bassace

A proper musician. RIP

Sorry Jack, but I can’t help showing off. 😀

It’s too damn nice to put on the floor. I stand it on top of my amp when I use it.

Grace Designs Felix, not cheap and sorry about the dark quick pic.

Back to Moondance, and why not? Mickey Bubbles did a great version. The bass was playing over some very funky chords. And that version swung. Not to be confused with Swing, which does anything but swing. Have I confused you? Swing refers to the era populated by Glenn Miller et al when the music must have excited the punters but listened to today sounds rather plodding. A jazz tune that swings moves forward effortlessly with an urgent pulse from the bass propelling the rhythm forward. And the tempo doesn’t need to be over fast for a tune to swing. Try to listen toRay Brown playing with Oscar Peterson on Have you met Miss Jones. Played at a languid tempo that swings like crazy.

13. A combo/cab steel backline stand - bassace

IMHO Moondance can just about be classed as jazz, it’s just played very badly. And, of course, when something gets played to death it ceases to be called jazz (emoji denoting heavy irony). When I was a young buck we had the same argument concerning the classification of a sports car. It started with cars with open tops. Then the Lotus Cortina came along and confused everything. I suspect the jazz definition was dead easy in the 1920s when there was no other form of ‘lively music’ to compete. I did a jazz trio gig the other day and amongst some Monk and Miles we played a version of Sukiyaki, a pop tune from the sixties. So, go figure.

Different planets, drT, different planets.

My Genzler Magellan is a great amp But the knobs make it very difficult to adjust on a gig. Nice and arty but the dot on the front and reference line on the circumference are mostly invisible. You can’t beat chicken heads for backline.

I’m just not hearing this. Orbison’s and the Beatles’ tunes use a piano figure from the blues predating Miles by a decade or three. There are a few books analysing Kind of Blue, I’ve not read most of them but would be very surprised if they attached the KoB connection to these pop tunes.

A lot of the groups had 3 Vox AC30 combos with the vocals doubling through the rhythm amp. And don’t forget the Watkins Copycat sitting on top. Later all sorts of crude home made pa outfits appeared. My dad liberated a whole lot of old ‘music while you work’ speakers from the biscuit factory. Brother gutted the 9”x 4” elliptical drivers and put a whole load into a column, major axis vertically. As you can imagine the distortion was a bit challenging but bro’s finest hour came when the Stones ran Mick Jaggers vocals through them at Reading Town Hall. Jan 1962 I think. As OBBM will no doubt agree, there was neither money or availability around back then. You made a lot of your own kit.

When I was at school jazz was the music and the nascent rock and roll was enjoyed by thickoes and teddy boys - yes , really. And I’ve been playing jazz ever since. Mind you, rock improved and there was a lot of love for it. So I enjoy rock/pop, a lot of it anyway. And a lot of other musical genres. But I enjoy jazz best. I’ll get my beret.

Yes, 18 piece dance bands were becoming uneconomical and smaller aggregations, with amplification, we’re becoming the norm and just as effective. There was the JB7 and at that time The Eric Delaney Band followed the same route. We used to play on the same bill from time to time. They were still using upright bass with an amp and they had Tony Fisher, today one of the very best trumpet session men and Alan Skidmore on Sax. There was also a shy teenager with her first job on vocals; Elaine Mansfield who later became Elkie Brooks.

Yes great jazzer. He could solo round the fingerboard quite rapidly. Used to come across him often when he played with the Humph band. Another great DB character was Johnny Hawksworth with the Ted Heath Orch. Any early pioneer of amplified double bass, before BGs took hold. He used Ted Wallace amplification.

We played support to the John Barry 7 at Dorking Halls in the late fifties. First time I ever saw/heard a bass guitar. In those days it was cool in some places for the dancers not to applaud the band. No me neither. Anyway we played our set and got nothing back from the audience. It’ll all change with JB7 I thought. Except that it didn’t, There was a stoney silence. So on the changeover I said to JB ‘what can you do with a crowd like this?’ ‘I’d feck the lot ofem came back’ ‘What, all of them? You’ll have a job’ I said. ‘I’ll have a fecking good try’ he replied. To date that has been my sole conversation with the Great Man.

BBC TV is like a bunch of Oxbridge graduates in charge of a third rate covers band that plays Agadoo and the Birdy Song etc. And then repeats the whole lot in the second set. And the next morning.

I played a Jazz in 1963 it was already owned by the band I joined. Then in 65 I bought my own second hand for £100 through Melody Maker small ads.

When our skiffle group became the rhythm section of our first band we decided we should dispense with the washboard and get some drums. That was in 1958. So we all got on the bus and went to see Steve, not to audition him but to see his drums. They were a gorgeous red set. I played with him just three weeks ago, he’s a great drummer playing a Drumright Masterworks red set.

What about Jet Harris then?

And you can see from the pic how he pioneered the cooling fan.

Don’t forget Jim Fielder of Blood Sweat and Tears. And the bloke behind the Tops (Jameson? I’m no expert) was rated too. And yes, MM was the guvnor mag. NME was pretty rubbish in those days. Musos read Crescendo, I got a mention in 1967.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=brunel&client=safari&hl=en-gb&prmd=minv&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj5yuuv46XdAhXCSsAKHVJADFwQ_AUIEigC&biw=768&bih=950#imgrc=Sqs685lNtmJedM:&isa=y Didn’t he play on The Chain?

Plus one for the Puma. I have a spare that stays under my passenger seat but the main Puma has never been in any trouble. Luv ‘em.

I’ll come and bring the usual double bass and stuff. Might have some declutter to sell. Looking forward to trying OBBM’s Quilter. It’s always a great day for cake.

Ah yes, the Puma. I bought a 500 a few years ago from this forum. At the time it was Mike Arnopol’s favourite amp, highly recommended. It is a small amp with great clarity and a responsive eq section. Together with an FDeck HPF it has been my No1 amp. I like it so much that I sold a Clarus, prefering the Puma’s clarity. I have a second one that sits under my passenger seat as a back up - never needed to date. Two weeks ago I bought a Genzler Magellan on this forum. I hoped it might render the outboard HPF unnecessary but, having gigged it twice and a third on Thursday I’m not yet completely convinced. I’ll try it with the HPF. But for the time being I can really recommend the Puma. They’re cheap as chips on BC amp sales at the moment. Can’t understand why they are hanging around.