Bilbo

It's absolutely brilliant in terms of creative walking bass. Veal is massively underrated because he is not noted as a flashy soloist but he is, for me, one of the greatest Jazz players of his era. Solid as a rock and drenched in the Blues.

It's a blues in F. F7, Bb7 F7 / Bb7 / F7 D7 Gm7 C7 F7 / I don't normally do chords as the purpose of the transcriptions is to promote reading not learning theory. There are people/websites out there that do all that better than I can. I'm just dumb enough to sit there for hours transcribing details that no-one else can be bothered to look for.

This one took me days - a bit of a roast. I think it would have been easier had I not Moised it! The bass sounds better in the original mix. The is the Reginald Veal bass part to the tune 'Blutain' from the 1996 Branford Marsalis Trio album, 'The Dark Keys' (was it really 30 years ago?). Veal's part is stunningly creative whilst retaining the core aspects of swing, sounding simultanously fresh and ancient. Jeff Watts is incredible also. A great album that is highly recommended. I wish I could have done these transcriptions 30 years ago. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/blutain-branford-marsalis/

I always used to smile when I saw early photos of Pat Metheny playing his Gibson Es175. He suffered a broken strap button early on in his career and did a temporary fix with a toothbrush. It stayed like that for decades.

I am working on a long complicated Branford Marsalis tune and needed some respite so I have put together this transcription of the Adalberto Cevasco bass part for the tune 'Milonga Del Angel' from the 2010 Astor Piazzolla release 'Piazzolla En Suite'. An easy read but a lovely piece. You can't have enough Piazzolla. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/milonga-del-angel-astor-piazzolla/

i have bit more space now, Dave, so I will try and make sense of it for you. A head refers to the tune's melody. If you take something like the Wynton Marsalis tune on the website called 'Play The Blues And Go', the head is the first 44 bars. In reality, it is and 8-bar intro followed by 3x12 bar heads repeated (first piano only, second and third with horns). After that it is just a band playing fairly conventional 12-bar blues. A head chart would just have the 12 bar tune with something like 'solo over a C blues'. A 'chorus', in this case, is 12 bars i.e. once around the chord sequence. Sounds complicated written down like that but it's simple enough once you understand the principle. It then translates to any tune however simple or complicated. Many of the tunes on the website are of this type; round and round the same chord sequence with someone soloing over the songs changes.

This is a head chart. It contains only the melody and the chords. Everything else, you are expected to know e.g. how to play a walking bass line over those changes (chord sequence), how to voice the chords on a piano or guitar, how to solo over those changes, what chords and scales work, how to start the tune, how to end it etc. My charts tell you exactly what was played on a recording. These head charts are as much an aide memoir as anything and are a guide to get you all working together on the same tune. They are useless if you don't know what is required of you. https://images.app.goo.gl/ftUV6PMZp2r4f8cH6

I appreciate that, BB. I had a good session yesterday reading charts I did a while back and it makes such a difference to just keep doing it, over and over and over again. No other way.

Another solo guitar piece, a tune called 'Ubi Sunt' from the 2017 Ralph Towner album 'My Foolish Heart'. A pretty little tune and perfectly playable by anyone with the least amount of guitar chops. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/ubi-sunt-ralph-towner/

I was practising reading today and came across this one that I did ages ago but neglected to put it on the website. It is the complete Richard Bona part for the tune 'Avenue B' from the 2003 Mike Stern Album, 'These Times'. Not massively challenging but a nice tune to test your progress on. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/avenue-b-mike-stern/

Lovely and an uplifting story. Thanks for sharing.

Do you need another bass (as well as, not instead of)? Most of us do.

I have it quite bad but, as my relationship with really loud music is minimal, I have put it down to my diabetes so there isn't a lot I can do about it. It's just there. Not debilitating but I do find myself occasionally wondering what real silence sounds like as opposed to the silence that goes 'WEEEEEEEEEEEEE......'

Something really special - no chops, just beautiful bass playing on a beautiful tune. This is the complete Jay Anderson bass part to the stunning 'Walking By Flashlight' from the 2015 Maria Schneider Orchestra album, 'The Thompson Fields'. I saw this band at Cadogan Hall some years ago and it sticks with me as one of the most exceptional evenings of music that I have ever witnessed. Thanks to my old friend Paul Hornsby for turning my on to this lady's work. It's not hard to play but I challenge anyone to match this performance. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/walking-by-flashlight-maria-schneider/

Got another one in today, this is the Gary Brown part for the tune 'Primeira Estrela' from the 2003 Flora Purim album, 'Speak No Evil'. Needs a low B but not overly difficult to play once you get the feel. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/primeira-estrela-flora-purim/

Yes - badly. I have done two gigs on guitar. One about 10 years ago and one when I was about 17. Hated it. I am better now than I was then but still wouldn't venture out in public! I do enjoy it, though.

