Hey all,
I'm looking for some tips/ideas/things to learn in order to become a better blues/jam type bassist. I am a huge Allman bros. fan but I just don't seem to be able to grasp that type of playing. I also play alot of Yes music which is more my style, but I would like to get into jamming.
Any ideas are helpful.

Thanks

Listen to The Allmans' record Live at the Fillmore . You can really hear Berry Oakley improvising. He was a very good jazz bassist also . You can really hear him walking underneath everyones solos. I think it would be kinda hard to just tell someone how to improvise. It has alot to do with feel. When my band used to start a practice , the guitarist would just plug in and start jammin , then the drummer , and I would kinda start humming in my head along until I could find something. I would just say get out there and jam with people. After awhile your ear starts getting better and you can just go along . And most of all GROOVE!

Listen to The Allmans' record Live at the Fillmore . You can really hear Berry Oakley improvising. He was a very good jazz bassist also . You can really hear him walking underneath everyones solos. I think it would be kinda hard to just tell someone how to improvise. It has alot to do with feel. When my band used to start a practice , the guitarist would just plug in and start jammin , then the drummer , and I would kinda start humming in my head along until I could find something. I would just say get out there and jam with people. After awhile your ear starts getting better and you can just go along . And most of all GROOVE!

That sums it up. Get the Fillmore East album, listen to it, play along with it, listen to it, play along with it... and jam with other musicians.
Berry Oakley was very accomplished at many aspects of bass playing: laying down a riff or a standard blues pattern; playing "written" counterpoint parts; and reacting and adding stuff spontaneously in freer moments.
There are no shortcuts or tips, just listen and work at it.
The original Allman Brothers Band was a fantastic example of a bunch of musicians playing together as if they shared one brain. And Duane Allman was one of the very greatest musicians ever, IMHO.