Solo Vocabulary - Jazz

[acidbass]

Hi guys

I want to expand my bass solo vocabulary and patterns for when I get the nod. I’m a decent improviser but really just looking for some new licks.

Can anyone recommend some good solos I could check out and learn? Could be on any instrument but obviously translatable to bass. Going to give Donna Lee a bash as a start - similar suggestions welcome!

Thanks!

EDIT - I should add that Donna Lee is probably slightly beyond my range as a player but I guess this is the idea!

Edited September 2, 2019 by acidbass

[jrixn1]

Any of the Omnibooks - the Charlie Parker one is the most well-known and has all the bebop vocab.

[itu]

Marc Johnson has pretty tough book:

https://www.amazon.com/Concepts-Bass-Soloing-Chuck-Sher/dp/1883217008

[lowdown]

Yeah, the Parker Omnibook is great. 

If your treble clef reading is a struggle, there is a Bass clef version. A decent price as well. 

 

https://www.thedukesmusic.co.uk/charlie-parker-omnibook-bass-clef-instruments-edition.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIgaf7kPaz5AIVwbTtCh2MzwreEAQYASABEgLM-vD_BwE

[Burns-bass]

The Chuck Sher book is great! This one is a good primer too. This is really Useful to use alongside the Parker book (which is immense in its complexity and completeness).

I was also advised that if you’re using the Parker real book to learn the solos in all keys. Seems like a lot of work to me, but it helped the player I was watching. He was immense!

https://www.shermusic.com/0961470100.php

Edited September 3, 2019 by Burns-bass

[DaveFry]

 

[Davo-London]

I'm not a fan of any bass solos.  Bass solos in Jazz tend to be from the how-many-notes-can-I-get-in-a-bar and lets-play-notes-at-the-end-of-the-fingerboard school.  It's never exciting, emotional, rarely connected to the song etc.

Try playing the melody but in a disguised way with few notes.  Make sure the drummer is still with you.  Then you might have something notable.  If you are playing an URB, then the beauty of the URB is in the tone of the instrument.  Play less so you can hear the tone.  If you are playing an electric bass are you playing it straight or are you making any tonal nods to an URB?  Or focus on an interplay with the drummer as this is more interesting for the audience.

Sorry to rant

Davo

[paul_c2]

The most tasteful way to highlight the bass in jazz is to ensure the drummer is still playing; and preferably a female singer is supplying devine vocals over the top too. That combination, IMHO, works really well. For example, the opening and closing sequence in "Fever".

[ambient]

Listen to and transcribe Anthony Jackson, his albums with Hiromi are brilliant. The trio album with Michel Petrucciani is amazing.

Don't just cop licks though, analyse what’s being played.

[mikel]

3 hours ago, Davo-London said:

I'm not a fan of any bass solos.  Bass solos in Jazz tend to be from the how-many-notes-can-I-get-in-a-bar and lets-play-notes-at-the-end-of-the-fingerboard school.  It's never exciting, emotional, rarely connected to the song etc.

Try playing the melody but in a disguised way with few notes.  Make sure the drummer is still with you.  Then you might have something notable.  If you are playing an URB, then the beauty of the URB is in the tone of the instrument.  Play less so you can hear the tone.  If you are playing an electric bass are you playing it straight or are you making any tonal nods to an URB?  Or focus on an interplay with the drummer as this is more interesting for the audience.

Sorry to rant

Davo

/\ This +100. The best solos, on almost any instrument, are not a w*nk fest. They enhance and add to the mood and melody of the music.

[Bilbo]

Try some of these......

 

 

 

Edited September 3, 2019 by Bilbo

[Leonard Smalls]

1 minute ago, Bilbo said:

Try some of these......

Indeed.

I always found microdots helped!

 

[Mastodon2]

7 hours ago, Davo-London said:

I'm not a fan of any bass solos.  Bass solos in Jazz tend to be from the how-many-notes-can-I-get-in-a-bar and lets-play-notes-at-the-end-of-the-fingerboard school.  It's never exciting, emotional, rarely connected to the song etc.

With all due respect, if you don't like or don't understand jazz solos, why would you offer advice on soloing? The OP has already stated he is going to give Donna Lee a go, so you can probably guess he's above the level of a Smells like Teen Spirit-esque "play the melody an octave higher" kind of thing. 

[lowdown]

Another good source of material study is on YouTube. There are lots of scrolling transcriptions (with added chords). You can study the various players approach work to soloing over the different chord sequences (all instruments).

 

A Ray Brown solo here.

 

 

Edited September 3, 2019 by lowdown

[Burns-bass]

48 minutes ago, Mastodon2 said:

With all due respect, if you don't like or don't understand jazz solos, why would you offer advice on soloing? The OP has already stated he is going to give Donna Lee a go, so you can probably guess he's above the level of a Smells like Teen Spirit-esque "play the melody an octave higher" kind of thing. 

Agreed. In some jazz contexts the bass is expected to do a solo in every tune. I’m pretty rubbish on upright so I usually try and do something smooth and textural, but you need to know the jazz language to sound passable. 

I’d also say that the walking bass parts played on old jazz records are really solos with a huge amount of complexity - it’s just that the ensemble is still playing! Ray Brown for example is soloing constantly finding new ways to reinvent the harmony. Same as James Jamerson on Motown etc.