Normally, when I hear a great acoustic Bassist, it's on a jazz record *, but recently I heard a an old pop cut called "The Glow" (Bonnie Raitt) that featured an acoustic player named Bob Magnusson. Even in the context of that setting, he sounded amazing, and I was wondering if anyone out there knows anything about this guy?.... I imagine he's a studio guy, but I don't know. He had a beautiful sound and feel, and if he's on any jazz albums (especially trio) I'd love to find out.The cut I heard was semi jazz, and it's pretty obvious he's a jazzer of some sort, but I'd like to know more. Can anyone help?

* this remark was not intended to offend symphony bassists, pop musicians, or Edgar Meyer fans in any way, shape or form.

http://www.allmusic.com has his CV online. An extensive one it is, too.

Magnusson is a first-rate bassist who has worked with seemingly everybody. One very interesting trio setting is a CD by Laurindo Almeida on classical guitar, Magnusson and a drummer, in concert. It's on Concord Jazz. The dynamic level is perfect for hearing the interplay of strings.

He's also written a good introduction to walking bass lines: The Art of Walking Bass.

Wow, this one's an oldie...

Thought it would be worth a mention that I played two nights last year with a great pianist named Randy Porter, who is from out Bob's way. Just for yuks, I asked him if he knew anything about Bob, and he laughed and said that Bob was the bassist on his last trio record. I got the record, and it's no surprise that Mr. Magnusson sounds fantastic, as does Randy. Small world, what?

There's a documentary I happened to see on TV (BET Jazz I think) about Art Pepper. Some of the playing was shot in a small L.A. club and Bob Magnusson was the bass player....man is he ever a fine player. I believe the documentary was produced by Pepper's wife, Lori (sp?). Highly recommended!

Bob Magnusson is a monster.
I first heard Bob in 1978 when I went in to an L.A. jazz club because as I walked by I heard this bass player doing all these "Jaco" riffs.(I was young)
My jaw dropped to the floor when I saw this guy playing astonishing, melodic, lyrical lines all over the DOUBLE bass with ease. I found out his name was Bob Magnusson.
I recall learning he started playing with Buddy Rich when he was 19 and spent a few years on the road with him and was/is an in demand player. He has played/recorded with just about everybody and is probably one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet.

Yeah, he's got a great bio...he's played with so many great people. One of the underrated mofos of the DB.

He also played in Art Pepper's last groups before Art's death. Great Player.

He's also written a good introduction to walking bass lines: The Art of Walking Bass.

I just bought that book. It is very good for a beginner like myself.

Only pretty much one of the best bass players ever! Geez!

http://www.azcentral.com/ent/gifs3/0702napoleon.jpg

Another recommendation for Magnusson's book - it's a seriously good method for constructing walking bass lines - helped me a lot...

C

I spent the best part of half an hour going through some of my old vinyl records looking for an album I bought about 20 years ago and, it was Mark Murphy with Bob on Bass and do you think I can find it ???? I need a better filing system however, YES, he's a great bassist and the reason I remember him is because the first track on the album is just Mark Murphy and Bob doing "Tangerine" (just vocal and Bass and he really cooks!!!!) I bought the album on the strength of that track alone. GREAT PLAYER! :hyper: Now back to searching for that album.....

Gotta give my .02 on Mag.
I had heard him on a lotta sides for years.
Mike, where did you get that picture? It's real old. Bob lived in L.A. for years teaching, at times, at that Jazz School that Ray Brown started down there. But the definitive Bob Magnusson started, for me, when he moved down to San Diego and started to play with the great pianist, Mike Wofford. I'd originally heard Mike with Shelley Manne's band at the old Manne Hole in L.A. Mike's a mother too. He was Ella's on call pianist when she died...just to give you an idea of his credentials. Mag and Mike joined forces with drummer Jim Plank who was with the Symphony at the time. What A Trio! This band worked alot with an old friend of mine, Holly Hoffman, a great flute player who was working in Ray Browns band when Ray passed. Holly books many clubs in the San Diego area, or at least did....I remember that, because she brought me into town to play a guest spot with that trio with Mike and Jim. I, of course had a ball trying to fill Mag's shoes for a week-end. I lost alot of weight playing with those guys!
When Bass Player Magazine did an article on me a few years back, Bob Magnusson was the first person to call and congratulate me. They don't come any better musically or personally than Bob Magnusson!!!

