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Pino Palladino...once again...how sh*t hot is he?


merello
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[quote name='thisnameistaken' timestamp='1373669405' post='2140547']

I leave the drummer to lock in with me, and I concentrate on making the vocal sound good. It's not about how busy you are, it's about not stepping on the vocal. Don't worry too much about what the drummer's doing, if he's any good he'll be doing the same thing as you. If all you're doing is listening to the drummer then you won't know whether you're making the song sound better or not.
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[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1373672597' post='2140568']
This is right. I can't think of any occasion when this is not so. Thumb well and truly up; well said, that man. :mellow:
[/quote]
I think it's a 2 way street. Firstly you're both part of the rhythm section, so get that right straight out of the blocks; this is serving the song at its most basic. Then both of you can do those little things that make the song shine and if you can do those things as a unit (a bass fill in synch with a drum fill for instance) then that shine will be blindingly brilliant. If either part of the rhythm section is relying on the other(s) to listen to them without reciprocation then they're being lazy, after all everybody is part of the song.

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[quote name='steve-bbb' timestamp='1373699293' post='2140634']
i disagree as much as i like jaco he hardly ever played it the same twice and the only ones most of us are familiar with are the original studio and the shadows and light version - its not like PP had to copy the studio version note for note - importantly it maintains the structure and the feel perfectly and adds to the song without making the overt statement that jacos lines often did - the lyrics and JM's delivery and wayne shorters soloing are more than enough to make it a great song even disregarding the bass line
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I just had the feeling that nothing "happened".. the song had my attention in the beginning but then it dropped. Not that I expect frantic bass-lines but I missed a bit of personality.. especially on fretless Pino has loads of that but I wasn't carried away by this. He copies some lines from Jaco but didn't add a lot of his own..

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[quote name='wombatboter' timestamp='1373705850' post='2140711']
I just had the feeling that nothing "happened".. the song had my attention in the beginning but then it dropped. Not that I expect frantic bass-lines but I missed a bit of personality.. especially on fretless Pino has loads of that but I wasn't carried away by this. He copies some lines from Jaco but didn't add a lot of his own..
[/quote]

does something 'have' to happen - this song is all about the lyrics and the ethereal feel created by JM's strumming and open tuning - the clarinet and bass (nice as it is) is just the icing on the cake :)

i think PP is great on this even if you do draw comparisons with JP - and as ezbass said above what bassist in their right mind would be brave or stupid enough to even want to attempt this :lol:

Edited by steve-bbb
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Well, that's the nice thing about music : that something "happens"... not that I expect it to come from the bass only. But it would have been nice if he had made his mark a bit more and fueled the song. Around here in Belgium the song was once covered by a local artist and the female bassplayer even played a slap bass (!) on it and it worked.. As much as I adore that song (although I prefer "Refuge" on that album) I had to admit that I liked that version, something "happened".

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Ultimately we're all looking at this from a bass player's perspective. Ask any singer/songwriter about it and they will wax lyrical about Joni's brilliance, with maybe a nod towards the sax; I wouldn't expect them to even really notice the bass player, no matter who it was. It is our lot to appreciate/critique each other and for others not to notice/care about us, but it is our choice of instrument and we knew about the "Who's that body at the back with the big guitar?" going in. Big up to whoever got the JM gig, she's not exactly known for her inability to choose jaw dropping musos ;)

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[quote name='ezbass' timestamp='1373709761' post='2140776']
Ultimately we're all looking at this from a bass player's perspective. Ask any singer/songwriter about it and they will wax lyrical about Joni's brilliance, with maybe a nod towards the sax; I wouldn't expect them to even really notice the bass player, no matter who it was. It is our lot to appreciate/critique each other and for others not to notice/care about us, but it is our choice of instrument and we knew about the "Who's that body at the back with the big guitar?" going in. Big up to whoever got the JM gig, she's not exactly known for her inability to choose jaw dropping musos ;)
[/quote]

who else has had the likes of jaco and pat metheny and michael brecker as their backing band? - few band leaders other than JM and zappa could assemble this sort of line up and as you say to get chosen would be just about the pinnacle of any musos career imo

ergo ... PP is one of the chosen few :lol:

Edited by steve-bbb
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[quote name='steve-bbb' timestamp='1373710828' post='2140794']


who else has had the likes of jaco and pat metheny and michael brecker as their backing band? - few band leaders other than JM and zappa could assemble this sort of line up and as you say to get chosen would be just about the pinnacle of any musos career imo

ergo ... PP is one of the chosen few :lol:
[/quote]I heard that, my point exactly. It has further occurred to me that JM might Hve asked Pino to back off a bit.

