MNY

Manic depression is just 3/4, it has a waltz feel.

Strictly speaking Kashmir is an example of a Hemiola where the drums are in 4/4 and other instrumentation is in 3/4 which creates a weird odd time feel as the instrumental cycles of three line up with the drums every 4 bars. Hope this makes sense.

I saw The Headhunters in Leeds some years ago (minus HH) with TM Stevens on bass. He was ridiculous. One of the funkiest players I have ever come across. A total monster.

Pretty cool, I don’t mind the jazz warblings. The rhythm section is definitely cooking! Nice one! Cheers.

Great recommendations thank you. I have been studying and playing along to Kid Charlemagne for a few months now. I have got the nuts and bolts notes wise, but the feel is what you really have to work at. It’s very much Jameson inspired according to Chuck himself. Being primarily a groove drummer myself I love the concept of funk, the syncopation, the note choices, the repetition (sometimes), the ghosting etc etc. Cheers.

If you like Vulfpeck, try Scary Pockets, Pomplamoose and Knower. (Sam Wilkes is just as monstrous as Joe Dart).

I’m with you, been checking them our recently, thank you.

Strangely this has a hint a Mick Karn.

Trey Anastasio - Paper Wheels. Fabulous.

Thanks, I know these albums I used to play along to them as practice when drumming. Great grooves. Thanks !

Hello All, I wonder if anyone can recommend some nice funky albums to check out please? As a reference I really love listening to Willie Weeks, earlier Herbie Hancock (Spiralling Prisms etc) Abe Laboriel, Nathan East,Marcus,Meshell, Motown, Chuck Rainey, etc basically I listen and have listened to a lot of funk,fusion, jazz and popular music over the years. I am looking for something new and unusual that I haven’t already come across. I would welcome any suggestions so I can use this music to listen to on my daily walks. Many thanks in advance.

Firstly it’s great to read a post which sums up a lot of where I am in my own playing. I have only played bass as a side line up to last year when I decided to stop playing drums owing to escalating rsi issues in my arm, which I had been battling for six years. As a part time bassist I seemed to develop a reasonable facility on the instrument without really knowing what I was doing. This has continued over the last year but I have improved my fingerboard knowledge a little. I have also wrestled with SBL and whilst there is no doubting the educational content and sheer enormity of what Scott has achieved, the immersive format isn’t right for me as I simply can’t devote enough time to sitting in front of my computer. I work long hours in my own business and find that maybe an hour a day is the most I can manage during the week, (more at the week end although I have to watch my arm!). The point of the post is to really just say hello as I haven’t been on here too long and to say thanks for posting your stories as it’s encouraging to see more seasoned bass players getting ‘stuck’ in the same areas as myself. I sincerely hope you all find your own way of navigating through these issues as I will attempt to do. As a slight digression, to prevent the problem of being hounded by ads why don’t you try the new browser called Brave. It’s great. I use it in conjunction with the search engine ‘Duck,Duck,Go with none of the problems you describe. Plus it’s nice to get away from the big corporations who just seem to want to spy on us and relieve us of as much money as possible, whilst at the same time supporting smaller more ethical businesses. Cheers, Mark.

@spikemac thank you. I’m really chuffed with it.

Thank you very much Andy. Much appreciated. Please stay in touch so when circumstances allow, we can finish off our chat and you can have a play of the Ultra Jazz. All the very best.

Sam Wilkes is on fire here. In fact the rhythm section is pretty fabulous. Louis can certainly throw down a groove. The music won’t be everyone’s cup of tea but the musicians in the band are all top drawer players , and Genevieve Artadi on vocals is not to be underestimated. Personally I like the way the music grooves.

I generally like Nick Campbell’s playing, although Sam Wilkes is possibly my favourite of the new breed of funky players.

I think Cort still use it as an option on some of their 5 strings to achieve a more focused sounding low B string. It certainly seems to work for them on the newer Singlecut range. (the non fanned fret range).

I’m not sure, but I can tell you the sustain which presumably comes from the new style high mass bridge is very impressive indeed. They possibly thought it wasn’t required in the circumstances.

That sounds great, and I believe that’s just the passive tone! Wow. Thanks for posting Trevor.

What a beauty. This is an interesting mini review by the Uber talented Nathan Navarro.

@Lozz196 thank you kindly. It sounds fabulous too.

@TrevorG go for it! I’m sure you will do it having been there before. I was a paid amateur drummer of a good standard or so I was told. Unfortunately I suffer from bad RSI in my right elbow and lower arm which has curtailed my drumming. So bass it is for me going forward. Glad you like your Ultra Bass. I have played lots of boutique jazz basses, some owned by mates and some in shops and frankly my bass widdles on the lot of them. I don’t know what Fender have done with this model but they’ve done something pretty magical in my opinion. Yes they’re expensive, but they’re not relative to boutique jazz basses some of which won’t play or sound as good as the Ultras.

Thanks @TrevorG. My Jazz bass is pretty special. I have been lucky enough over the years to have had some very nice guitars ( Alembic, Zon etc) and the Ultra Jazz is possibly my favourite. Not bad for someone who isn’t actually a bass player, well not a proper one at least. Cheers.