Bilbo

You have a great eye for a bass, mate. Thse are all exceptionally beautiful instruments to look at. I always thought that the Ken Smith basses were the ugliest, uncoolest basses in the world and, whatever their sonic strengths, should be avoided at all costs. But these babies; I'd have any one of them in a flash... [url="http://www.pagelli.com/e/2instrum/bass_git005.html#"]http://www.pagelli.com/e/2instrum/bass_git005.html#[/url]

[quote name='Dan_Q' post='257596' date='Aug 7 2008, 09:17 PM']I mainly play indie stuff- REM to blur to joy division to the stone roses type things,[/quote] That is likely to change over time. Like when you hear proper jazz for the first time The thumb in the middle of the neck is a tried and tested method that facilitates better access theh neck. The other way is like running with a stone in your shoe; yes, you will get there but why would you do it if you didn't have to!

One Wal and a Status Energy 6 that I don't use. I have also previously owned a Hondo II Precision copy, Aria SB700 and a Washburn Headless (all 4 strings). I play the music and not the basses! I actually have more guitars: a Gibson ES175, an Adamus II six-string electro-acoustic, a Takamine CD132SC and an old Antoria that I have strung to a Nashville tuning.

Nope - anthropomorphication is for girls...

It was like 'Carrie'!!!

Blood On The Dancefloor!! The punters were dancing. The girls took their heels off. A punter dropped a glass and didn't tell anyone. The girls cut their feet to ribbons. The blood flowed. The ambulances came. The bride wore red. I can't believe the venue didn't stop the dancing and clear the dancefloor! I certainly hope they have public liability insurance!

YOU ARE SO RIGHT!!

One point worth mentioning in your work would relate to the number of musicians who double but who are repeatedly told to bring only their double bass to jazz gigs and those who play electric but take up the double bass only to be asked to bring the double bass to jazz gigs instead of the electric before they can even play it. I am a jazzer (did I mention that before?) who doesn't play upright. I KNOW that there is a prejudice and I do all I can to counter it and to prove these critics wrong. So far, I am reasonably successful but I still lose out loads of gigs to upright players, even those who are, frankly, quite weak. Have you spoken to Mike Mondesir? I can get you his number if it would help with your dissertation - I know he has strong opinions on this issue (and doesn't play the upright) and would be willing to talk to you.

[quote name='TKenrick' post='259563' date='Aug 10 2008, 09:49 PM']he's clearly still one of the top guys out there but his playing isn't really to my taste.[/quote] Stick with it, T. I used to think that but, as I have matured, I have begun to realise that his is one of the most inspired and musical concepts in contemporary bass. Try transcribing some of his stuff; you will begin to realise how sophisitcated he is as a musician. I have only seen him live once, with Paul Motian's Electrci Be-Bop Band (I wanted to do the Metheny/Burton thing but I have a rool - if there is a choice between watching or playing, I play. So I had a gig in Cambridge. Would have loved to be there. Hey, aj5string! What's your dissertation about?

The band footage is from the Scofield/Metheny 'I Can See Your House From Here' tour but there is a two part interview intermingled. I love the bit about having to 'eat your father'..... [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qizemaNdVG0"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qizemaNdVG0[/url]

Concepts for Bass Soloing - Marc Johnson

[quote name='Shaggy' post='42296' date='Aug 7 2007, 08:18 AM']+1 Tho the coolest bassist I ever saw was in a Cambridge Jazz club about twenty-five years back – big guy, big beard, big grin, biggest beer belly I’ve ever seen, fag stuck in the headstock (beat-up Fender Jazz of course), grooving along nicely.[/quote] Dill Katz?

[quote name='phil_the_bassist' post='258117' date='Aug 8 2008, 02:09 PM']I've recently persuaded my covers band to play MustSal, purely for the aformentioned cheesiness:D[/quote] Can the moderators exclude this guy...?

Depends how often you gig, whether you can dep some out, whether the gigs pay, whether you can get days off work to do the odd gig that clash with your shifts.... but, in a nutshell. yes it can be done.

