Bilbo

Finally got around to downloading, Mat. The chart is great; I hadn't really listened to the track in that much detail before but its a nice line. Good work.

One of the issues I have with JB vs Jaco debate is that Berlin has, for me, failed to find a place for himself in any music of lasting quality. I think his Bruford stuff was marvellous but, since then, I have heard nothing that moves me (impresses, on occasion but never moves). Compare that to Jaco's stuff and you can see why JB never got that kind of prestige. Jaco was a better musician than Berlin, who is probably the better technician. JB sounds as if he comes at it with his brain not his heart and soul. His sound is clinical, Jaco's was much deeper (all subjective, I agree). Also, and this is not fair but it is true, Jaco, as a personailty, had presence, flair, charisma. JB is like your mate's Dad, the bloke that delivers the milk, the guy that mends your tv. Whether he is bitter or not is not for me to say but it is easy to see why he has experienced a lack of comparative success.

I always found that comment by Jeff Berlin to be nonsensical. If we all thought like that, most innovations on most instruments would never have happened. Percy Jones played fretless at the same time as Jaco and was compared with him but only an idiot would believe that they are not as different as chalk and cheese. If you want my opininon, depending on how deeply you want ot look, all double bass players sound like double bass players to me. And yet they all sound different. Same with pianists, trumpeters, saxophonists etc. All fretless basses sound like fretless basses but not all fretless bass players sound like Jaco. The argument does not bear close examination and never has. Berlin made a choice and justified it, like we all do. To be fair, Berlin human and all humans are fallable - even me

Gary Brown's line on Flora Purim's 'Cravo E Canela' from her CD 'Flora Purim sings Milton Nascimento'. Great Latin groove in 3:4; simple but effective line. Everyone on this forum could play it (even if they can't read it ) so have a go. I am hearing 4 against 3 but others may hear it as 2 dotted crotchets and a dotted quaver. Oh, and you'll need a 5-string/low B to play it as written (but you can play it on a 4 without too much hassle)

[quote name='AdamWoodBass' post='608443' date='Sep 25 2009, 10:19 AM']Miroslav Vitous doesn't seem to get much of a mention anymore. Awesome player. I love Avishai Cohen as well and again people don't tend to mention him when talking about really good jazz bass players.[/quote] Mmmmmm - I love Vitous, particularly with Chick Corea and Roy Haynes (on ECM), but Cohen I haven't decided on. I have a Claudia Acuna CD he is on where he plays great on one track but his sound sometimes fails to do it for me. Still, he's got time to get good. Sometimes its just about hearing these guys in the right setting.

I had bad experiences in this regard and would recommend patience. Find a teacher EVEN BEFORE YOU GET A BASS so you can discuss this kind of stuff with hem. They may even come with you to buy your first bass. You will probably have to travel to buy (this isn't like popping up the local Spar) but, more to the point, you may need to travel more than once in order to 'shop around'. If in doubt, DON'T BUY. I did and had a bad experience, not financially, the dealer I bought it off bought it back for almost the same price I paid for it, but it was a bass that was too small for me (6' 1") and I ended up with a hand injury that has never really gone away. I hope you have more luck that I did

[quote name='leftybassman392' post='608456' date='Sep 25 2009, 10:32 AM']Looks so simple and sounds great when you do get it right, but takes more work than you'd think (as I'm sure Bilbo would confirm).[/quote] Yes and no, Andy. If a player has dealt with the core competences of playing and isn't just playing by aping his or her idols, the transition is not too hard but it does require a change of mindset which can throw some people (I have struggled to get deps for some Latin gigs because of it). I am playing on a couple tracks that are of this type on www.myspace.com/albinocubana - nearly but not quite (but the same is true of the whole band so I can't be held entirely responsible for its shortcomings)

They are great grooves and it takes a lot of time to nail them. Its not so hard to play a groove with the accent on 4, but when you start actually playing compositions with complex changes, adding fills, accents, changes of groove etc, you really have to get into that way of hearing stuff to be able to make the music work. But, yes, its great stuff and really refereshing if its new to you.

Current Pat Metheny Group - I could do it technically but only on electric as I don't double. Past? Bruford.

I have always considered Ken Smith basses to be fundamentally ugly. Whatever they sound like (and I have heard some great sounding KS basses), they look horrible. Like me I guess; sound ok but looks ugly....

