Favorite Experimental Bassest

No_Fingures · #1 06-09-2003, 01:45 AM

Who would you say is your favorite kinda Avent guard (sp?) bassest. For me it would be treavor dunn of Mr bungle..

Tiwaz · #2 06-09-2003, 06:13 AM

Avantgarde

Yeah, Trevor Dunn is great

DigMe · #3 06-09-2003, 06:36 AM

The only other real avant-garde bassists I can think of are Elliot Sharp and Dan Rathbun (Sleepy Time Gorilla Museum). I enjoy them both but am partial to Dan.

brad cook

JMX · #4 06-09-2003, 06:38 AM

Define avantgarde

Tiwaz · #5 06-09-2003, 08:23 AM

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=avantgarde

a·vant-garde ( P ) Pronunciation Key (ävänt-gärd, vänt-)
n.
A group active in the invention and application of new techniques in a given field, especially in the arts.

adj.
Of, relating to, or being part of an innovative group, especially one in the arts: avant-garde painters; an avant-garde theater piece.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[French, from Old French, vanguard. See vanguard.]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
avant-gardism n.
avant-gardist n.

Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
[Buy it]

avantgarde

avant-garde adj : radically new or original; "an avant-garde theater piece" [syn: daring]

Source: WordNet ® 1.6, © 1997 Princeton University

Jonesy4fnk · #6 06-09-2003, 09:56 AM

Definitly Trevor Dunn, and I love Sleepytime Gorilla Museum as well. I'd add Mark Dresser and Fred Frith (Naked City/Zorn) as well.

jblake · #7 06-09-2003, 10:31 AM

Bill Laswell -

Eric Sanko - Skeleton Key, Lounge Lizards

Trevor Dunn is downright frightening.

mark beem · #8 06-09-2003, 11:35 AM

Well, I have to drop Manring and Karn in here..

DigMe · #9 06-09-2003, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by jblake
Bill Laswell -

Eric Sanko - Skeleton Key, Lounge Lizards

Yeah! I forgot about Sanko. I saw Skeleton Key live in Ft. Worth a few months back when they opened for Sleepytime Gorilla Museum and I really enjoyed them. That was a great show, plus local prog band Yeti opened.

brad cook

Copycat · #10 06-09-2003, 01:59 PM

Don't remember his name, but the bassist in Stump, the Irish 80s rock band (at least I'm pretty sure they're Irish, based on some of the lyric references and expressions), is at the top of my list. Maybe somebody from the UK can help with the name. Sounded like a fretless played with a pick, but I could be wrong. Everybody in that band had a very unconventional technique. The singer was incredible, too. Very theatrical. Killer lyricist to boot. Sort of the anti-U2. Ugly Americans take a pounding in "Buffalo."

Melvin Gibbs, who has played with The Decoding Society, Bill Frisell, and other "out" jazzers. Check out his stuff with the jazz power trio Power Tools with Frisell and Ronald Shannon Jackson. Scary. And Amin Ali, he of the various and sundry James Blood Ulmer ensembles, did some twisted funk playing, doing more with a root and octave on his Jazz than a lot of players do with a lot more notes.

In that vein, you can't forget Jamaaladeen Tacuma. Love him or hate him, his strong lines funked up the Prime Time players.

Bill Laswell's work on Material's "Memory Serves" is outrageous. And inventive. Well, outrageously inventive.

The cat who plays Stick on Herb Alexander's Laundry CDs is sonically adventurous. Especially the stuff on the first, self-titled disc.

I second some of the aforementioned others, like Mick Karn.

luisnovelo · #11 06-09-2003, 02:12 PM

Michael Manring, Percy Jones..

BIg O · #12 06-09-2003, 02:21 PM

Our own Steve Lawson.

Eric Cioe · #13 06-09-2003, 02:37 PM

Trey Gunn

JimK · #14 06-09-2003, 04:30 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Tiwaz
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=avantgarde

a·vant-garde ( P ) Pronunciation Key (ävänt-gärd, vänt-)
n.
A group active in the invention and application of new techniques in a given field, especially in the arts.

adj.
Of, relating to, or being part of an innovative group, especially one in the arts: avant-garde painters; an avant-garde theater piece.

I know you're just being helpful...I think JMX, knowingly or unknowingly, has hit upon a problem with defining "AG".
Example: In his time, Louis Armstrong woulda been considered to be the Avant Garde. Is there anyone today that sees Armstrong as anything but 'mainstream Jazz'?
Ditto for Bird, Diz, Monk, Mingus, Kenny Clarke, Miles, Coltrane, Ayler, Cecil, Tony Williams, etc.
Guys like Hendrix, Jamerson, & Jaco would also fit the above definition...no? One could, arguable, cite The Beatles as AG(in their time).

Copycat-
...congrats. You're about the 2nd guy here who has mentioned Amin Ali(Rashied's son).
Honestly, though, Amin's root/octave work & J-bass tone doesn't really float my boat. I probably prefer Tacuma(or a Melvin Gibbs or even a Muzz Skillings)in Ulmer's Music Revelation Ensemble.

Copycat · #15 06-09-2003, 04:58 PM

While Mr. Ali Jr's tone wasn't exactly a thing of beauty, its raw, frayed nerve ending quality complemented those schizo Blood guitar thumbings perfectly. Jazz may be the teacher and funk the preacher, but "Black Rock" on Columbia, man, its the whole meetin'. Crank that one up and I defy you to find any punk exorcism or metal shred-fest on vinyl or polycarbonate that can hold a swaying candle to that sonic mass of molten lava.

JimK · #16 06-09-2003, 05:05 PM

Black Rock is happenin'!
The "whole meeting", indeed!

On a tangent-
...have you heard the Screaming Headless Torsos do "Jazz Is The Teacher, Funk Is The Preacher"
(Torsos Live album).

Matt Till · #17 06-09-2003, 05:27 PM

MATT TILL!

err.. nah. I wish the Microwaves (a Pittsburgh band... I think) were popular enough to reference. There was a local Noise rock show going on and ever since then I've been interested in making Experimental music. The Microwaves bassist was amazing. I wrote some weird songs and put a few on MP3.com... in fact, I just uploaded another one that will be available in a few days. I'm gonna put up a thread about it because I'm wondering how it sounds production wise... my soundcard sucks so I don't know. It sounds good to me.

Copycat · #18 06-09-2003, 05:32 PM

To JimK: I've not heard the Torsos version. Must find it.

To Matt: If the Microwaves are a Pittsburgh band, I've been under a rock, as I'm in Pittsburgh. And to think I've been decrying this town as conservative creatively. Bad me. Also must find this.

jerry · #19 06-09-2003, 06:46 PM

Stomu Takeishi who plays with Cuong Vu does so very hip unconventional playing.

Matt Till · #20 06-09-2003, 06:53 PM

CopyCat: http://www.microwaves.cx/

Check them out if you can... the audio clips they have don't compare to their live show. Now Steve Moore (bassist) is back... I guess he was out for a while. He sounds like he's using similar effects to Claypool sometimes. I'd say he sounds very Claypool inspired, but I've never seen/heard him slap... very unclaypool.

I dunno it says they have some gigs in July

thursday, july 10th
@modern formations
w/chinese stars (ex -arab on radar, six finger satellite), conelrad, boombox

saturday, july 5th
NYC -location yet to be disclosed
w/khanate

I strongly advise Pittsburghies to check them out.