I think Wofford plays with him on the book's accompaniment CD.

Mike, where did you get that picture? It's real old.

Oh crap, that's funny. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one pretty much unplugged from the pop-culture grid!

(Paul, that's a picture of "Napoleon Dynamite," which, although I haven't seen the movie myself, is probably Mike's very creative way of saying "Well, no DUH!" in response to the assertion that Bob M. is a bad mofo of a bassist...)

Last I heard he and Holly were still working in the San Diego area.

Holly and Mike got married! Holly has this band with two other flute players called 'Fluteology' I guess that's the spelling. Frank Wess and another lady flute player. Mike, Tony Dumas on bass and my old friend Jeff Hamilton on drums.
I was working a loud Loud, MEATMARKET in Denver once and having my eyes closed as usual, someone came up and yelled in my right ear: Would you hold it down? These people are tryin' to talk!! It was Jeff.

Oh crap, that's funny. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one pretty much unplugged from the pop-culture grid!

(Paul, that's a picture of "Napoleon Dynamite," which, although I haven't seen the movie myself, is probably Mike's very creative way of saying "Well, no DUH!" in response to the assertion that Bob M. is a bad mofo of a bassist...)

God, i'm old! I was wondering how Magnusson could ever have looked like that.....that's almost embarrasing.

.....that's almost embarrasing.

On the contrary--I'm almost embarrassed for recognizing the picture! But one can't avoid movie posters when going to Blockbuster to rent DVDs of "Family Guy" and "The Sopranos"--the two guilty pleasures of current television allowed in my cable-and-aerial-free home.

Can anyone recommend some particular recordings of Bob Magnusson for those of us clueless bassists unfamiliar with him?

(And Paul--Jeff Hamilton was just here in town to visit his alma mater and play a gig with his trio; speaking of bad mofo's, he's one...he and "my" current drummer, Steve Houghton, had a good time that night, and Ed Thigpen happened to be there and sat in--Bloomington just happened to be a nexus of jazz that night for some reason...)

Last I heard he and Holly were still working in the San Diego area.

There's a recent thread here under Basses where "quatre03" tells us about his new bass and mentions his teacher is Bob Magnusson:

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=177308

Funny things, coincidences...

i have been living in san diego now for about 6 years and have had many opportunities to see bob magnussen play. he is a phenomenol jazz bassist with a smooth and accurate approach. he is extremely melodic and engages his listeners by developing his ideas before leaving them. bob is also an excellent arco player. he has a beautiful rendition of 'you don't know what love is' in e minor that i've heard a couple times.

he recently cut an album with the group road work ahead, featuring peter sprague (gtr), bill mays (pno), jim plank (dr), and, of course, bob. you can listen to a few track samples or purchase the cd on peter sprague's website at www.petersprague.com. all four of these musicians are ridiculous. they often leave me speechless and smiling. check them all out!

i have been living in san diego now for about 6 years and have had many opportunities to see bob magnussen play. he is a phenomenol jazz bassist with a smooth and accurate approach. he is extremely melodic and engages his listeners by developing his ideas before leaving them. bob is also an excellent arco player. he has a beautiful rendition of 'you don't know what love is' in e minor that i've heard a couple times.
he recently cut an album with the group road work ahead, featuring peter sprague (gtr), bill mays (pno), jim plank (dr), and, of course, bob. you can listen to a few track samples or purchase the cd on peter sprague's website at www.petersprague.com. all four of these musicians are ridiculous. they often leave me speechless and smiling. check them all out!

Thanks for the up-date and welcome to TBDB!

There's a recent thread here under Basses where "quatre03" tells us about his new bass and mentions his teacher is Bob Magnusson:

One lucky dude.