At the risk of making myself unpopular (like a give a rat's...), I don't do it for 'fun' either. I think 'fun' is overated. That doesn't mean I don't get an awful lot out of it,; pleasure, satisfaction, an opportunity to express myself yadda yadda - but to compare playing music to knobbing about with a wii, sea-fishing or snowboarding devalues its potential massively. I don't do it for 'fun' either. I may occasionally have fun whilst doing it, but that is entirely peripheral. They'll be calling it a hobby next

Just came across this on Amazon - Fantastic value for money - its got lots of the great Prestige recordings (Workin, Relaxin, Steamin and Cookin) and Miles' 'Miles Ahead' stuff. The second box set is Porgy and Bess, Milestone and others. All for less than £4 each. If you haven't got these (all have Paul Chambers on bass), you have to get them. Its the law.... [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Miles-Away-Davis/dp/B001F6YZTA/ref=pd_ys_ir_all_127"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Miles-Away-Davis/d...d_ys_ir_all_127[/url] [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Miles-58-Davis/dp/B001PA7OYO/ref=pd_ys_ir_all_157"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Miles-58-Davis/dp/...d_ys_ir_all_157[/url]

Thriller - Michael Jackson Devil Went Down To Georgia - Charlie Daniels Band Tribute - Tenacious D

Whay are you asking us? Ask PRS. I was always under the impression that PRS was paid for by venues not bands. We had a PRS lady turn up at a gig last Sunday. She listed every song and composer. This was more than a little amusing as the whole gig was in Portuguese. She had never heard of any of the songs we did ('Drao', 'Tiro Onda', 'Deixa Acontecer', 'Xote da Alegria' etc) or of any of the composers (Caetano Veloso, Chico Buarque, Djavan, Joao Bosco etc) We could have told her anything but gave her the infor she needed and she left happy.

Study music not musicians. Biographies and magazines are not all they are cracked up to be. They create the illusion that you need to do this or that to get good, that you need this gear to play that or that gear to play this. Read 'em for two years and you have got pretty much all that you can get out of them. Save the money and get some music theory books.

Of course, this could meant that Ms. Houston is going in a new direction and going all 'fusion' on us rather than Garrison going for a commercial gig.

Its cheese: the voice of corporate America. Has nothing whatsoever to do with the creative energy behind rock as an expressive art form and has everything to do with the tin pan alley, 'line 'em up and pick em off', 'tell me what you want and how much you can pay' method of songwriting. The eighties was full of this watered down stuff, the rock equivalent of ready meals. High on sugar content and short on nutritional value. Me no like.

Playing in 5:4 was an innovation in 1959 but, like all innovations, has become pretty mundane. At the time, it was revolutionary. Bill Bruford's 5:4 playing is one of my favourite grooves. The release of alternate takes is controversial. Some think it is the opportunity ot hear alternative solos on the same classic forms, others think it is just an excuse to defend the re-release of old material. Gary Giddins, one of the top jazz critics in the US, is very anti but others are less polarised. Personally, I am not a huge fan and, when listening to them, find that I am mostly of the opinion that the decision to release the original is almost always defensible. There are exceptions but they are few and seldom definitive.

That is so cool, Rayman. Its as visceral as that, isn't it? All the intellectualising is great but, when it comes down to it, it hits you emotionally, just as immediately as any pop song. Marvellous.

No problem with people getting due credit but, in the history of jazz, EW is a bit part player compared to PC, who played on Kind of Blue, Giant Steps, Sketches of Spain, Porgy and Bess, Tenor Madness, Smokin at the Half Note, Full House, Workin', Relaxin', Steamin', Bass On Top, Blue Train, Blues and the Abstract Truth, Round Midnight, Someday My Prince Will Come.....I get that tv has to prioritise but EW over PC? Not defensible.

I always considered his 'Hot House Flowers' LP to be a guilty pleasure. Jazz with strings!! Outrageous!

I love 'Citi Movement' but didn't really enjoy 'In This House On This Morning' nearly as much; I found the latter a bit 'slow'. Same with 'Blood On The Fields' - A one cd album crammed onto 3.

Reading Ron Carter's biography (Finding The Right Notes - ISBN-10: 0-615-26526-X ISBN-13: 978-0-615-26526-1), I have just rediscovered an early favourite double LP (yes, I know) called 'Herbie Hancock Quartet'. Hancock, Carter, Tony WIlliams and Wynton Marsalis recorded live. Absolutely magical stuff from all angles. It is because of the hours I spent listening to this lp that I can recognise all the players pretty much instantly. Truely interactive playing from all parties and some great arrangements. Diamond stuff. [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0012GMWUC/ref=cm_cr_mts_prod_img"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0012GM...cr_mts_prod_img[/url]

Great venue, great sound, great soundman, great dressing room. What can I say? Played there with 3 times w. different singers Andi Hopgood, Sara Mistra and Bridget Metcalfe. Really attentive audience as well. Its one of the gigs I get excited about becasue, whatever else is going to happen, you don't have to fight the room.

Just ditched the one function band I had grown to hate and am now doing less gigs but enjoying them all again. Its a quality vs quantity thing. The art now is to increase the quantity of the quality gigs! But, absolutely no regrets about giving the higher paying gig the boot.