Bilbo

I hosted a gig last night which included bass player Yuri Goloubev, a Russian guy with a background in classical music but who plays great Jazz. His Arco work is sublime. His left hand technique was flawless so, at the end of the gig, I felt the action on his bass to find it no higher than an electric. I want an action that low so I can have the kind of facility he has. My current action, recently lowered, is massive by comparison but I am anxious that I may lose something if I take it too far. What's the collective view?

Slam dunk! I love science!

I have a Gibson ES175 and a. Takamine CD132SC nylon acoustic. I also have an Antoria steel sting from way back. For most of my life, I have had more guitars than basses.

Wow!! Saw this guy play last night. Best bass player to appear at my Jazz East project by a country mile!! Beautiful arco sound. What a cv.

By all means try the Stagg but you'll GAS for the real thin,I guarantee it

If you can read a chord chart, you will meet the expectations of most jazz jam sessions.

Double bass. I did the electric bass playing Jazz thing for 28 years. Wasted time. Do the (up) right thing.

Yes. Last April in Oxford Not true. Pete Churchill, Mishka Adams and Ben Barritt.

Yes - The Revealing Science of God - intro drone lasts to 3.48!! [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAgp3TdtrW4[/media]

[quote name='yorks5stringer' timestamp='1446389186' post='2898971'] Fiddler on the Roof: 'If I was a rich man'? [/quote] In a barn, not on a roof.

James Taylor - Whenever I see your grumpy face.

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1446208170' post='2897708'] This is up there with never having watched Star Wars, but I have never heard anything Jaco has played on... Not out of any dislike for the man, just general disinterest has led to me not bothering to look him up on youtube etc. .. he's not alone, I've never heard anything by Geddy Lee either, which is a another name that keeps cropping up. One day I'll have to have a session going through all these names that get mentioned on BC [/quote] You should film that!! The first time I heard Jaco 2015!!! It would be fascinating to see your reaction this late in the day.

[quote name='NickD' timestamp='1446205423' post='2897674'] I don't think I can add anything to this thread, partly because I know nowt, and partly because all the expected posts are already in. I'd really like to know who your '3 others' are though? [/quote] Percy Jones, Jimmy Johnson and Bruford era Jeff Berlin.

I think it is was to forget what a shock to the system Jaco was when he hit in '76. I lived, ate and breathed him for a time but moved on as my tastes developed. I still go back every now and then and get a fix. It's his sound, groove and chops. No-one has made me sit up and listen as much before or since. PS first was Heavy Weather

One small thing that I found useful (and still do) is reading without a bass. I sit on buses, in my office etc with a chart in front of me, reading the rhythms. The discipline I find hardest to develop is not knowing which dot means which note but reading lines in real time, concentrating on the lines and reading the whole part. The skill can, at least in part, be pracised away from the bass.

It sneaks up on you, doesn't it? Good to see you going in the right direction again.

ANYTHING is good. Just do it and keep doing it. Don't stick to one piece until you get it right, jump around different pieces so you avoid learning them and not READING them. Anything. Two bars, two pages, two books - keep going!!

The wobbles should have forced some further takes but time ran away with me and I couldn't get to it.

Steve Rodby and Paul Wertico have made some incredible music together.

'Time To Turn' by Eloy.

When I was a teenager, I bought a roll of backing paper (wallpaper) and redrew the whole Yes catalogue of Dean covers in an endless mural across the top of my bedroon wall. Remember when we had time to do those kinds of things

Double bass, not EUB. If youir MD wants a double bass, he will want a double bass and EUB will not cut it (most sound like fretless electrics). Best crack on I say. Try Thomann or Gedo Musik. You will find something in your price range that will get you going. They ain't handmade Italian basses but they will get you off first base (see what I did there?). There are those who offer all sorts of complex advice about buying second hand but, to be blunt, the pros and cons of bass hunting at this level are mostly hair splitting. Get an affordable Thomann/Gedo bass, get it set up by a local luthier and you will be fine.

I am doing a Rock Blues gig with a Wal fretless next Tuesday that is going out live on local radio. The drummer is Brendan O'Neill, ex-Rory Gallagher, and it's going to be 'kin loud Anyone who thinks Wal's are one trick ponies is a eejit. Mine has done Jazz, Latin, Rock, Funk, Blues, Pop, Big Band, pit orchestra work live, studio etc etc. I have never had a negtative comment and have had plenty of positive ones. Wals deliver. End of.

The list of Muppet/Seasame Street appearances is legendary; James Taylor, Wynton Marsalis, Buddy Rich etc etc. I suspect it is as much to do with the fact that these artists have children that completely freak if they refused to do it!!

A random noise without intent can 'sound' musical, just as a picture made by a monkey can 'look like' art. But it isn't. Without intention, it is just noise.