Anyone watch Craig Ferguson last night?

capnsandwich · #1 06-05-2009, 02:42 PM

He had Bernie Williams playing with Lee Sklar and Dave Weckl on drums. Nice groove going on there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oxk2F1u9v4U

RexNFX79 · #2 06-05-2009, 02:46 PM

Very cool, Sklar is the man! What kind of bass is he playing? Is that a signature model?

capnsandwich · #3 06-05-2009, 02:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RexNFX79

Very cool, Sklar is the man! What kind of bass is he playing? Is that a signature model?

I tried to get a close look but it was dark. I'm guessing a Stingray by the way the knobs are configured.

RexNFX79 · #4 06-05-2009, 02:49 PM

It's got two split coil pickups? Gotta be something else.

emjazz · #5 06-05-2009, 02:51 PM

Good for Lee and Dave for making horrible music a little more tolerable....

I believe Lee's bass is one he's had for many years....two P pickups.

capnsandwich · #6 06-05-2009, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RexNFX79

It's got two split coil pickups? Gotta be something else.

Yeah, after further review, I don't know. Maybe a Wal but it almost looks like a G&L headstock. Something custom I guess.

J. Crawford · #7 06-05-2009, 02:59 PM

Im very confused on the bass, also..

Puarija · #8 06-05-2009, 03:22 PM

Wow that was great. Never seen elevator/hold music performed before...

I actually didn't hate it, but obviously if Bernie Williams wasn't a famous baseball player, no way in hell this music is making it anywhere near national television...

Jacob H

shaolinwhat · #9 06-05-2009, 04:05 PM

am I the only one that thought that was really sweet?

capnsandwich · #10 06-05-2009, 04:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shaolinwhat

am I the only one that thought that was really sweet?

No, I thought it was a nice tune. It's just many of these young guys are looking for more energy in music and smooth jazz doesn't have a lot of it. It does, however, have plenty of smooth groove which is what I liked about it.

Mike Dunbar · #11 06-05-2009, 04:49 PM

I saw it too, Leland doesn't change, does he, what an amazing musician. I couldn't tell the bass either. I thought Bernie Williams did a fine job, much better than elevator music, heck you could hear worse on the Weather Channel.

emjazz · #12 06-05-2009, 05:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by capnsandwich

No, I thought it was a nice tune. It's just many of these young guys are looking for more energy in music and smooth jazz doesn't have a lot of it. It does, however, have plenty of smooth groove which is what I liked about it.

I'm not that young I can assure you....just not my cup of tea....and to call it jazz...well...I don't think so. Lee was killin it though. I love that guy. He was having such a great time.

...and honestly, who cares what any of us say? Good for Bernie for getting out there and doin it...and for having the sense to hire the guys he had.

jro · #13 06-05-2009, 05:09 PM

Here's a bit about that bass from a previous thread.

"For bass I’m still using this kind of Frankenstein bass that I’ve had for the past 28 years which was an assembled bunch of pieces. It was a blank alder body made by Charvelle. It was a P-body. It had a Precision neck. I never liked Precision, so we reshaped it into a ‘62 jazz neck configuration." It has two EMG P pickups reversed in the jazz positions.

If you want to see more go to barefootservants.net and navigate to the press page, click on Leland, then on the little "Gear" button. The site is all Flash so I can't just paste a url.

jro · #14 06-05-2009, 05:16 PM

BTW, Sklar is the man - or at least one of the top man's. His lines are always interesting, tasteful, yet restrained. I've seen him a couple times with Lyle Lovett and I swear he never misses a note or a beat. Seems like a nice guy too.

capnsandwich · #15 06-05-2009, 05:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jro

BTW, Sklar is the man - or at least one of the top man's. His lines are always interesting, tasteful, yet restrained. I've seen him a couple times with Lyle Lovett and I swear he never misses a note or a beat. Seems like a nice guy too.

While I do agree with you that he's freakin' awesome bassist, I did find that 3:15 into the clip he was off beat just a little bit. I'm not one to criticize but I just have one of those ears that musicians hate.

shaolinwhat · #16 06-05-2009, 10:58 PM

im 24, and i guess i just always had this soft spot for (i guess what would be called) "smooth jazz." seems like it would be super fun to play. just straight grooves and melodic chord changes. and i grew up a punk rock kid, go figure.

i always find myself boppin out to music that plays in bookstores and doctors offices ha

Foamy · #17 06-05-2009, 11:05 PM

Kind of like a guitar version of Sade. If he played 5 songs back-to-back, you could never tell when one ended and the next started. But they were probably my 4 favorite notes. So there's that.

Mojo-Man · #18 06-06-2009, 11:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RexNFX79

Very cool, Sklar is the man! What kind of bass is he playing? Is that a signature model?

Lee has had that bass for close to 30 years. (Parts Bass)

It's a P-body with two reverse P-pickups. (EMG's)

And a shaved 60's P-neck to Jazz neck specs.

I believe the control plate is from a G&L bass.

Badass bridge.

Come on Fender let's make a "Sklar" Model?

Chad Michael · #19 06-06-2009, 01:20 PM

If you watch and listen closely, Bernie's guitar was barely in the mix

. The other guy's guitar is what you heard most. Wonder if there was technical difficulty or if it was intentional?

Anyway, it's no secret that I like that style of music so I was diggin it

.

Puarija · #20 06-12-2009, 10:27 AM

I'm not dogging the music, I'm just saying if it wasn't some famous athlete, this music would NEVER be on a network talk show. Never. That was my only point. I like this music just fine, but it's something I'd listen to while getting down with my lady, not something I'm going to watch on tv with epic enthusiasm, hanging on every note, which is more the description you'd be looking for in music to put on a nationally televised tv show.

No need to be uppity about how younger people can't appreciate it because it's smooth. I appreciate it the same way I appreciate a nice pad of real butter on a warm morning biscuit, but I'm not going to write home about either, and neither would literally anyone else.

Was it good? Absolutely. Was it cool to see Sklar and co. on tv? Of course. Would anyone here or anywhere else be writing a single word about the performance if the exact same notes were played the exact same way by a bunch of no-name people? Certainly not. Hence, it's not about the music. It's about the fact some famous athlete hired some heavy hitters to back him up playing elevator music on a talk show, which again, was my original point.

JHM