Here's another thought; we are talking about PP filling JP's shoes here. Given that Ms Mitchell was married to fretless maestro Larry Klein, one wonders whether JP was filling his shoes in the band given that they were divorced?

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[quote name='steve-bbb' timestamp='1373723466' post='2140991']
wasnt LK in the band after JP - LK was on chalk mark , wild things run fast and later iirc
[/quote]Thanks for sorting out the time line for me.

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  • 2 weeks later...

[quote name='wombatboter' timestamp='1373725245' post='2141005']
Great bass-lines on Wild things run fast.. a unique style Larry Klein displayed, far away from Pastorius but totally on the spot, I love that album.
[/quote]

I love that album and Larry's bass playing that L.P , too . Have you heard the Freddie Hubbard albums he played on immidiately before he hooked up with Joni ? Some amazing stuff on those .

Edited by Dingus
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[quote name='steve-bbb' timestamp='1373707584' post='2140735']
does something 'have' to happen - this song is all about the lyrics and the ethereal feel created by JM's strumming and open tuning - the clarinet and bass (nice as it is) is just the icing on the cake :)

i think PP is great on this even if you do draw comparisons with JP - and as ezbass said above what bassist in their right mind would be brave or stupid enough to even want to attempt this :lol:
[/quote]

Are you kidding?!! The chance to play for JM and in the band with the likes of Shorter et al - I would say yes in a heartbeat! Brave or foolish? Yep, I try to be!

Seriously, I wasn't aware that Pino had been hired by Joni but it makes sense - he would have been a great fit for covering all those great JP and LK lines. I thought he did a really good job here - much mellower tone than Jaco but then again Pino's been pretty much mellowing out ever since the early days.

Cheers

Ed

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[quote name='risingson' timestamp='1364256944' post='2024086']
Pino is my favourite bass player by a long shot, he's incredible. He kind of echoes most closely the kind of bass player I'd really love to be if I could do it. He's probably the most in demand bass player in the world right now as well, which I'm sure has its perks.

As for Entwhistle, he was totally unique and I've learnt to appreciate his playing over time, he really was an extraordinary musician with his own pace on the bass that no one really ever matched in rock music. He and Pino are almost at total opposite ends of the spectrum playing wise, I don't think Pino fits the role of Entwhistle well but if we're being totally honest then basically no one would have filled the role capably, so why not ask Pino to fill in in his own capacity? He's going to do a better job at bass playing than anyone else out there, and who wants to hear a copycat Entwhistle anyway, his tone was dire in later life.
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Entwistle is far more the end of the bass-playing spectrum that I'm interested in. Pino is a great player, but doesn't really interest me, playing-wise or tonally, which is not to criticise him; he's just not really my thing. As a previous poster said, I find him a bit bland really. He's kind of the British Nathan East (although kudos to Nathan for supplying the fab bass to Get Lucky recently). I'm not keen on his more distinctive fretless 80s stuff either, but I think that's because of the over-affected (IMO) tone. FWIW Entwistle's Alembic tone is one of my all-time favourites.

Still, I'm not entirely sure how a 'Pino is great' thread turned into an argument about who is better. :huh:

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The difference is that I would do the impossible to go to a gig where Pino plays fretless but I wouldn't do a lot of effort to see a D'Angelo gig...it seems like two different bassplayers and one of them is not really my cup of tea.
Friend of mine played at the same festival as D'Angelo last week and took a picture of Pino's gear...



[URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/42/3tg1.jpg/][IMG]http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/1023/3tg1.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
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I am not being critical of PP but I do wonder what he would sound like if someone put a third chord in there? (Meeeeoooow!)

Seriously, tho', I have no problem with Pino (he's a Cardiff boy and I did most of my early playing around there) but I think he is possibly the most overrated player in the canon. He is good at what he does but most of it is journeyman playing. If half of us had Steve Jordan (and, indeed, Mayer) to bounce off and played that often as a trio, we would probably sound that good.

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When you say 'journeyman playing', I presume you're not including his astonishing fretless work with Paul Young, Gary Numan, etc etc etc. I know it's all a fair few years back but you can bet your boots he can still play the stuff and, my god, I wish my playing was as 'journeyman' as that..!

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[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1374664097' post='2151424']
Seriously, tho', I have no problem with Pino (he's a Cardiff boy and I did most of my early playing around there) but I think he is possibly the most overrated player in the canon. He is good at what he does but most of it is journeyman playing.
[/quote]

I'm sure he doesn't lose sleep over your opinion of his ability...

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