Funky Bass Groove: Expansions

[greghagger]

This week I stumbled upon a bass groove that knocks it out of the park! It's from the Jazz/Funk classic, 'Expansions' by Lonnie Liston Smith. 

 

I had to research this tune more, and it turns out that the album its from was a real trailblazer at the time. The band were all 'straight-ahead' Jazz musicians playing with the likes of Miles Davis, Keith Jarrett and Art Blakey, and they created a more laidback fusion style with this album.

 

The bass groove is two bars long and is looped over and over again throughout the song. Although it sounds more like an electric bass on the recording, it was actually played on upright bass by Cecil McBee. The riff is very fast and difficult on an upright, take that from me, I tried it yesterday!! But it also sounds great played on electric and falls under the fingers once you've learnt the notes.

 

There's no getting away from the fact that it's fast, but it's a really useful groove to learn slowly and get gradually up to speed to help with the technical sides of playing. 

 

You’ll find the free transcription under the video. 

 

Have fun with this one!