Your favorite jazz bass solos

[bmanbill]

I've been hired to write a response to the travesty of an article on jazz.com reviling bass solos. So I'm soliciting your opinions on favorite tracks from historically significant bassists. A few on my list are: Jimmy Blanton, Oscar Pettiford, Ray Brown, Red Mitchell...

You get the idea. Thanks in advance for your input.

[VincentPuleo]

I love all of Jim Kerwin's solo's on the Jerry Garcia/David Grisman album "So What"

Ray Brown's solo(s) on Bag's groove from the album "Super Bass"

[Sam Sherry]

Congrats on the gig, I guess.

From my perspective it's all bits and bites. I don't care if somebody on jazz.com does or doesn't like bass solos. I like some and dislike others. Who cares?

[charlespf]

I agree with Sam. To me, music is music. Who cares if it's played on a bass, or a sax or a trumpet? The instrument isn't as important as the musical personality.

That said, just about anything Scott LaFaro ever played is on my favorites list.
Check out My Man's Gone Now from Sunday at the Vanguard.

[Eli_Upright12]

Originally Posted by charlespf

I agree with Sam. To me, music is music. Who cares if it's played on a bass, or a sax or a trumpet? The instrument isn't as important as the musical personality.

That said, just about anything Scott LaFaro ever played is on my favorites list.
Check out My Man's Gone Now from Sunday at the Vanguard.

For that matter any of the Bill Evans Trio Village Vanguard recordings, Scott Lafaro has the most melodic interesting solos(even to horn players) so it would be the perfect counterpoint to that aforementioned article.

[Marc Piane]

I'll go one step further. I think that guy was looking to ruffle some feathers and get a response. Responding might just be validating him.

A gigs a gig though. Maybe you can respond by not citing examples but rather pointing out the silliness of his argument.

[bmanbill]

The piece I'm doing is only obliquely a response to Mr. Kurtz. Really it is a contribution to their Dozens series in which a writer chooses 12 tracks to review that are somehow thematically linked. I did an earlier piece on Dave Holland's music for them.

That said, if anyone else would like to make actual suggestion of favorite tracks to review that would be most welcome. Thanks.

[nathanmcnathan]

write about mingus

[DrMWP]

"You'd be so nice to come home to" Paul Chambers, Bass on Top

[Ed Fuqua]

Red Mitchell's solo on THESE FOOLISH THINGS off ALL NIGHT SESSIONS

ditto on YOU"D BE SO NICE

OP on STARDUST (technically cello, but ...)

Sam Jones HOW ABOUT YOU off JIMMY RANEY LIVE IN TOKYO

George Mraz pretty much anything

Michael Moore I SHOULD CARE of LIVE AT MAYBECK w/ Bill Charlap

Peter Washington BEST THING FOR YOU WOULD BE ME off Billy Drummond's DUBAI

[msw]

I think that both versions of Stardust were played on the bass, Ed. Could there be 3 versions?

[Michael Glynn]

Originally Posted by msw

I think that both versions of Stardust were played on the bass, Ed. Could there be 3 versions?

I actually have 4 recordings of OP playing Stardust, but they're all on bass. I'd be interested in hearing a cello version.

All 4 versions I have are great. I find the similarities very interesting. Pettiford seemed to have a kind of arrangement of this piece in his head as he uses many of the same ideas in the same places in all 4 recordings.

[Ed Fuqua]

Originally Posted by msw

I think that both versions of Stardust were played on the bass, Ed. Could there be 3 versions?

My teacher, Joe, played me a recording of an aircheck at (original) Birdland that was OP on cello, the two tracks I heard were PERDIDO and STARDUST. But yeah, the solo that most folks play is off that first record....

[Ed Fuqua]

I don't know if the cello thang is available commercially, I'll try to run down where Joe got and cop, if possible....

[Eli_Upright12]

I just thought of another, there's and album called Looking at Bird by Archie Shepp and Niels Henning Orsted Pederson doing Duo versions of parker tunes. NHOP's playing is incredible on this one, its the only recording of him that I've heard were he had truly great tone, but all his solos are well thought out and he stays away from the ridiculously fast stuff that he sometimes does. Those to me are great solos.

[Salty]

I think it's great that you are doing the article. Here is a quick list (many of which are not necessarily solos) that I was compiling for a project of my own, trying to list the top 20 most important bassists in traditional jazz and their single most representative or important recordings:

Walter Page “Lady Be Good” Count Basie: America's #1 Band – Count Basie

Milt Hinton “Pluckin’ the Bass” How Low Can You Go? Anthology of the String Bass – Various

Jimmie Blanton “Jack the Bear” The Blanton-Webster Band – Duke Ellington

Leroy “Slam” Stewart “I Got Rhythm” The Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz – Various

Israel Crosby “But Not For Me” Cross Country Tour 1958-1961 – Ahmad Jamal Trio


Oscar Pettiford “Tricotism” Tricotism – Lucky Thompson

Charles Mingus - II.BS

Wilbur Ware “Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise” Live at the Village Vanguard, Vol. 2 – Sonny Rollins

Ray Brown “How High the Moon” The Oscar Peterson Trio Live at the Stratford Shakespearean Festival - Oscar Peterson

Percy Heath “Walkin” Miles Davis All Stars Walkin’ – Miles Davis

Sam Jones - having trouble thinking of the most representative performance by him

Jimmy Garrison “Acknowledgement” A Love Supreme – John Coltrane

Paul Chambers “So What” Kind of Blue – Miles Davis (of course there are millions of solos - If I Were a Bell, Visiation, on and on - I chose So What because I was trying to get to ONE song choice and ultimately I think this is symbolic for him

Charlie Haden “something off of “ The Shape of Jazz to Come – Ornette Coleman

Scott LaFaro “Gloria’s Step” Sunday at the Village Vanguard – Bill Evans

Ron Carter “My Funny Valentine” The Complete Concert 1964 My Funny Valentine + Four & More – Miles Davis


Hope this helps in some way.

May I also suggest for solos specifically:

Sometimes I'm Happy - Ray Brown, OP Trio Live in Chicago
Pettiford - Just You Just Me - The Unique Thelonious Monk, Falling in Love with Love, +1 for Stardust
Blanton - Pitter Panther Patter and Sepia Panorama
PC - All of You, Visitation, Please Send Me Someone, If I Were A Bell, Blue Train, Yesterdays, Bye-Bye Blackbird
Mingus - Tensions from Blues and Roots

Best
Matt Rybicki

[andybb1500]

Well its not really classic jazz but Jaco's solo in 'Havona' is very nice to the ears

[Zachmozach]

Dave Holland- Solar Either from Emerald tears or from that one with Dejohnette, Hancock, and Metheny. Or Take the Coltrane- Triplicate. Or Segment- same album.

Christian McBride- Basically anything, but how about Birk's Works from Superbass II.

[Steve Killingsworth]

Originally Posted by Zachmozach

Christian McBride- Basically anything, but how about Birk's Works from Superbass II.

Or his arco solo on Mysterioso from the same disk.

[Eli_Upright12]

Does Renaud Garcia Fons count as jazz? if he does then Berimbass from Arcoluz I think.