Can anyone recommend some particular recordings of Bob Magnusson for those of us clueless bassists unfamiliar with him?

I thought I'd ressurect this old thread as I'm listening right now to Art Pepper's "Hollywood All-Star Sessions (http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47819DC46AD7220C5803E48C5B17DD204D74D FE9D0E32435BDBFB3247801170C64AE3A2CED99A39B066AEFA 31A65A0FD586ED5CFCDC6C3F399D9FDB&sql=10:mroibkr9aakc~T1)"

Bob Magnusson features heavily in this great box-set. (It also features John Heard who is another LA cat who regularly plays less than a mile from here at Charlie O's (http://www.charlieos.com/html/calendar.html).)

Anyway, every few months I blow my mind listening to Bob M's playing with Art - it never ceases to amaze; especially considering the up-tempo of many of the tunes.

If you don't feel like shelling out almost $80 for the full set (although it's fully worth it) you can download individual tracks at eMusic here: http://www.emusic.com/album/10605/10605328.html

I suggest starting with CD3, which will knock you out :D

Bob M. is a great player. I like his book on walking bass a lot too. I recommend that book to many.

There is a documentary/bio of Art Pepper that plays on the BetJazz station and Bob M. is playing bass with Art. It's about an hr long and it's about the life of Art but there's some good clips of Bob too.

First-call bassist in LA. There is a feature article on him in a fairly recent issue of Double Bassist magazine (UK).

I was fortunate enough to be working in the lounge at the old Kansas City Playboy Club in 1970 when the late Sarah Vaughn played the Penthouse showroom. Her group at the time consisted of Jan Hammer (p), Bob Magnusson (b) and Jimmy Cobb (d). I had the opportunity to talk with all of them while they were here. I remember Bob Magnusson talking about what it was like to be working on the road with the Buddy Rich Big Band. He described the band as the "Buddy Rich Marching Band". A very descriptive quote! Even though Bob was young at the time, he was a hell of a good player by then.

I studied electric bass at GIT in '82/'83. Bob Magnussen was one of my teachers, so I got to hear him often, in- and outside the school. Not only is he a great bassist, both grooving an lyrical; he is also an excellent and generous teacher, and all-a-round nice guy.

Bob lives in San Diego these days, and is really "the first call" and top of the heap down this way. The Roadwork Ahead CD mentioned in an earlier post is really a good example of his playing and writing skills. He does this arco piece on the Hymn ,In the Garden, that is just beautiful. And he burns on a few straight ahead tunes, while his Bossa/Samba lines are really the way to play the Brazilian music.

Bob recently got the Jazz Bass teaching postion at San Diego State, replacing Gunnar Biggs,another fine bassist and friend. Bob will no doubt influence many young bassist's along the way. I played a gig tonight in Newport Beach with a Bruce Cameron, Trumpet, and guitarist Mark Agustin who released a new CD called Retrospect and Mag can be heard on the sound clips on Marks web site. Check it out at: Marksguitarexchange.com/html/mark.htm

PS.Check out the youtube.com site search Joe Pass and find, All the Things You Are, and then Kenny Burrell, Late Night, more... Mag!

PS.Check out the youtube.com site search Joe Pass and find, All the Things You Are, and then Kenny Burrell, Late Night, more... Mag!

Thanks for that - there's a lot of good stuff there. Do you recognize the bass player with Oscar Peterson and Joe Pass? - it's not NHOP.

Just saw Bob at his release party for his latest CD "Liquid Lines" last night. Over 400 people, sold out at Copley Hall which is a real classy place. With him were Peter & Tripp Sprague, Duncan Moore and Randy Porter. Each of these guys is a card carrying BAMF. It's nice to see them playing for the public now and then.
Bob's the king of tone and a big influence around here. Too bad he’s a longboarder…

I was lucky enough to see Bob with the Condoli Bros (Gas Lamp District) in 1991 while I was living in OB. What a GREAT player.

