bass tricks

[Jack Clark]

Originally Posted by Eric Swanson

If I get lost in a new tune when I am soloing I just start playing insanely fast riffs until the horns come back in. Works every time and nobody can tell you aren't hitting the changes. They just think that you are insanely deep and play some really out sh*t.

I haven't tried it yet, but I've seen/heard some other folks do flamboyant pizz glissandos, accompanied by soulful facial expressions. I think that this technique is used in similar situations.

Or, the final trick is just to to play a solo with a very few whole notes, but look really tortured and deep.

Hilarious, Eric! So! You guys really do this!

HA! And, yeah, these are all examples of things that look like BS and sound like BS everytime I see and hear them. And everytime--just as I'm about to conclude that they really are BS--the soloist turns it over and collects a nice applause. So, instead--just as you say--I end up concluding that it must have been really deep stuff that I'm too jazz-ignorant to appreciate. (Like when a soloist is playing totally chromatically. )

Maybe most of the time both things are true.

[Mike Goodbar]

This one time, we were playing "All Blues," and I played an open G string with my left hand while turning the page of the sheet music with my right.

That was great.

[Paul Warburton]

Originally Posted by Jack Clark

BS--the soloist turns it over and collects a nice applause. So, instead--just as you say--I end up concluding that it must have been really deep stuff that I'm too jazz-ignorant to appreciate.

Trust nobody, Jack. Especially the audience.

[Eric Swanson]

Originally Posted by Jack Clark

Hilarious, Eric! So! You guys really do this!

HA! And, yeah, these are all examples of things that look like BS and sound like BS everytime I see and hear them. And everytime--just as I'm about to conclude that they really are BS--the soloist turns it over and collects a nice applause. So, instead--just as you say--I end up concluding that it must have been really deep stuff that I'm too jazz-ignorant to appreciate. (Like when a soloist is playing totally chromatically. )

Maybe most of the time both things are true.

Jack, I was being silly/jokey.

The exact opposite of this malarky is what so many great jazz, orchestral, and solo bassists do, night after night. Play beautifully without making much fuss over it.

+1 to what Paul said.

[Marty Forrer]

At the risk of getting shot down in flames, or having my car vandalised, I'm going against the flow here.
When I play in my jazz trio obviously I do nothing except play.
When I play in my rockabilly band, it's a different story. I'll spin it, sit on it, play it lying on its side and walk out into the audience with it. I used to climb up on tables and bars with it, but my knees and 63 year old back prevent me from doing that anymore. Some pics here www.blacksnapper.co.nz
One thing I draw the line at.... because its a carved top bass, I will not climb on it or let anyone else climb on it.
OK... I'm running for cover now, I'll come back in a couple of years when the flak has subsided.

[Paul Warburton]

Man, I have absolutely no problem with any of that. As long as you and the people involved are having a good time, who cares what anybody else is thinking.
I'm glad you are still raising hell at your age. So am I, in a kinda different way.

[tzadik]

Sometimes the gig is about the future of amazing music, sometimes you just need to sell tickets and get people to freak out so you'll get hired again. That's called life. And that means that sometimes you have a great reason to spin, chuck, and otherwise abuse the instrument. It's all good, when done well...