I guess I shouldn't really post this here but I can't help myself. This is a complete solo guitar performance of the Astor Piazzolla tune 'Romantico' from the 2008 Al Di Meola album, 'Diabolic Inventions And Seduction For Solo Guitar Volume I (Music Of Astor Piazzolla)'. It's actually playable (unlike most Al Di Meola solo guitar). It's reading the chords and the contrapuntal voices that makes its challenging. I have to say that the concerted practice I have done with the guitar reading (another 'lockdown' project) has really paid dividends. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/romantico-al-di-meola/

A lovely little tune from the 1993 Jimmy Haslip solo album, 'Arc'. This is the full performance (including the bit where he doubles the head) of the tune 'Niños' (Spanish for children). Some subtle challenges in getting the thing to sound right and it helps if you have a sense of Latin/Samba grooves. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/ninos-jimmy-haslip/

Top drawer, Chris. Love it.

Here you go, Dave - the Richard Sinclair part for 'The Sleeper'. The Breathless album (hereafter known as 'The Pointless Album' was from 1978 and I have to say it completely passed me by (as did a lot of Camel, it transpires). The guitar charts are few and far between, Dave. I am working on my guitar reading and find the same problem that I always had with learning to read bass parts; there is a dearth of interesting material to draw upon (outside of classical guitar which can be a bit, well, naff). So I decided to try putting together charts of my own. It takes a lot longer and, whilst I can do most bass charts without a bass in my hands, but I cannot do the same with the guitar so the process is much more laborious. As for how, I have learned that patience and tenacity are my super powers and, if I start something, I generally keep going until it is finished, even if it is a long drawn out process. I can't complete with the young gunslingers and I don't live where there is a massive amount of Jazz happening but this I can do any time of the day or night with no pressure. Once it is done, it is there forever. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/the-sleeper-camel/

I have finally got to a Marc Johnson transcription. This is the tune 'Dingy Dong Day' from the 1997 Johnson led album 'The Sound Of Summer Running'. I love the tune and I love what they do with it (have a listen if you haven't hear it before, you'll see (hear) what I mean). Not a massively challenging tune to play but 'that' section will throw you if you are not ready for it. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/dingy-dong-day-marc-johnson/

I was 'in' 9 bands at one point 1990s). Jazz works very differently to most other genres and rehearsals are rare so the only conflicts are gigs. Everyone makes sure they have a selection of competent deps so all basses are covered (see what I did there). There are charts and dots and everyone uses a basket of skills to make it work. Knowledge of the repertoire, the ways in which music is put together, the ways endings work, certain genre expectations etc. Jazz musicians generally have big ears so they can pull off something that, to an untrained ear, can sound miraculous. There are a million formulas for these things. Most of the best gigs I have ever done have been with musicians I have never met before let alone rehearsed with. Obviously rehearsals have the potential to make everything better but the realities of gigging for professional musicians makes frequent rehearsals economically unviable. In my experience, one rehearsal can even make things worse sometimes as you end up confused by details that impede your thinking. Also, reading dots and preparing quality charts can make rehearsal time incredibly productive. 'Learning' tunes can be overrated.

Unmistakably Camel. I will put it on the list. I have been working on a guitar chart this week and it it exhausting. I did the Haden charts for a break and have a Marc Johnson chart that I should finish today. My next target is 646 transcriptions which would be 200 since I came back on line.

And another - I just follow where my mind takes me and it went straight from Over The Rainbow to Michael Brecker's version of 'Don't Let me Be Lonely Tonight' from his 2001 album, 'Nearness Of You: The Ballad Book'. Charlie Haden again on bass. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/dont-let-me-be-lonely-tonight-michael-brecker/

Another Charlie Haden performance - sublime but easy to read. This is Haden's part to the Harlod Arlen tune 'Over The Rainbow' from the 2011 Al DiMeola album, 'Pursuit Of Radical Rhapsody'. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/over-the-rainbow-al-dimeola/