Here's link to an article from the SD Union a couple weeks ago.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060430/news_lz1a30lines.html

Here's link to an article from the SD Union a couple weeks ago.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060430/news_lz1a30lines.html

That's a good article - I like this quote from Bob:

“Jazz consumes you to learn to play it, and I'm still trying to learn,” he said. “It's an ongoing process, with different levels of learning throughout your whole life.”

Andy

That's a good article - I like this quote from Bob:

“Jazz consumes you to learn to play it, and I'm still trying to learn,” he said. “It's an ongoing process, with different levels of learning throughout your whole life.”

Andy

++1. It's a never ending process !!

I was lucky enough to see Bob with the Condoli Bros (Gas Lamp District) in 1991 while I was living in OB. What a GREAT player.

Here's link to an article from the SD Union a couple weeks ago.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060430/news_lz1a30lines.html

in this article there is a link to mr. magnussons homepage, but it does not work. this: http://www.bobmagnusson.net/ works better

i took lessons from bob about a year ago, he's phenominal. i know he toured with buddy rich, that may give you a place to start looking for his recordings

[QUOTE=Chris Fitzgerald]Normally, when I hear a great acoustic Bassist, it's on a jazz record *, but recently I heard a an old pop cut called "The Glow" (Bonnie Raitt) that featured an acoustic player named Bob Magnusson. Even in the context of that setting, he sounded amazing, and I was wondering if anyone out there knows anything about this guy?.... I imagine he's a studio guy, but I don't know. He had a beautiful sound and feel, and if he's on any jazz albums (especially trio) I'd love to find out.The cut I heard was semi jazz, and it's pretty obvious he's a jazzer of some sort, but I'd like to know more. Can anyone help?


- He studied with Bert Turetzky and has done a lot of playing with a great socal pianist name Mike Wofford. He is a great Jazz musician as well and an amazing a bass player.

Wow, this one's an oldie...

Thought it would be worth a mention that I played two nights last year with a great pianist named Randy Porter, who is from out Bob's way. Just for yuks, I asked him if he knew anything about Bob, and he laughed and said that Bob was the bassist on his last trio record. I got the record, and it's no surprise that Mr. Magnusson sounds fantastic, as does Randy. Small world, what?

Randy is one of the greats around here or anywhere and that trio album you spoke of Eight Little Feet is just great. Bob plays so great on that album as does Randy. Randy taught my little brother piano for a while and listening to that album was a huge force on me. Bob's playing was part of what got me into playing bass, and in fact jazz in general. I believe he hails from california and is a really respected player by those who have heard him.

Bob's recent Liquid Lines CD is now available through CD Baby. There are 2 minute clips that you can listen to:

http://cdbaby.com/cd/magnusson

Also, the Sax player on this CD, Tripp Sprague, is having a CD release performance for his new CD at Dizzy's in San Diego this Saturday 10/14/2006. He, and the rest of Bob's cadre are outstanding players. Oh yeah, the cover (at Dizzy's for this show) is a whopping 12 bucks. What a deal!

Jim

I thought I'd ressurect this old thread as I'm listening right now to Art Pepper's "Hollywood All-Star Sessions (http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47819DC46AD7220C5803E48C5B17DD204D74D FE9D0E32435BDBFB3247801170C64AE3A2CED99A39B066AEFA 31A65A0FD586ED5CFCDC6C3F399D9FDB&sql=10:mroibkr9aakc~T1)"

Bob Magnusson features heavily in this great box-set. (It also features John Heard who is another LA cat who regularly plays less than a mile from here at Charlie O's (http://www.charlieos.com/html/calendar.html).)

Anyway, every few months I blow my mind listening to Bob M's playing with Art - it never ceases to amaze; especially considering the up-tempo of many of the tunes.

