KiOgon Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 I play by ear, I hear a tune I like & generally speaking have a bass line going before 1/2 way through, not bragging - that's just how I play - there's a hell of a lot I can't do - that's for sure. My lady loves me playing, often when I ask her what should I play, she suggests a tune/song & we'll get it on youtube then take it from there. Just lately I've been saying a lot "that's a boring bass line, nothing to keep me interested", so then she suggested I should play more jazz perhaps! Now I've always sat on the side with jazz, never got into at all but nothing against, so now I'm thinking - BUT where to start? I mean artists to investigate rather than individual tracks, but hey - Polite suggestions for easy listening please & ta. Cheerz, John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
risingson Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 (edited) Jazz is a wide and varied genre and in the same way that Def Leopard don't epitomise rock music, not one artist I could recommend necessarily reflects what you might like listening to within the confines of jazz. However, I would strongly recommend a good starting point would be Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. Get a hold of some real books and get to grips with a few of their standards that you enjoy, have a look at constructing some nice walking bass lines around the chord progressions, and take it from there. Also probably worth listening to in this initial stage are people like Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, Miles Davis's early stuff, Bill Evans, Cannonball Adderley and be listening to upright players like Paul Chambers, Ray Brown, Ron Carter and Scott La Faro to see how, when and what they played like and who with. Edited January 9, 2011 by risingson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimBobTTD Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Excellent question, and one I have asked myself recently. I have been checking out Weather Report with Jaco Pastorius (to see what all the fuss was about) and Back Door. I find Weather Report a little too "muzak" but Back Door are tremendous. That was all I can come up with. I look forward to more knowledgeable types chiming in with some solid and perhaps less clichéd suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrinkleygit Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 I was in a similar situation some months ago when offered a dep with a local jazz quartet, must have cd would be Miles Davis "kind of blue" also check out herbie hancock, john coltrane, eddie harris to name a few others,I also realised that I new almost nothing in the way of any theory, useful book & cd I can recomend "begining jazz bass" from hal leonard musicians inst master class series, I now have the bands regular bass spot & to be honest this is probably one of the best things I have done in terms of broadning my horizons musicaly from just blues & r'n'r, best of luck, mike b, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris2112 Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 (edited) Indeed, asking "where do I start with jazz?" is like asking "where do I start with rock?". I suppose I'd start right in the centre of the map with some Miles Davis. Because through Miles, you can trace the evolution of jazz in a way. You can go backwards through his career and hear the more traditional stuff, or you can go forward and listen to the roots of fusion and eventually "popular" jazz from the 80's! That said, there is so much stuff to get into, but I do find jazz particularly dull. Which is odd, because I absolutely love fusion and could listen to it all day! Edited January 9, 2011 by Chris2112 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaxxyBass Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 I don't know if this would help but I started out on Sax with this Jamey Aebersold play-along [url="http://www.musicroom.com/se/ID_No/055847/details.html"]http://www.musicroom.com/se/ID_No/055847/details.html[/url] There is some really useful info about commonly used jazz scales and chords at the beginning and numbers are set out a bit like lead sheets with the chord changes above - so you know what scale to aim to use notes from ie D-7, G7, Cmajor7 etc. Hope that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 If it talks to you, then do it... Most jazz gigs at local level are standards played with a few horns and then they do the rounds on the tune and everyone solos.. Nothing to get your knickers in a twist about..you kind of fancy that freedom or you don't. The gig will come with charts or pads and you'll be expected to get it pretty quickly and make sense of it. That is why so many 'rock' musicians shy away from it. It can be a lot more formal as well as most will be readers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaxxyBass Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Jazz is extremely varied in different styles - standards, bebop, modal, blues, funk and fusion etc. It really doesn't mean you only have to play one jazz style - I have found it has helped me immensely to explore more interesting ways of playing [b]all[/b] genres, jazz, funk, blues, rock, soul etc etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris2112 Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Get into latin jazz, it's very cool and there is a good chance you'll hear Anthony Jackson rocking a Fodera too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiOgon Posted January 9, 2011 Author Share Posted January 9, 2011 Wow! Many thanks to y'all for so many suggestions I know it's a BIG question but there's some good ideas, familiar names & indeed a few I've not heard of there to get me listening. Cheerz, John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Buy a copy of Jazzwise or Jazztimes, follow the reviews/articles/adverts/websites and get onto Spotify to put some names in. Miles Davis: Kind of Blue, Workin', Steamin', Cookin', Relaxin', Miles Ahead, Birth Of The Cool, Nerfertiti, Miles Smiles, Sketches of Spain, Porgy & Bess John Coltrane: Blue Train, A Love Supreme, Giant Steps Sonny Rollins: Saxophone Collosus, Tenor Madness Duke Ellington: almost anything Count Basie: The Atomic Mr. Basie Wynton Marsalis: Standard Time, Live At Blues Alley, Citi Movement Chris Potter: Gratitude Joe Lovano: Landmarks Dave Holland: Anything Marc Johnson: Bass Desires Chick Corea: Trio Music That'll keep you entertained for a few days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassace Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Some good suggestions here. You say that you have a good ear and that is a good start. There are those on this forum who are very good on theory and this is a good place to graduate to. For now, I suggest you use your ears to the max by immersing yourself in some of the suggested jazz CDs. Spotify is a very good source. My suggestion to you is to listen to some piano trios. Nice and simple, you will hear how the pianist states the tune in the first chorus and then builds up his improvisation. Then listen to how the bass and drums play along with him. Anything by Oscar Peterson will do nicely and of course most of the time he will have Ray Brown on bass - nice solid bass lines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyrene Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 [quote name='Bilbo' post='1083274' date='Jan 9 2011, 04:39 PM']Dave Holland: Anything That'll keep you entertained for a few days [/quote] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiOgon Posted January 10, 2011 Author Share Posted January 10, 2011 Thanks again guys for above - I now need to find a large portion of listening time! Cheerz, John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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