risingson

Never been a fan of Stanley Clarke, although his contribution to electric bass I understand is sizeable. Sidestepping the usual 'who's the best of all time' argument (I would still argue that Jamerson was, and was definitely the most influential), he's a great player with serious stamina and musicality.

[quote name='beardybass' post='901055' date='Jul 21 2010, 04:35 PM']I'm with Bilbo, he's a great player but his music leaves much to be desired. I went through a phase where I bought loads of his stuff, then realised I could only listen to it for about 30 seconds before turning it off and putting something with songs in it in the cd player. I'm almost scared to say this, but I find Miles Davis really rather tedious too. :ph34r: [/quote] Everyone's entitled to their opinion though, aren't they? I don't like Marcus Miller too much although I think his bass playing is fantastic... it's just really not my thing. I think you've got to see stuff for what it is, even though you don't like it doesn't instantly mean it's crap. I don't like U2 for example but they've written some undeniably great tunes. What I hate is the irrational side of opinions, Bono's a bit of a ponce therefore his music is terrible etc. it just doesn't work like that. You shouldn't be too panicked about just voicing an opinion, it's what opens the floor to healthy debate

Louis Johnson and Freddie Washington are my favourites.

Dynamics can't be applied like orchestral players so readily on an electric instrument, the beauty of a bowed instrument like a violin or a cello is that intensity and velocity can be controlled a lot easier... also the formal training of orchestral players allows them to be more adept at having dynamic control. Bass and guitar should be no different but the control over volume relies more on the players ability to manipulate their right hand... palm muting for example, and using your thumb to pluck instead of your index finger in order to alter attack. The reason I like higher action is because of reduced string noise against the frets, and my ability to sound single notes with more articulation and control, to whatever tempo I'm playing at. I've found myself playing with a pick also recently, with varying degrees of palm muting and ghost notes and I think higher action helps me control my sound a lot better in this aspect.

Cheers Mark! Really glad you enjoyed the tracks. The P-Bass is settling into the regular rotation very nicely

Put a few new tunes of my band playing the kind of stuff we do at cover gigs and whatnot. Let me know what you think! [url="http://soundcloud.com/biker-groove-party-band/sets/biker-groove-party-band"]http://soundcloud.com/biker-groove-party-b...oove-party-band[/url]

[quote name='Mog' post='899468' date='Jul 19 2010, 09:52 PM']I think Jamerson may be the only bassist that everyone agrees on, whatever style they play. Some of his work is really amazing,as Pete said, ahead of the game by a country mile. Would you consider playing Reflections by the Supremes Liam? Always got a great reaction when we played it.Not really a song you hear played much but loads of punters over 28 will be sure to know it from China Beach. Cracking bass line in it.[/quote] Yeh I think the language of James Jamerson is universal. Reflections is a great tune but we've got a male vocalist (although hasn't stopped us doing Chaka Khan before ). Another great tune though! [quote]The ironic thing is that players like Louis Johnson cite him as their biggest influence, yet they put him out of business with their slap playing, which was something he refused to do. Sad.[/quote] Yeh that seems to be the most tragic part of it all... the players that were so enamoured with his playing in the first place completely replaced his sound. Equally though people like Louis Johnson, Nathan Watts, Chuck Rainey and Anthony Jackson would be the first people to admit that were it not for Jamerson then their music would not be half as interesting. Not just bass players, his influence is all over Stevie Wonder records, Beatles records.... everything.

Yeh I prefer slightly higher action. I don't slap either so I don't miss that aspect of it.

They were all such amazing musicians, Earl Van Dyke, Charlie Hunter, Benny Benjamin, Joe Messina and Eddie Willis... Jamerson was just the solid foundation of it all. For me this is what it's all about:

[quote name='derrenleepoole' post='899350' date='Jul 19 2010, 08:13 PM']Check out this guys channel on Youtube: [url="http://www.youtube.com/user/jamersonshook"]Jamerson's Hook[/url] a great player who lives in the same town as me and has the whole Jamerson vibe nailed. Not sure if he's BC-er or not?[/quote] Seen this guy before, pretty good stuff. Found this as well, heard it before but worth checking out... isolated bass part to 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough'. Amazing. EDIT didn't include the link! here we go [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07wC50bWbnY"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07wC50bWbnY[/url]

Our band have got seriously bored of doing the same covers over and over so we decided to throw some Motown into the set (or more Motown than is already in the set at least). Landed on 'For Once In My Life' by Stevie, 'Reach Out' by the Four Tops and 'What Becomes of the Broken Hearted'. It got me thinking of the unhinged capabilities of Jamerson again, the guy wasn't just a great player, him and the rest of the Funk Brothers literally reinvented the sound of popular music forever. Absolutely my bass favourite player! Anyone else out there with serious Jamerson love?

