"Fashion Rocks" Sideman?

[realdeal]

There was a performance on "Fashion Rocks"- a duet w/ Usher & Mary J. Blige...
They performed (3) songs:
"It's a Man's World"
"Respect" and
"Do I Do"

The backing band...
Phenomenal bassist, played in-the-pocket with incredible virtuosity. Beautiful thing to hear... They showed him for about 5 seconds, while playing a brief solo phrase.
IMO, he was worthy of the entire 2-hour broadcast!


He played with the authority and stature of Anthony Jackson -

Anybody by chance know who he was?

[Dr. Cheese]

I don't know who he was, but it looked like he was playing a Nordstrand Jazz V. That was the first time I ever saw one being played.

[realdeal]

Regarding his bass, you have very good eyes or HDTV, or both!
All I could see was that it was a J-style.
At any rate, his playing was so driving, that they HAD to give him a brief shot for the figure he played on the Stevie Wonder song!
He had amazing chops and tone, and was a total viruoso, keeping it laid-back and in the groove for the James Brown ballad, to nailing "Respect" to driving the band and playing the very fast and difficult Stevie Wonder line with great precision and feel.
One other interesting bass-related feature of the broadcast:
Aerosmith' Tom Hamlton using (2) B15R's with a bunch of extension cabs-interesting rig! And I assume he was playing one of his Sadowsky's.

I hope someone sharp knows who the Bassist in question was-
I'm sure I've heard his name and background before, but that was a really overwhelming performance on his part.

[willgroove2]

that was JJ smith from chicago now living in LA,he has been with mary J for a few years now. The bass was most likely a Paval super jazz

[Dr. Cheese]

Originally Posted by realdeal

Regarding his bass, you have very good eyes or HDTV, or both!
All I could see was that it was a J-style.
At any rate, his playing was so driving, that they HAD to give him a brief shot for the figure he played on the Stevie Wonder song!
He had amazing chops and tone, and was a total viruoso, keeping it laid-back and in the groove for the James Brown ballad, to nailing "Respect" to driving the band and playing the very fast and difficult Stevie Wonder line with great precision and feel.
One other interesting bass-related feature of the broadcast:
Aerosmith' Tom Hamlton using (2) B15R's with a bunch of extension cabs-interesting rig! And I assume he was playing one of his Sadowsky's.

I hope someone sharp knows who the Bassist in question was-
I'm sure I've heard his name and background before, but that was a really overwhelming performance on his part.

I do have HDTV. That was the first time it ever made a difference for me, IMO.

[realdeal]

Originally Posted by willgroove2

that was JJ smith from chicago now living in LA,he has been with mary J for a few years now. The bass was most likely a Paval super jazz

Thanks much for that info.
I'm not familiar with Mr. Smith, but I'll check him out on the 'net if I can.

What a phenomenal player he is.
I thought his work in that backing band was perfection.
To be able to lay back totally and keep the feel, then explode into an inticate, written line with his own embellishments-
All in-the-pocket, all with perfect tone and feel.
Wow. Very inspiring and humbling. THAT's how to play the Bass!