Ellington's bassist?

[RED5]

I was watching a documentary on Billy Strayhorn with the Duke Ellington Band. There was a shot of Strayhorn playing piano live and behind him was the bassplayer.Two questions, Who was he? and What heck was that bass he had? Aside from it appearing enormous,(his head was level with the neck joint) It had a cutaway on the G side of the body, to gain access to the high end of the fingerboard I imagine? Great music, wicked looking bass. Anyone?

[Eric Hochberg]

Here's a link to the video.

Don't know who the bassist is but the bass looks like it could be a Framus. Volker Nahrmann had a couple for sale at one point.

[wdave]

I found this on youtube. Might be the same thing you're talking about.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tjc7mu9leYw
According to one of the comments, the bass player is John Lamb.
Cheers
Dave Little

[anonymous02282011]

Looks like Aaron Bell, but I could be wrong.

Elllington always had top notch bass players.

What an era! I wish I was born in the '20s.

[RED5]

Originally Posted by adbass

Looks like Aaron Bell, but I could be wrong.

Elllington always had top notch bass players.

What an era! I wish I was born in the '20s.

I'm right with you there! for many reasons.

[Gearhead43]

Well, it certainly looks like a Framus cutaway. I like his right hand technique, I may have to try that.

[Jeremy Allen]

Andy Stetson had an old bass that looks just like that in his shop when I was last there about a month ago if anyone's interested.

Man, does the bass come through on that video!

[RED5]

Originally Posted by Gearhead43

Well, it certainly looks like a Framus cutaway. I like his right hand technique, I may have to try that.

It really caught my attention. I'm an electric player so DB is a brand new world to me, To see one with a cutaway just opened my eyes! I've searched Framus and saw the exact instrument. The guy on nit was really good. I guess when Duke Ellington hired you? You were capable.

[wdave]

Here are some pics of John Lamb. Top 2 rows.
Looks like him in the Strayhorn video (albeit a little younger then)
http://images.google.com/images?q=jo...1,GGGL:en&um=1
Dave

[billoetjen]

Sweet Jesus - talk about playing in the pocket!

Thanks for sharing that posting. What I love about that is how it's all about timing and tone, no need for flash and fireworks. It's BASS.

Bill

[Dig Wilbur Ware]

Tourist Point of View indeed.

[98mtd]

Amazing Swing!

[msw]

John Lamb was in Ellington's orchestra in 1965.

[Carl Johnson]

I wonder if Duke pulled that tenor's ear when off camera? Must have been a long night

[Roger Davis]

The tenors were really enthused weren't they..............?

[Ike Harris]

Duke HATED firing a musician. He would instead hire another guy that played your part to sit next to the one that needed to go. Occasionally, you'd see 2 bassists in a promo shot . . .

[msw]

Good point, Ike.
Sometime around 1945-46 it was O.P. and Junior Raglin, both playing the bass. They had a feature called Basso Profundo which is WAY ahead of its time.
The story goes that when Duke Ellington first heard Jimmy Blanton he hired him immediately but wouldn't fire Billy Taylor (the bassist at the time). Billy Taylor quit after several weeks of being blown away by Blanton's incredible virtuosity.

[Tampabass]

Originally Posted by msw

John Lamb was in Ellington's orchestra in 1965.

and Lamb is alive and well, and continues to gig in the Tampa Bay area. He sometimes plays with another ex-Ellington musician, trombonist Buster Cooper