Not a mad Marcus Miller fan apart from on most (not all) his session work. Undoubtedly a very influential player though, and a great one at that.

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='898572' date='Jul 19 2010, 07:23 AM']Conan The Thread Destroyer strikes again. PS. Not you, BTW [/quote] I figured! There's always got to be one wind up merchant on a forum, just glad I know who it is now. It's a shame because the premise of this thread was really quite enjoyable otherwise.

Don't know why I even rose to argue over this, one persons view in particular on the whole subject is so misinformed. I'm happy to just resolve that a sensible discussion on the whole session player topic is impossible. Back to the original point, I'm happy sitting on a groove or a tune and not overplaying. That's where I'm happy.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='898182' date='Jul 18 2010, 04:58 PM']The premise of the thread is too basic though, that's how we end up in these scenarios where we're talking about players in simple terms and the generalisations don't fit. Look at a player like Flea and you might judge him on his playing on RHCP's most recent record which is very bland, or you might judge him on that Hotlicks video he did in the early '90s which is just dire and makes him look like a simplistic slapper, unimaginative and ignorant. But then listen to BSSM again and, well, he's pretty good on that isn't he. And he's played with other people and he's played trumpet with other people, so is he still a one trick pony? Similarly, Marcus Miller seems to always play fusion or R&B and I'm judging him based on Luther Vandross singles from the '80s. From my angle he doesn't look that versatile, he's dipped into a couple of quite similar-sounding genres and played slap on everything, so how's he different from Flea? It's all bollocks really isn't it. That's what I think. Someone might make a living as a studio musician and because of that they're considered more "versatile" than a guy who had some success in a pop band, but put them both in a situation where they have to cop half a dozen different styles and chances are they'll both sound uncomfortable and out of their depth unless it's music they enjoy and listen to. Actually put either Marcus Miller or Flea in my band and they would each sound bloody ridiculous I guarantee it.[/quote] But you're assuming too much. Who knows whehers Marcus or Flea would sound ridiculous in your band? This is where we differ. I have no preconceptions of any music, I don't listen to music with a view to hating it immediately, same with bass players. I think similar views can only narrow your musical horizon. Nothing is as black or white as you make out.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='898158' date='Jul 18 2010, 04:20 PM']These days, mostly unsigned bands. They tend to have a bit more honesty and charm about them. And ultimately that's always what hooks me with bands; the feeling that they're being straight up with you and you're hearing the best music they can make at the moment, either played with vim or recorded as well as they can afford. I don't listen to slick pop, fusion, prog, metal, I've never seen a band in a stadium, I've never got an autograph, I suppose I don't have the same sense of occasion that some people have. So when I see big names I think I just judge them on what they sound like to be honest.[/quote] Honestly we are on the same page on certain aspects. I abhor the term fusion, do not listen to metal etc. and don't actually care about the level of musicianship involved in all things. The Rolling Stones for example, hardly 'proficient' musicians yet wrote 'Gimme Shelter', on of my all time favs, as well as countless other amazing tunes. The same you could argue with Bowie, The Velvet Underground, never technical masters of their instruments but amazing songwriters. Skill isn't synonymous with musicianship, I completely subscribe to that. Only had difficulty with you thinking session players are soulless... it works both ways, musicians shouldn't be disregarded because of their choice of career either.

I'm a Jazz player mostly but the one in my avatar serves me very well!

[quote name='Hoffmann' post='897869' date='Jul 18 2010, 11:03 AM']wait! The album version was not played by Zender?? and who's mister X??[/quote] Mr. X was the player on the album version of 'Space Cowboy', his identity was never revealed. Stuart wasn't around on the day they recorded but was apparently promised by Jay Kay that once he was back that he could overdub, but when he did come back Jay Kay had had someone else come in and put the bass line down. By the sounds of things that pissed Zender of something bad. Stuart did play on the single version though.