[quote name='jakesbass' post='258044' date='Aug 8 2008, 01:18 PM']I think it's possible you aspire to something other than simply to complain. I'm guessing that what you would actually like is an educated public that enjoyed encouraged and supported more artisitic endeavours. These societies are out there in some measure, eg. I have friends who have moved to Norway where all things Norwegian and Jazz are supported and championed by the public in much greater measure than here. It's arguable that there are other elements of those societies that you would find less favourable to live with.[/quote] Not a million miles off, Jake. What I would like to see is a music fraternity that, like the punks in 1976, recognises that it has begun to eat itself and is no longer representing an arm of the arts but merely the lowest common denominator, be that financial or social. Its the dumbing down of the already dumb. One tribute band woudl be more than enough but FIVE at the same event! I live less than two miles from this event and won't waste my time attending (I've got two gigs that day anyway). Its free but, even if I wasn't working, my time is more valuable and I would spend it wisely rather than go out to watching/listening to last years nostalgia. For the record, my non-musician wife feels the same way.

Its interesting but I find Caron to be emotionally flat. Like the notes are there but their absolute perfection in pitch, timing etc render them soulless. I have 4 or 5 UZEB cds and can't criticise his technique but the music is just lifeless. Get some funk in there, Caron!!

There isn't one - 'it's what the public wants' Oh, what's this, a CUSTOMER telling musicians NOT to play Mustang Sally? But that can't be right, 'it's what the public wants'. She is clearly delusional. We must send here for reconditioning to the 'Commitments' school of musical appreciation. AAAAGA Do Do DO......!!

And, is it me or is Michael Fitch a Councillor? And what is a 'top rock covers band'?

Listings for a local carnival in Felixstowe. Saturday 9th August 2008 4:30-5:30pm Louisa Gaylard 5:30-6:00pm Michael J Fitch 6:00-7:00pm Mohawk 7:00-7:15pm Bin There Drummed That [b]7:30-8:30pm Bad Boys - Wham Tribute 9:00-10:30pm A Saucerful of Floyd (ASOF)[/b] Sunday 10th August 2008 1:00-2:00pm Stagecoach theatre group 2:00-2:30pm Michael J Fitch [b]2:30-3:30pm Jade Adams - Elvis tribute[/b] 3:30-4:00pm Michael J Fitch 4:00-5:00pm Storm - Top rock covers band. [b]5:30-6:30pm Counterfeit Quo - Status Quo tribute band[/b] 7:00-8:00pm The Talent 8:00-8:15pm Bin There Drummed That - is this all junk music! [b]8:30-9:30pm The Spice-ish Girls - a Spice Girls tribute[/b] Thats FIVE tribute bands is two days. And that doesn't include the covers bands. These events are funded out of public money. We are all told to support local businesses but, when music is concerned, this is clearly not necessary. All the PRS royalties will be going to the poor little urchins behind Floyd, Wham, Quo and the Spice Girls and Elvis - I guess their need is greater. Personally, I still think its a national disgrace.

[i]‘In music…pure tone, true pitch, exact intonation, perfect harmony, rigid rhythm, even touch and precise time play a relatively small role. They are mainly points of orientation for art… The unlimited resources for vocal and instrumental expression lie in artistic deviation from the pure, the true, the exact, the perfect, the rigid, the even and the precise. This deviation from the exact is, on the whole, the medium for the creation of the beautiful – for the conveying of emotion’[/i] – Carl E. Seashore. It’s a good point: is that why players like Alain Caron, Jeff Berlin etc aren’t as successful as their astonishing techniques would lead you expect? Their playing is too perfect, too clinical. Or is this an argument against excessive attention to technique at the expense of musicality? For those who are interested, Carl Emil Seashore (1866-1949) was a prominent American psychologist who was particularly interested in audiology, the psychology of music, the psychology of speech and stuttering, the psychology of the graphic arts and measuring motivation and scholastic aptitude. He devised the Seashore Tests of Musical Ability in 1919, a version of which is still used in schools in the United States. Any thoughts anyone?

I usually get in a couple of hours every year, whether we need it or not

Two basses and four guitars on a plasterboard wall with all hangers held by cavity wall rawplugs. Been up there four years without incident. And one of the basses is a weighty Wal!

Unmitigated drivel....

I can boil an egg in under 5......