Bilbo

I am a Jazz musician. I never play on a stage big enough to move around on. And nobody notices the bass player unless s/she catches fire. Well known fact. Also, eye contact doesn't matter when the whole audience is wearing varifocals.

I don't think it happened suddenly. I think it took 20 years before the fretted bass came into its own.

Chicken and the egg, I guess. I know that saxophones were not expected to be the flexible instruments they ended up being and it is entirely arguable that the musicians made the instruments make the music they heard rather than the musicians potential being defined by the potential of the instruments original design. How could anyone predict what Michael Manring could do with a bass and at the same time argue that the Zon Hyperbass was probably an idea that came out of the concepts Manring was working on? I know that Anthony Jackson was asking for a 6-string Contrabass long before any luthier came up with the idea (although a C-extension on a double bass was already a thing, if not a five string double bass with a low B).

I remember working for Probation in Epsom and there was this lovely admin lady nearing retirement; very sweet, very quiet and innocuous. We were chatting one day and someone mentioned Marshall amps. Turned out the admin person was asked out on a date by Jim Marshall when she was a teenager and used to hang around with The Who. 😮

It is an interesting discussion. Before they invented the microphone, singers could not cope with musicians and a lot more music was instrumental. Once microphones and amps became available, the bands became peripheral and instrumental music became the exception rather than the norm.

With absolute respect to Steve Bailey, I would ignore the comments about them being 'incorrect'. Useful as that feedback may be, I would argue that finding transcriptions of anything is something of a lottery and the more obscure the music (or the more it is performed by non-readers), the less likely it is that there will be a 'correct' version out there. If I am trying to get my head around a bass part, I would much rather an imperfect transcription to work with than none at all. Unless Steve is willing to proof read everyone's transcriptions, the bass community is going to have to live with the inadequacies of those of us who are trying to get some of the stuff down on paper without the support of professional proof readers, publishing houses and extensive training in musical engraving. My main reason for not monetising my transcriptions website is specifically related to those imperfections of which Mr Bailey speaks. I don't beleive it is morally defensible for me to try to earn money from transcriptions that I know are probably technically imperfect. I share them because I am enthused by the idea of written notes and transcriptions of stuff that is not readily available otherwise, not because I think there is a buck to be made. If that offends anyone, then that is their problem. I have said it before; transcriptions are an attempt to record what one thinks is happening and there are no guarantees that we get it right every time.

Another non bass solo transcription, this is the Miles Davis trumpet solo from the 1957 Sextet version of Richard Carpenter's 'Walkin'' from the album of the same name. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/walkin-miles-davis/

A great band making great music. They are doing a 'kin great job.

Dave Holland on electric bass! Who would have thought it. 'Theives In The Temple' from the 1996 Herbie Hancock CD, 'The New Standards'. A nice repetitive part that demands very little of the reader. Thieves In The Temple – Herbie Hancock – Bilbo's Bass Bites

A partial transcription from the 1976 Return To Forever album, 'Romantic Warrior' featuring Stanley Clarke. The tune is 'Dual Of The Jester And The Tyrant'. I did this one becasue I just wanted to know what was going on for the first minute or so. Dual Of The Jester And The Tyrant – Return To Forever – Bilbo's Bass Bites

Another tune from the Kazumi Watanabe 'The Spice of Life' album. This is the head from the tune 'Period'. I bottled it when the solos started; it just got too difficult to pin down! Period – Kazumi Watanabe – Bilbo's Bass Bites

Another transcription from the most recent album fron UK Prog band Solstice, 'Sia'. This is Robin Phillips' bass part from the track 'Seven Dreams' which offers some interesting opportunities to practice reading in 7:4 https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/seven-dreams-solstice/

Uli Jon Roth at The Railway in Ipswich (yes, a pub) about five years ago. It was so loud I had to watch the gig sideways on to the stage. Anything in front of the speakers would have been killed. It is the only time the volume had ever actually hurt. And, yes, I have seen Motorhead.

From the 1987 Kazumi Watanabe Trio recording, 'The Spice Of Life', this is the full Jeff Berlin bass part to the track 'City'. A tough read and a tough tune to play due to the endless sixteenth groove. The solo is not for the faint hearted. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/city-kazumi-watanabe/

Robin Phillips' bass part for the tune 'Shout' from the new Solstice CD 'Sia'. Easier to play that it is to read!! https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/shout-solstice/

Will Lee's bass part for the tune 'Going Home' from the 1991 Gary Burton CD, 'Cool Nights'. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/going-home-gary-burton/

Another monster bass part from Chris Squire; this is the bass part for the tune 'Changes' from the 1983 album, '90125' (1983 - where did that 37 years go!!). Changes – Yes – Bilbo's Bass Bites

Mark Egan's solo on the tune 'Walk In' from the 1988 Elements album, 'Illumination'. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/walk-in-elements/

No Quarter. Last song on side two of the HM Heroes LP. A few tracks are on YouTube, type in NWOBHM No Quarter (otherwise you get the Led Zep song).

My moment in the sun.... https://www.discogs.com/Various-Heavy-Metal-Heroes-Volume-II/release/2138908 NWOBHM was where it all started for me. In 2 years or so, I did the Friday Rock Show an EP and the above track on a compilation LP. It went down hill from there. I am far Left on the photo and politically.

My transcription of Jeff Berlin's part to the YouTube video he did of the tune 'Two Thoughts' with the Argentinian pianist Mariano Augustoni. I am not entirely confident of all of it as there are a couple of passages where the details are hard to identify with absoute certainty but, as a means of getting closer to sweet tlittle this performance, it's a start. Two Thoughts – Mariano Agustoni & Jeff Berlin – Bilbo's Bass Bites

Just buy a decent professional instrument and forget about it. Its about the music, not the gear.

I have recorded myself on and off for decades; cassettes, minidisc, Mp3 and, of course, recording studios. The biggest problem I have is that, as I am primarily a Jazzers, I am improvising most of the time. As a result, almost every recording I have of me has mistakes in it, some minor, some colossal. A clean take always feels like a 'kin miracle to me. The transcription thing is a revelation, though. So many mistakes on recordings I have listened to sometimes for decades and haven't noticed.

Regarding the popular thing, I was discussing this with a guitar player friend of mine. Someone mentioned the fact that people join bands to 'get girls'. I laughed and said that, in 40 years of playing gigs, I had never been spoken to by a girl after a gig. In fact, I have rarely been spoken to by anyone at a gig unless it was a gig I had arranged. A few months later, he was talking to a girl after a gig we had done together and, just as they were finishing their conversation, she told him she was a bass player. 'Fcuk me, Rob', he said. 'Even the bass players don't talk to you'. 🤣

Where are you, mate? People on here will let you play their affordable basses if you make contact. Plenty of credible starter instruments out there but a friendly steer will help you avoid a catastrophe.