Here are my top bass players:
1. Paul Chambers. You've heard him on the Miles Quintet records of the 1950s and on the greatest album of all time, "Kind of Blue." On Coltrane's first recordings like "Soul Trane." For me, the contours of his bass lines are unsurpassed. His note placement in relation to the beat. The way he creates tension by moving from "two" to "four" and and back again. His soloing both with arco and pizzicato.
2. Mingus. He really belongs on a different list. The composer/bandleader/all around force in jazz list. But his playing is so rich and deep he gets on this list too. Check out his duet with Dolphy on bass clarinet on "What Love."
3. Scott LaFaro. With Ornette and with Bill Evans. I just like the way he uses the full range of the instrument.
4. Haden. Also with Ornette. I'm not crazy about all his projects as bandleader, but I like the sweet soulfulness of his playing. The way he makes it look so easy.
5. Ron Carter. His work with Miles and Hancock and Shorter in the 60s is another high-water mark. Second only to Paul Chambers with Miles.
6. Walter Page. How can he be number 6? He really defined the walking bass line with Count Basie Orchestra with unmatched feel. If he is so low on my list it must be because I identify him more with a feel than with a sound.
7. Wilbur Ware. What can I say? He's one of the key players of that era (early 60s). Listen to him with Rollins.
8. Jimmy Garrison. He is part of the classic Coltrane quartet. Need I say more. He really defines a style of playing for that period.
9. Ray Brown. I know others would have him a lot higher on the list than I do. All other things being equal, though, I'd rather have Chambers on any given record from a comparable artist.
10. Christian MacBride. He's the best of his generation. I heard him play recently and was impressed.
11. Eddie Gómez. How great the players are even so deep into the list. I've seen him play and he is wonderfully subtle.
12. Percy Heath. A really tasty player from the bebop era.
I could go on, but past this point I would be faking it, just mentioning names I couldn't really identify by sound, or those who I actively dislike. Blanton? Slam Stewart? Potter? I love bass players for their anonymity, in part. You don't always keep track of who you are listening too. A swinging walking bass line is a thing of beauty, a joy forever. In fact, such bass lines are on my list of favorite things, along with Mark Rothko, Spain, and poetry itself.
I think the instrument that Sir Paul McCartney plays is not the same instrument that Paul Chambers played. A bass fiddle is not a bass guitar, though some players double on the two instruments.
ResponderEliminarI did forget Steve Swallow and Reggie Workman, Dave Holland and a few others.
Bass fiddle and bass guitar are different instruments -- I agree.
ResponderEliminarYou mean Percy Heath, Jimmy's brother. Jimmy plays sax. Percy is fantastic.
I sometimes think Walter Page was the most influential musician of the 20th century. By codifying the walking bass, he made bass central to dance-oriented musical styles, and all sorts of music that never had pizzicato bass before (from bluegrass to Egyptian pop) now has it, usually, nowadays, electrically, and often from "bass keyboards."
I once did the math. On the "Mingus at Carnegie Hall," which consists of two LP-side-length pieces from the Ellington book, Mingus plays more than 10,000 quarter notes. In addition to everything else, the man knew how to Walk it!
Loving LaFaro while disliking Blanton for showiness mystifies me, but sensibility is like that. (LaFaro is great too, but he is showy.)
The Invisible Man's lower frequencies . . .
ah -- you corrected Mr. Heath.
ResponderEliminarHe might be my favorite "walker". It's an exquisite thing.
I never said I disliked Blanton for showiness. I just am not enough of an Ellington scholar to know when I am hearing Blanton with the band. If I put Blanton on my list it would be presuming to a knowledge I don't really have.
ResponderEliminarMy misunderstanding.
ResponderEliminarAny compilation from '39 to '41 is worth it worth it worth it. A number of Ellington classics from the period feature the bass -- a rare thing.
Thanks for your thoughts -- bass is the place!