If you don't feel like shelling out almost $80 for the full set (although it's fully worth it) you can download individual tracks at eMusic here: http://www.emusic.com/album/10605/10605328.html

I suggest starting with CD3, which will knock you out :D

I agree I'm not a bassist but am a Bob Magnusson fan and have the Hollywood all stars CDs( just joined the forum to add my bit)...it features several bassists but you can easily pick out bob...whether he made friends with the engineer or what ...he stands out.. clean beautifully recorded bass and impeccable lines no matter what tempo...glad to see he has a web site and if only I lived in San Diego (I'm in Devon England)I could pop down to Harrys bar and see him most weeks

This has been a long time, but I seem to remember reading about Bob Magnusson in Downbeat around 1979. I was thinking that he was actually in the San Diego Symphony on French horn, and quit to take up the bass and was soon back in the Orchestra as a bassist. Can anyone verify this, or have I been standing too close to the drummer for too long?

This has been a long time, but I seem to remember reading about Bob Magnusson in Downbeat around 1979. I was thinking that he was actually in the San Diego Symphony on French horn, and quit to take up the bass and was soon back in the Orchestra as a bassist. Can anyone verify this, or have I been standing too close to the drummer for too long?I first saw Bob Magnusson in the late 1960s playing in the showroom at the old Kansas City Playboy Club with the late great singer Sarah Vaughan, along with Jan Hammer on piano, and Jimmy Cobb on drums. I remember him telling us about his previous experiences working on the "Buddy Rich Marching Band". He was young at the time, so I doubt if he had time to be in the Symphony before that.

This has been a long time, but I seem to remember reading about Bob Magnusson in Downbeat around 1979. I was thinking that he was actually in the San Diego Symphony on French horn, and quit to take up the bass and was soon back in the Orchestra as a bassist. Can anyone verify this, or have I been standing too close to the drummer for too long?

Not entirely inaccurate, it seems - this from Allmusic (http://wm05.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47819DC46AD7220C5803E48C5B17DD204D74D FE9D0E32435BDBFB3247801170C64AE3A2CED99A39B578B0FD 31A65A0FD486EF5CFED86C3E399D8EDB&sql=11:difexq9gldte) :

"A top jazz and studio bassist, Bob Magnusson has worked with virtually everyone in modern jazz. The son of a clarinetist who played with the San Diego Symphony, Magnusson studied French horn for 12 years before switching to bass in 1967. His talent and sound developed very quickly, touring with Buddy Rich's Orchestra by 1968, playing with the San Diego Symphony and having two stints with Sarah Vaughan (1971-72 and 1975-76). Magnusson, who has been a studio musician for decades, was part of the co-op group Road Work Ahead from 1979-82. He has recorded with John Klemmer (Nexus), Art Pepper, Benny Golson, Joe Farrell, Linda Ronstadt (with Nelson Riddle's Orchestra), Bud Shank, Laurindo Almeida and Shorty Rogers, among others. Counting the Road Work Ahead projects, Magnusson has led record dates for Discovery in 1979, 1980 and 1984, and Trend in 1982."

Andy

Not entirely inaccurate, it seems - this from Allmusic (http://wm05.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47819DC46AD7220C5803E48C5B17DD204D74D FE9D0E32435BDBFB3247801170C64AE3A2CED99A39B578B0FD 31A65A0FD486EF5CFED86C3E399D8EDB&sql=11:difexq9gldte) :

"... Magnusson studied French horn for 12 years before switching to bass in 1967. ... Magnusson has led record dates for Discovery in 1979, 1980 and 1984, and Trend in 1982."

Andy

Bob was 6 years old when he started playing French Horn, and switched to DB at 18. So, as BB says, he was too young to have played in the SD Orchestra on French Horn, although he did later play as a bassist. He was touring with Buddy Rich after two years on DB though. Talk about a quick study!

Regarding the second part of the quote, there is a more recent Road Work Ahead CD from 2003, and also a 2006 Bob Magnusson CD called Liquid Lines both of which are really good. But as far as the older recordings are concerned, my two favorites are with Laurindo Almeida - Outra Vez, and Chamber Jazz. These two CDs really showcase Bob's playing, and are available used through eBay.

Jim

I saw a older video of the Rondstadt/Riddle project. Magnusson was playing bass, great sound- switching back and forth between arco and pizz, sounded great with the bow, then very swinging when needed. Very impressive player!
Jon Schwabe