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why zender is the best ?

KERMITNT

By KERMITNT,
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shizznit Collaborator

shizznit

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Stuart is one of the best funk players of all time. IMHO, he is up there with Larry Graham, Louis Johnson, Bernard Edwards, Bootsy, Stanley Clarke...to name just a few. I saw them play for the first time at Colston Hall in Bristol in 1994. I was already a fairly experienced guitar then and I had no ambition to switch to bass until I saw Stuart play. That evening changed my life as a musician. Sold all my guitar gear and replaced it with bass kit, quit the band I was playing guitar for at the time and never looked back.

It's not so much his technical ability, but his feel and timing is what really appeals to me as a musician. I don't necessarily play like Stuart and I never wanted to emulate his style 100%, but when I think to myself about my role in a band and what effect it has I always think of Stuart Zender. Stay tight, stay musical and let the other instruments breathe and I think thats what Zender does best.

I would love to see a Jamiroquai re-union with Zender, Smith, Katz, Akingbola and D-Zire, but thats never going to happen. :(

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ezbass Grand Master

ezbass

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[quote name='shizznit' timestamp='1347553210' post='1802396']

It's not so much his technical ability, but his feel and timing is what really appeals to me as a musician.[/quote]
Too Young To Die is certainly an example of this, not technically demanding, but such a nice feel.

BTW Do I detect a Stingray in the background there?

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risingson Mentor

risingson

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I was in a bar in Rome when I was about 15 doing some underage drinking on a school music trip when 'Too Young To Die' came on. The bass playing hit me so hard I went out the next day and bought 'Emergency on Planet Earth', it didn't leave my CD player for a year!

Stuart was one of the bassists to have spurred me on in my younger years, he was (along with Flea) my bass playing hero and I paid great attention to everything and anything he had involvement with! Jamiroquai have become uninteresting to me nowadays but their first few albums we undoubtedly really great, and Stuart's bass playing had a lot to do with why I got totally hooked.

[quote name='ezbass' timestamp='1347556081' post='1802428']
BTW Do I detect a Stingray in the background there?
[/quote]

It would surprise me as if I'm not mistaken, his Warwick Streamer Stage I was his only bass at the time (I believe his mum gave him some money to invest or something and he bought a Warwick instead!). He did use Stingrays and P's on later recordings with Jamiroquai but not many I don't think.

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miles'tone Veteran

miles'tone

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It was astonishing at the time (as it is now) just how good he was at such a young age. I think he'd only been playing bass a couple of years before he got the Jamiroquai gig.
I remember in an interview he gave years ago, he said when he was even younger he was a percussionist in the Archaos circus (with his sister?) so he obviously had the rhythmic thang down. Then he picked up the bass and hit the ground running.......

After watching the above clip earlier today I found a wicked early Jamiroquai gig in Japan from '93 on youtube (Jamiroquai - live at club citta) - Can't link to anything on my crap phone soz but check it out if you can. (it's left me gassing for a P/J Streamer stage one I can tell you!

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risingson Mentor

risingson

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[quote name='Gunsfreddy2003' timestamp='1347572831' post='1802739']
EOPE was a breathe of fresh air when it came out in 1993 and I still love it now. Jamiroquai were never the same after Zender and Smith left, all the funk went. Having said that I do like Paul Turner as a player and think that he has just a unique feel and sound as Stu did.
[/quote]

Paul is a really great player, he's got such a great groove and is a lovely guy to boot. Zender brought his own sound to the band though, it's such a rarity to hear that from a bass player.

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Wil Rising Star

Wil

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Zender was my first big bass influence. Amazing feel, to this day whenever I hear his playing on the first 3 Jamiroquai records he captures my full attention.

I read that when he first started learning the instrument, he sat and worked out how to play all the bass lines from Black Market by Weather Report by ear. Beats Smoke on the Water as a starter for 10 I guess...

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Bo0tsy Rising Star

Bo0tsy

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Lots of love also for Zender's playing from me. I still listen a lot to Jamiroquai's first 3 albums, and love them as much now as I did in the early nineties. Paul Turner's stuff with Jamiroquai is great too though. I think with Zender it's all about the groove, and Emergency on Planet Earth and Return of the Space Cowboy albums in particular, his playing really is the driving force behind so many of the songs.

What really amazes me most about Zender though is that since his split from Jamirioquai (in 1998?) he seems to have been on very few recordings. I think he cropped up on Mark Ronson's 'Versions' a few years ago, and did a bit of session work with Omar, but, other than that I'm not aware of many other major recordings where his bass playing can be heard?

I wish he'd get back in the studio more.

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shizznit Collaborator

shizznit

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[quote name='Bo0tsy' timestamp='1347616951' post='1803033']
Lots of love also for Zender's playing from me. I still listen a lot to Jamiroquai's first 3 albums, and love them as much now as I did in the early nineties. Paul Turner's stuff with Jamiroquai is great too though. I think with Zender it's all about the groove, and Emergency on Planet Earth and Return of the Space Cowboy albums in particular, his playing really is the driving force behind so many of the songs.

What really amazes me most about Zender though is that since his split from Jamirioquai (in 1998?) he seems to have been on very few recordings. I think he cropped up on Mark Ronson's 'Versions' a few years ago, and did a bit of session work with Omar, but, other than that I'm not aware of many other major recordings where his bass playing can be heard?

I wish he'd get back in the studio more.
[/quote]

Good point. You would think that a player of his stature would be beating off work from high profile artists with a large stick. Doesn't make sense :blink:

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miles'tone Veteran

miles'tone

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Posted

Brilliant! Cbeebies is the only telly I get to watch these days (yep 2 kids now) and my 2 year old loves the Zings. I get him to slap all over my bass every morning before brekkie so this is going on my bookmarks! Well, you gotta brainwash them as early as you can eh?;) cheers for that, and cheers to SZ for being able to have a bit of fun with it

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