[quote name='Faithless' post='1101976' date='Jan 25 2011, 01:23 PM']I kinda tend to think, that lots of folks rate those RnB cats (Jamerson, Rainey, etc..) high, because lots of their lines are 'challenging', they are busy and so on, and that's cool, but, on the other hand, by listening to Jamerson, the first thing that springs in my mind, is that he overplayed awfully..[/quote]
Good point, I agree.
Playing in the fully formed, busy Jamerson style is, in most real-life playing settings, simply impossible.
What you can learn is, for example, his use of syncopation and chromatic approaches, and then apply it them in subtler ways.
Friedland book is in my humble opinion is a useful one.
There's historical background, pointers on sound and techniques, a selected discography for each player...
Seeing the rhythmic figures and patterns on the staff helps understanding a few stylistic hallmarks of these great players.
To me, it works great as introduction to the R&B idiom, even though it clearly can't replace listening and transcribing the actual tracks.