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Favourite female bassists.... Go!


Pixiechick23
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[quote name='The fasting showman' timestamp='1406879270' post='2515474']
Kim Annette Clarke, Defunkt (great Stingray sound on 'Thermonuclear sweat')
[/quote]
Absolutely!!!

I saw Kim Clarke with Defunkt live a few times in the 80s.

Great live band and great bass player.

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[quote name='Sharkfinger' timestamp='1406878610' post='2515469']
Paz Lenchantin.

When I saw her in the video for A Perfect Circle's début single (Judith), I thought she was one of the effortlessly cool people I'd ever seen.

That bit where during the song's breakdown she quickly ties her hair up on her head. Just.... wow.

Edit: Here she is in full glory

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTgKRCXybSM
[/quote]

Never really got into many metal bands around that time and in that ilk. they all sounded like they were playing the same song to me! (I was into heavy music at the time)

Edited by icastle
Link Fixed.
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I'm glad to see there's been some love shown for Suzi Q and Grog on here. It's also nice to have some shout outs for Simone from Primal Scream and Divinity tok.

In the main though, I'm going for-perhaps predictably-Kim Deal, Kim Shattuck and Paz Lenchantin(I LOVE The Pixies, so it has to be done!); Kim Gordon and-and I'm a bit surprised she's not been mentioned yet, but I'm very glad to do so!-Jenny Lee Lindberg!

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[quote name='indiegrungesound' timestamp='1407053929' post='2516858']
I'm glad to see there's been some love shown for Suzi Q and Grog on here. It's also nice to have some shout outs for Simone from Primal Scream and Divinity tok.

In the main though, I'm going for-perhaps predictably-Kim Deal, Kim Shattuck and Paz Lenchantin(I LOVE The Pixies, so it has to be done!); Kim Gordon and-and I'm a bit surprised she's not been mentioned yet, but I'm very glad to do so!-Jenny Lee Lindberg!
[/quote] Pixies are amazing. I love the simplicity of Kim's bass riffs

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I love what Jennifer Condos does on Tito and Tarantula's 'Tarantism' album.
Tito has had a couple of female bassists since she left, it seems but I'm not familiar with their later albums.

I also love Este Haim for her attitude.

Best female player I've ever seen live is Yolanda Charles. And she's a great singer. And also seems to be a really nice person. Oh, and she's beautiful of course. I hate her, lol! :D

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[quote name='seashell' timestamp='1407107215' post='2517469']

Best female player I've ever seen live is Yolanda Charles. And she's a great singer. And also seems to be a really nice person. Oh, and she's beautiful of course. I hate her, lol! :D
[/quote]

+1 to this.... And she's a basschatter :D

She a big inspiration to me.

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[quote name='White Cloud' timestamp='1407146949' post='2517677']
A bassist is a bassist is a bassist.....
[/quote]

Very true.
But women are still under-represented in the world of Bass (although it seems not as rare as lead guitarists and drummers! :- :o ) , so it is lovely to see their achievements celebrated.
I am also very happy to say that since I've been playing (only 3 years) I have had every encouragement from all I've encountered, especially from the good folks of BC.

([size=3]I will also admit that the sight of an old gal with a bass does seem to have a dizzying effect on mature gentlemen. And sometimes younger gentlemen :ph34r: But then all musicians are sexy, right?[/size] ) :lol: :lol:

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[quote name='seashell' timestamp='1407152246' post='2517762']
But women are still under-represented in the world of Bass (although it seems not as rare as lead guitarists and drummers! :- :o ) , so it is lovely to see their achievements celebrated.[/quote]
Also very true.

I once [i]heard a great bassist[/i] on the radio, and it really was great bass playing indeed. I was impressed. Funnily enough, purely by coincidence I saw that same great bassist playing the exact same piece of music on the TV a short time later....and[i] I saw a great bass player[/i]. I found out that her name was Tal Wilkenfeld and that she was female.

