Bilbo

[quote name='Mike' post='1259293' date='Jun 7 2011, 08:22 AM']Ah, never saw this post. How annoying. You would have been very welcome to borrow mine, set up by Martyn Bailey. Let me know in future![/quote] I will, Mike. Many thanks (likewise the other way around - although mine is a five string so be warned!!)

And something else gorgeous from Michel Petrucciani with Jackson doing his thing.....

Jackson is left with no nuts after grooving them off w. Robben Ford (guitar), Jimmy McGriff (organ), Bernard Purdie (drums), and the horn section of Phil Woods (alto), Bob Berg (tenor) and Art Farmer (trumpet). If you don't 'get' it, you have no pulse.

You can't get away from it. When he was on, he was ON!

I am finding that the best way to build up your left hand 'muscle tone' is to play the thing. I don't think you need strength as such, just finesse. If all the muscles in your left hand are working together efficiently, you probably had enough strength in that hand before you even started. PS I got three hours double bass practice in yesterday with no tension in my hands at all. A good action and tried and tested technique and it all comes together. Gain without pain

I seem to have convinced some people here that I can read anything. I can't. I can read well enough to do most gigs and I can 'get' hard passages after a run through or two but, in a high pressure reading situation, I would be found wanting. Still working on that. But my biggest praise for reading is the value it has in enhancing your practising/rehearsing/composing/arranging/recording etc etc.

Been working at reading the Parker solos in the Omnibook. If anyone is interested in working at reading accidentals, the whole book is pretty much in C so all the sharps and flats are written as such. Good for getting you used to reading changing accidentals. Remember: you don't have to read them at the speed Parker played them to benefit from the practice (I can't).

I love this instrument. That's all

[quote name='Mike' post='1255976' date='Jun 3 2011, 09:36 PM']Very nice Bilbo! I play bass for Andi from time to time and it's always a fun experience. Is it Alex on drums?[/quote] Certainly is, Mike. It was just a demo for his Blue Rondo Jazz Ensembles website. Simon Brown on piano (a lovely Steinway!!) and Gareth Lumbars on sax.

[quote name='ShergoldSnickers' post='1251927' date='May 31 2011, 07:26 PM']Quietly proud... it's much better than that and you know it.[/quote] Its not false modesty, mate. I love the performance overall but I find my own playing on it is not write as 'on' as I want it to be. There is nothing wrong with it per se (which makes a change) but I am of the view that the bass sound could be 'thicker' in some way. I did it with a mic and a K&K pick up which was a 4 string model (the bass is a 5). I have a 5 string pick up on the order and hope that may give a little more depth to the sound and, consequently, to the performance. It is, despite my reservations, one of the most 'convincing' jazz pieces I have for my 'cv'.

[quote name='lettsguitars' post='1255608' date='Jun 3 2011, 03:51 PM']how come as a bass maker i'm not allowed to advertise my wares on basschat and posts are instantly deleted when all i'm asking for is a few opinions, and yet it's fine for every man and his dog to try and flog their cd's? sort it out mods. this is BASSchat after all, not sellmemusicchat. one for all and all for one![/quote] The purpose of the OP was to highlight a new technological development in music marketing, not to sell the Kaiser Chief's CD/download.

[quote name='Low End Bee' post='1255552' date='Jun 3 2011, 03:22 PM']Get back to your wax cylinders and 78s daddio [/quote] Careful, sunshine. I haven't bought anything but downloads for over 10 months now.

Rock turns to pyramid selling.

Why interview a pianist about a bass player when you can interview a bass player? GS is not someone I have heard much of so its not a dig at him. Just thought someone who played the same instrument would offer insights. To be fair, JP was a composer also so that may be the rationale.

I guess another way of thinking about it relates to the key signature. The signature tells you which notes in the song's key are sharp or which notes are flat. A key signature can't tell you that a note is both. So, in the key of D, you would have two sharps, C and F. Whereas, in the key of Ab you would have 4 flats Ab, Bb, Db and Eb. If you did the key signature of D as flats, you would have both a D natural and a Db and also both a G and Gb so a key signature would be impossible.

Why is Mr S (my editor, by the way) interviewing Gwilym and not someone like Al Dankworth, Lol Cottle or even Guy Pratt? Seems a wasted opportunity to me.

Something else cool.

I was thinking earlier about why I play the bass and not other instruments. I was thinking back to when I started and concluded that I wanted to play music and, in the absence of any other advice or inout from supportive parents or teachers etc, the bass was the one that I could make sense of and afford. My point is that I wanted to be involved in music not in bass playing. If I lost the ability to play bass, I woudl still be driven to find a way to play music. FOr me, its always been the music that matters. not the instrument.

[quote name='4-string-thing' post='1252149' date='May 31 2011, 10:35 PM']This surprises me, as I've been advertising for ukulele players for my uke-based U2 tribute band (Uke2) and had no replies![/quote] People buy them. They don't play them.

I was looking at Jazz on the 'tube last night and came across a series of about 8 Jaco videos where he is being filmed in informal conversation with somebody; I'm not altogether sure who it is but the quality of the film and the interviewing is really poor. He is clearly unwell and mentally very fragile. You can really get a sense of the extent of his alleged manic depression (I am no expert). Interesting to watch for those who want to know what was happening as he approached the end of his life. He makes some lucid points amongst all the b***sh*t (from all parties). Slags off McLaughlin ('the guy will never swing') I can't post a link in work but will try later if I get the chance. Worth a look if you are interested. The link is to the first of 8 videos

I have that book already, Pete. And the accompanying cds. It is great but having the time to get into every detail is a real frustration. Can I have another life whilst I get on with the one I have?

PLay as fast as you can (not as fast as you can't) and increase the speed incrementally. There is no quick way to develop that kind of speed. Just stick with it and grow. If you have only been playing a short while, you need to be patient. It will come.

[quote name='GonzoBass' post='1251777' date='May 31 2011, 05:05 PM']Does [url="http://tamingthesaxophone.com/jazz-transposition.html"]this chart[/url] help at all, Bilbo?[/quote] Certainly does no harm, Gonzo, but the stuff I am confused by is more complicated. Like horns and clarinets that can be tuned three different ways, harps, all sorts of weird stuff.

I have a friend called Ceiri Torjussen, a trumpet player and composer who I knew when he was a kid. He went on to become an arranger/composer in Hollywood and worked extensively on films like Terminator 3, Blade, Day After Tomorrow etc. Big name stuff under the composer Alan Silvestri. Ceiri wrote his own stuff and was offered the opportunity to hear it played by the London Philharmonic Orchestra - no pressure then . During rehearsals one of the musicians commented that the stuff he had written was unplayable. 'That's funny' says Ceiri. 'The Los Angeles Philharmonic managed it easily enough'. Now THAT is a put down.

Never been drunk or stoned, let alone played in that state, so cannot contribute to this debate. Bye.