Fretless bassist/singer?

[BassClef 2010]

Never seen one. Are there any artists that do this? Besides Jack Bruce of course....

[bass_lord_mutha]

Esperanza Spalding, if you count upright players/singers...

Sting and Les Claypool come to mind as well.

[aikakone]

Trip Wamsley

Me sometimes. (Still working on it.)

[funkybass4ever]

Originally Posted by aikakone

Trip Wamsley

Me sometimes. (Still working on it.)

me too working on it .

[kesslari]

also me...

And Sting, for a while.

[JTE]

Besides the ones already mentioned, don't forget Rock Danko of The Band. Jack Bruce is the epitome of what a singing bassist should be. Expressive and improvisatory in both singing and playingi like two brains in one body.

John

[Pj,Rj,Hj]

Mick Karn occasionally sings.

[Tenma4]

I'm a singer and wanting to go fretless. I'm wondering how this will work when the lead guitarist is listening to me to bring him back into song riffs at the end of a solo. If I ever go this route, I guess we'll see if my ear's pitch definition is good enough to keep my voice and bass in key well enough.

[OldogNewTrick]

Richard Bona... on virtually all his CD's some songs with fretless...

[aikakone]

Originally Posted by Tenma4

I guess we'll see if my ear's pitch definition is good enough to keep my voice and bass in key well enough.

I have often thought that a fretless is much like the human voice. Many of the same sound concepts work for voice. (For example, how chords are tuned and where to rest pitch depending on the note's function in the harmony.) So if you're a good singer used to hearing your voice properly supported (i.e. on pitch/in tune), your ear should be relatively fine.

[nysbob]

I do it.

Just takes some practise.

[NickBass81]

Fernando Saunders....

[SMILEYSIXX]

Jaco is famous for his fretless.

Oh, if you mean the play a fretless AND sing, I'm pretty sure Geddy Lee occasionally does.

[sheepdog]

Kristin Korb plays URB and sings jazz...pretty impressive, but not sure if that is what you are looking for

[Monkey]

I've been doing it for a long time.

[thombo]

I saw marco mendoza kill it with a funk band at namm a few years ago... singing stevie wonder, while tapping, slapping, and all around killing it on fretless.

ira wolf tuton of yeasayer sings harmonies and sometimes plays fretless (he sang lead while playing fretless in is old band, the ally).

[Klopp18]

lemmy kilimister!!!

[PJSShearer]

Sting used to regularly play fretless with the Police (before he got that 52 (?) P'Bass)

I've been known to warble myself whilst playing my fretless.

[thombo]

Originally Posted by Klopp18

lemmy kilimister!!!

lemmy playing fretless?

[Klopp18]

Originally Posted by thombo

lemmy playing fretless?

oops! i didnt see the "fretless" part.