amp to do its job and to add volume so you are not fighting yourself.

[quote name='Kevin Dean' timestamp='1509621421' post='3400329'] "nobody cares about the bassist apart from their immediate family" John Peel. [/quote] My in laws and one of my brothers have never seen me play. In 37 years.

I have done a few gigs recently where the PA engineers have mixed the band through an ipad. I am interested in the technology but don't even know what to put into a search engine to look it up. Can anyone give me a steer? I am thinking about small group Jazz events rather than massive Rock extravaganzas but would like to know what opportunities this new (to me) technology presents.

Massive fan of MW and Kim Mitchell. There is a transcription of the bass part to 'lemon wedge' off his Itch cd on here somewhere.

[quote name='Len_derby' timestamp='1509272988' post='3397672'] Don't just leave us all hanging. Do you? [/quote] No. Ironically, huh?

This story needs a context. Many moons ago, I was talking to the keyboard player in a Funk band I was playing with. He told me that, when the band leader had asked him to join, he said there was always plenty of women around after the gigs. He then added that he had never seen any. I snorted and said that, in 30+ years of gigging, I had never even spoken to a woman after a gig and that, come to think about it, I had rarely even been approached by a bloke or even another bass player. Last night I did a gig with Aussie saxophonist Brandon Allen in front of about 120 people. At the end of the gig, a bloke came up to me and asked ' are you the bass player'? (a strange question bearing in mind that I had just spent two hours on stage in front of him). 'Yes, I am', I replied. He then asked 'is it true that you collect fountain pens'?

Steve Rodby (Pat Metheny Group) underplays his hand most of the time also. No solos etc but, away from the PMG, he is actually pretty tasty.

Voted. Some nice ideas in there, folks.

I couldn't be arsed this month..... Seriously, I am struggling with composition it the moment. Everything I try sound weak and predictable. I just can't play a musical instrument :-D

1986 Custom Fretless

Felixstowe's third best bassist. Oh, my Christ. He's got a music stand on a blues gig!!

Or a solo artist.... http://youtu.be/evHVh4bqaOQ

[quote name='Mykesbass' timestamp='1508612656' post='3393377'] Mutually exclusive of course... [/quote] Quite.

Concentrate on the notes in the beat and the rest will sort themselves out. I got that advice from a top session trumpet player.

Have you tried verbalising the pulse and it's sub divisions? Egg, Apple. Banana. Loganberry and so on.

http://youtu.be/-25KSWNJ7mA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smwVh2hzzWs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQKDRed7QLc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iV6N340QoLY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzwAy6AbhiU

Every Jazz Guitarist ever. I always struggle with the underrated thing because it is inevitably subjective but there are a million Jazz guitarists who can outplay the more populist players yet remain obscure even amongst musicians. I am not going to list them as there are far too many.

I recall a lot of Jaco v. Stanley baiting at the time. They apparently agreed that Jaco wouldn't slap and Stanley wouldn't play Fretless.

Start at half speed and work up. There is nothing that cannot be achieved using this approach. One of the first fusion LPs I bought was Land of the Midnight Sun by Al Di Meola. There is a track called Suite: Golden Dawn which has this killer guitar riff in it. Impossible to play. After years of playing it slowly, I can now do it. Took me 30 years but I can do it. It's all possible if you start slowly. Now I can work on the third bar....