Don't get me wrong, I do not listen to music for the bass lines, in fact I pay little attention to that sort of stuff anymore. My favourite artists are off the Warp label or BPitch (I'm a big electronica and house fan) and therefore have no bass in them whatsoever apart from samples. But the idea that session players are soulless is such misinformation. James Jamerson, the definitive bassist was a session guy who poured his heart and soul into making some of the most widely enjoyed popular music of all time. [quote]I have heard of those players but beyond their most famous output I can't listen to them because I don't know what records they're on. If they've made a living doing this then presumably they're on hundreds of records? Most of them bad records?[/quote] Out of interest what DO you like listening to? Purely out of curiosity. It seems daft to make conclusions on players based on assumptions.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='897752' date='Jul 18 2010, 02:55 AM']Honestly when I read your post where it said "I always wanted to model myself on my favourite session players" it made me wonder why you started to play bass in the first place. For me it was a happy accident, but within a short while I'd latched on to players like Norwood Fisher, and people from my past like Bruce Foxton or Bedders or Bruce Thomas. I can't imagine ever thinking "I wish I was more like a characterless session musician". Might sound harsh but really that's how I feel. I just find it weird that anyone ever felt driven to take up a musical instrument because they heard an unnamed contributor to an artist's record do his thing quietly in the background. Didn't you have a f***ing rock star to look up to?[/quote] Well seeing as how you've presumed thats how I ended up taking up bass, the actual reason I did was by pure chance... I got asked to join a band, they needed a bass player so I got a bass for christmas when I was 12. I listened to Flea like a madman to begin with, but it was only doing so much for me, I wanted to further myself. Unconsciously all those Motown hits my dad used to listen to had a massive impact on me, so I wanted to play more stuff like that. The musicians behind all of that by your logic, characterless? Don't know how you've concluded that session musicians are like this. Maybe you've been listening to the wrong music, but my guess is that's just an uneducated assumption. I don't mean to have a go of course, but it's completely backwards to think like people like James Jamerson, Anthony Jackson, or Tony Levin for sheer example are characterless. If you haven't heard of those guys then please do listen to them and try arguing your point again. I can respect a view saying it's not what you'd prefer to listen to, but to deny these people any credit by pawning their music off as characterless is to stifle your own creativity, I honestly believe this to be true.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='896891' date='Jul 16 2010, 09:25 PM']I think you can usually tell when a musician doesn't really like the music they're playing. If you're playing music that you wouldn't actually listen to in your own time, it's obvious. Over the years I have played in bands that span many different genres but in each case it's been music that I like a lot. I couldn't do a Top 40 band or a country band or a rock band because my heart wouldn't be in it. So for me it's not a case of "stylistic or versatile", it's more a case of soul or no soul.[/quote] I kind of disagree. If you are happy with music as a hobby then I would agree with that last sentiment, but if you want to make money playing music then eventually you'll find yourself in a position where you have to do something you don't enjoy. That's when you find out who's a good player and who's a bad one... the bad player will be the one with the sorry expression on his face not getting involved like they should and the good one will apply their skills in the best way possible and get stuck in, even if they don't like it. It doesn't mean they're soulless musicians. Every job in life, even the ones you enjoy, requires a degree of sacrifice, nothing is as cut and dry as it seems.

I always wanted to model myself on my favourite session players like Pino Palladino or Nathan East, who have a wide variety of sounds and can be relied on to do a good job in most, if not any situation. Nowadays there is no scope for session work unless you are a killer reader and player, in which case you push yourself to the BBC or in the West End in this country, still a massively difficult thing to do. I want to do whatever makes me money playing in the future, I'm not stupid enough anymore to believe I could work like session musicians of previous generations. It's a wholly different environment, and if that means me sitting back and not overplaying in any given capacity, I'm happy with that. In the future I want a degree of control in what I do, but you've gotta fake it to make it before you can have that luxury. Until then I'll give people what they want to hear before pushing the boat out.

I don't really like DR's very much at all, though they get championed as 'the' bass strings to use. Each to their own. I get the best out of D'Addarios and La Bella flats.