Double Bass Jazz Albums

[HumblePie]

12 hours ago, Lunatique said:

Ear training is not my strongest suit. If something is clearly out of tune then I can definitely hear it, but in the context of multiple instruments playing together and in the hands of a professional musician playing melodically challenging music, I don't think I can hear the problems. Also, I think maybe jazz is more forgiving of intonation since so much of it relies on passing notes (which to non-jazz musicians sounds like sour notes) and there's so much modulation and key change and complex harmony, that if there are slight intonation issues, they'd likely just blend right in. 

How would y'all rate Eddie Gomez overall? He seems to be one of those upright bassists who sometimes makes it onto "best upright bassist" lists, and sometimes don't. Would he be considered middle-tier among other jazz upright bass players?

You can rank them any way you want basically, since there are no fixed criteria for ranking Jazz musicians.

I think every aspiring bass player should study Paul Chambers and Ray Brown.

Ron Carter, Eddie Gomez, Charlie Haden, Charles Mingus, Scott Lafaro, Jimmy Garrison, Gary Peacock, Dave Holland, Stanley Clarke are among the greats for shure, as are lots of other bassists I would consider "legends" or "veterans" like John Lee Clayton Jr. and, maybe one of the most gifted players, Nils Henning Orsted Petersen.

Christian McBride is among the most accomplished upright players right now, as is John Patitucci, Larry Grenadier is among them for shure.

Linda Oh is making a name for herself, Esperanza Spalding is one of the more recent upright prodigies, Ben Street is steadily among the new elite, as is Chris Minh Doky. Avishai Cohen is another more recently emerging players, he started as a sideman for Chick Corea and became a succesfull bandleader.

 

Edited March 20, 2020 by HumblePie

[NickA]

4 hours ago, HumblePie said:

as a reference I studied classical music (vocals and upright), so I might have differect expectations for that.

i went to hear a Jazz Violinist once  (some acolyte of Billy Bang) with a friend who played violin in the CBSO. 

"He's playing out of tune" she decried (quite loudly).  I said that perhaps it was deliberate or that he felt the line of the improvisation was more important than the actual notes, to which she replied "no; he's just not very good".  

But she was used to not only playing in tune, but playing in tune in different tempers.   Then again, she only had to play the dots in front of her, not make them up on the fly!

I'd put Gomez up there in the top X list simply because his lines are so melodic and I like his tone too.

@HumblePie:  Cannot disagree with your A-list!  Got even more to listen to now.

Esperanza plays in perfect tune and sings at the same time; which just seems impossible to me (but she has gone a bit weird recently what with her spirit sister Emily and obsession with the number 7).

 

[knirirr]

11 hours ago, NickA said:

i went to hear a Jazz Violinist once  (some acolyte of Billy Bang) with a friend who played violin in the CBSO. 

"He's playing out of tune" she decried (quite loudly).  I said that perhaps it was deliberate or that he felt the line of the improvisation was more important than the actual notes, to which she replied "no; he's just not very good". 

 

 

This article was quite interesting on the subject. Apologies, can't recall if I posted it before.

Similarly, classical musicians I know who've heard this were very scathing.

[HumblePie]

I think this article is mostly correct. I have studied classical music and Jazz, so I have experienced both sides. There are few players who can do both on a high level.

 

Edited March 20, 2020 by HumblePie

[Bilbo]

These lists are great. I suggest you spent a lot of time with a handful of them initially. Too much information and you won't take it in. There are some good double bass transcriptions on my transcription archive in the Theory and Technique section. 

[Frank Blank]

On 19/03/2020 at 19:40, HumblePie said:

On 19/03/2020 at 19:40, HumblePie said:

 

 

This is excellent, cheers ...

 

[gypsyjazzer]

My '2 cents worth' as they say-

There's some tremendous outstanding double bass'ists out there, every one has something to offer. For me the guy who 'lays it down' is Ray Brown--solid as a rock.

[Clarky]

This guy always plays with such joy (I know its not an album but ...). Milt Hinton. One of my all-time bass fave videos

 

[gypsyjazzer]

Agree with you Clarky. Milt & Ray knew how to 'lay it down'. Both were bought up in the days when there were no amps and had to project their acoustic sound. So solid.

[NickA]

Mention of Chick Corea reminds me .   Stan Clarke!   Why has no one mentioned Stanley?  Best known as a funky slapper of Alembics, but he's a better double bassist.  Check out the John Coltrane tribute on "Johnny McLaughlin Electric Guitarist" and "jazz n the garden" with Hiromi Uehara. He has massive hands, plays fast and is spot on in tune.  His big trick is playing in unison with someone playing a much easier instrument ( Kai Ekhardt does that too, but only on an electric ).  Not a hope of emulation, but hear and marvel.

On 20/03/2020 at 13:26, knirirr said:

This article was quite interesting on the subject

 

[NickA]

On 20/03/2020 at 13:26, knirirr said:

This article was quite interesting

Excellent article btw.  Full of things I'd thought but never managed to put into words.  Had me snorting into my glass of red.....nerd that I am.

[HumblePie]

16 hours ago, NickA said:

Mention of Chick Corea reminds me .   Stan Clarke!   Why has no one mentioned Stanley?  Best known as a funky slapper of Alembics, but he's a better double bassist.  Check out the John Coltrane tribute on "Johnny McLaughlin Electric Guitarist" and "jazz n the garden" with Hiromi Uehara. He has massive hands, plays fast and is spot on in tune.  His big trick is playing in unison with someone playing a much easier instrument ( Kai Ekhardt does that too, but only on an electric ).  Not a hope of emulation, but hear and marvel.

 

Yes, and I like his upright playing much more than his electric playing.

This is a standout performance for me:

 

 

[knirirr]

16 hours ago, NickA said:

Excellent article btw.  Full of things I'd thought but never managed to put into words.  Had me snorting into my glass of red.....nerd that I am.

Thanks. The bit about reading in particular resonated with me:
 

Quote

Jazz musicians, by contrast, who are not as accustomed to reading, treat the enterprise with trepidation, and they can be really uptight about just getting the right notes. With fear and anxiety as their jumping off points, their interpretations of written music can be astonishingly leaden, played with all the joy and verve of a high school student who’s just been sent to detention.

Anyway, so as not to go too far off topic:

 

 

[tinyd]

Alex Blake has a totally unique sound and way of playing the bass. Not sure if they teach this anywhere....

[triplebass]

talking about people who are capable of controlling, shaping and manipulating time (not just keeping) let's not forget these gentlemen... Eric Revis, Gerald Cannon, Joe Sanders, Harish Raghavan, Matt Brewer, John Patitucci, Bob Hurst... or Reggie Workman, Wilbur Ware, Buster Williams, Doug Watkins, Sam Jones, Bob Cranshaw...

[bassace]

Lists. Lists. Lists.

[Sardonicus]

Anything by Charles Mingus.  I have the `Complete Recordings 1957 - 1960' collection on my iPhone and it's amazing, it has all of these on it;

• Word from Bird (with Teddy Charles)
• The Clown
• Mingus Three (aka Trio)
• East Coasting
• A Modern Jazz Symposium of Music and Poetry
• Mingus Ah Um
• Wonderland
• The Weary Blues (with Langston Hughes)
• Blues & Roots