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Leonard Smalls

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Posts posted by Leonard Smalls

    Bands being accessible to fans (shout out to The Sherlocks)

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    On 01/06/2025 at 19:55, SteveXFR said:

    Queens Of The Stone Age

    I was buying lunch in the BBC canteen a number of years ago when a big bloke came and tapped me on the shoulder and said "I see you're into Guzzis!" (the t shirt and belt buckle gave it away). Turned out it was Josh Homme and we ended up having lunch together and talking Mandello Stuff!

    Another time (beeb canteen again) I bumped into a guy who was in the Weeds with me back in the early days - Chris Haskett. He said "Come and sit with us"... So I did - "us" turned out to be Henry Rollins and Melvin Gibbs. We discussed Sonny Sharrock and Defunkt.

    None of 'em were at all grumpy, though I was a bit in awe of Melvin!

    • Like 2

    Adding interest to bass parts

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    56 minutes ago, SteveXFR said:

    If the chord is minor, does that mean the diminished second is a semitone above the root?

    Whether it's major (Ionian mode) or minor (Aeolian) it's a semitone above the root.

    There's a couple of modes where the second note is a semitone above root - the Phrygian (altered version sounds very gypsy or even flamenco) and Locrian (more rarely used, though it is in Bjork's "Army of Me") - and I found adding those notes (and those from altered versions of those modes) can help with texture and interest, same as the Hellborg book. I never found the other modes to be quite as exciting though ymmv!

    I found this helpful:

    https://themusicambition.com/phrygian-mode/

    Adding interest to bass parts

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Difficult to say without hearing what's on offer...

    But I find runs and widdles involving diminished second and diminished fifth work well in many situations ( see Phrygian and Locrian modes).

    And octaves work in everything from disco to punk, perhaps with fifth to make a chord. Talking of which, a chord higher up  with root, major third and diminished seventh works well in many situations as a sort of jagged punctuation...

    Also recommend the Jonas Hellborg chord book - I found I couldn't reach half of them but the notes contained in 'em inspired lots of bass lines.

    • Like 1

    Jaw droppingly good albums for bass players to hear

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Taking it a bit more left field....

     

    Slaughterhouse 3 - Slaughterhouse 3; Gary Willis on top form complete with wah wah distorted sax. 

     

    Of Human Feeling - Ornette Coleman; Jamaaladeen Tacuma ripping it up with Ornette's Prime Time 

     

    Bass lines - Bill Laswell; weird and wonderful but funky Laswell. See also Third Power by Material 

     

     

    I Could Have Gone To This

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    15 minutes ago, Terry M. said:

    I think Ginger was under-rated. He had incredible (to me) jazz chops

    You'd think so!

    But I went to see him once in a promising but bizarre mix with funk keys wizard of Woo, Bernie Worrell and bass-master-of-Mahavishnu, Jonas Hellborg at the Jazz Cafe...

    And he appeared to be wholly out of his depth - whenever he tried his "incredible jazz chops" they sort of fell flat, they just didn't work and he just looked out of place in such exalted company. So he started getting petulant and spent ages tuning his snare between each song, as if it was to blame. So in my experience, he's revered for being merely OK. Perhaps he was better back in the day, but bear in mind Clapton is also revered despite being nowhere near as good as yer actual blues-meisters like the Alberts!

    • Like 2

    I Could Have Gone To This

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    6 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

    Billy Cobham would

    Arguably... Though I suspect the list of top 5 best known (not best!) drummers would be:

    1. Animal (Muppets)

    2. John Bonham

    3. Phil Collins

    4. Ginger Baker

    5. Keith Moon

     

    8 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

    if you're not a Fairport fan

    that goes without saying :biggrin:

    I Could Have Gone To This

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    1 minute ago, Rich said:

    he's not generally credited with the level of talent he has

    He's a decent drummer, to be sure... But the ones I mentioned are probably at least as good as Mr. C, probably a lot better in some cases, and completely unknown outside of serious muso circles. So they're the ones who are the most under-rated in the history of history!

     

     

    I Could Have Gone To This

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Rich said:

    PC is one of the most underrated drummers in the history of history.

    I suspect this isn't true at all...

    He's considerably better known as a drummer than some serious titans of percussion; I'll bet if you asked 100 folks to name 5 drummers he'd be in there, but the likes of Dennis Chambers, Billy Cobham, Grant Calvin Weston, Jojo Mayer, Jerome "Bigfoot" Brailey, Jabbo Sparks, Clyde Stubblefield or Omar Hakim wouldn't get a single mention! 

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