That great bass player was great at playing bass. [i]Did I mention that half of my ancestors were female?[/i]

I am glad that you are enjoying playing the bass and that you are getting lots of encouragement, stick at it. We usually become good at the things that we love doing.

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[quote name='White Cloud' timestamp='1407146949' post='2517677']
A bassist is a bassist is a bassist.....
[/quote]

Yes, and a not-very-good bassist is still not very good , regardless of gender.

If people ( especially women ) find any of the names mentioned so far in this thread inspirational then that is great, but many of the individuals touted so far are not really what I would consider exceptional players. Indeed, a lot of the higher-profile players mentioned so far are just plain awful.

There are, of course, lots of highly accomplished women bassists - Carole Kaye, Gail Ann Dorsey, Kim Clarke, Me'Sell, Julie Slick and Esperanza Spalding , to name but a few, are all brilliant players who I admire and enjoy . But a lot of the other names being touted here are not good bass players . In fact, some of them are bloody awful. It would be extremely patronizing to pretend otherwise because they are women . Whatever appeals to folks about them, it is not the musicality of their bass playing. Enjoy whatever you please and if you like her music then good for you , but don't try and tell me that Kim Deal is a great and inspirational bass player, because she has forged a terrific career out of being a lousy bass player. That is her most notable achievement . She and others like her are music personalities rather than a skilled musicians.

What is more problematic than the divide between virtuosity and ineptitude is the awkward fact that some of the other names mentioned in this thread are average, run-of-the-mill players who have garnered a certain profile because of the novelty factor of them being women. It would be wrong to single them out, however, because there are plenty of average male bass players doing just fine too, so what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, I suppose.

There are indeed disproportionately few women bass players , probably because we still live in a society which has prescribed gender roles in every aspect of our lives, and it would be very surprising if music was an exception . It is still a relative novelty to see a woman bass guitarist or drummer, but women singers are ten- a- penny. There are many reasons for that , but , regardless of why , that is how it is. I wouldn't bother getting worked up about that if I was a woman, though. When the fairer sex finally get the equality they crave so badly , it is far more likely to be through the medium of women's football rather than because of exceptionally funky bass playing or Cozy Powell- style seismic drumming that they make the final breakthrough and manage to seize the whip handle . It is only a matter of time until that happens, though . :mellow:

Edited by Dingus
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[quote name='BetaFunk' timestamp='1406992962' post='2516516']
Absolutely!!!

I saw Kim Clarke with Defunkt live a few times in the 80s.

Great live band and great bass player.
[/quote]

I too went to see Defunkt back in the mid-1980's and they were superb, especially Kim's bass playing. I distinctly remember that she played her twangy Stingray so hard it made my ears hurt.

Edited by Dingus
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[quote name='seashell' timestamp='1407152246' post='2517762']
But women are still under-represented in the world of Bass ([b]although it seems not as rare as lead guitarists[/b] and drummers! :- :o ) , so it is lovely to see their achievements celebrated.
[/quote]

There does seem to be a growing army of ladies looking to rob Joe Bonamassa of his modern blues guitar crowd - personally I think Joanne Shaw Taylor and Samantha Fish are the current strongest contenders (links below), but Dani Wilde, Erja Lyytinen and Ana Popovic are not to be sniffed at either.

[quote name='seashell' timestamp='1407152246' post='2517762']
([size=3]I will also admit that the sight of an old gal with a bass does seem to have a dizzying effect on mature gentlemen. And sometimes younger gentlemen :ph34r: [b]But then all musicians are sexy, right?[/b][/size] ) :lol: :lol:
[/quote]
Yes. This latter assertion is scientific fact, I'm sure of it!

JST: http://youtu.be/dr1kFy-Guko?list=UU3_kGBwx77oCxdOfya_HdHw
SF: http://youtu.be/-M-VxlRBbcc

Edit: links fixed...I think

Edited by EliasMooseblaster
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