Player's that changed the way you play Bass?

Cliff Bordwell · #1 09-25-2005, 03:59 PM

Who, when you heard them play, changed the way you play/look at the bass?

For me, the 1st time I heard Willie Weeks playing "little Ghetto Boy" live really did it for me. WOW!

Tash · #2 09-25-2005, 04:13 PM

Jaco, Bill Gould and Steve DiGiorgio off the top of my head. Each made me really look at some aspacet of how I played and think of a fresh new angle to approach music from.

Ninja>Pirate · #3 09-25-2005, 05:08 PM

Not the same old greats that may have inspired everyone else... They are great, but their inspiration can be heard in practically every modern band's bass, even mine, because what they played has become what defines bass.

Modern bassists that have inspired me by really changing things include:
Juan from The Mars Volta
Jesse Keeler from Death From Above 1979
Chris Wolstenholme from Muse
Flea...

but not for his pop/slap stuff, for all of his awesome melodies (I'm not a big fan of pop/slap, so I have a love hate relationship with Flea for popularizing it), he did some great stuff with The Mars Volta that some people might not know of

**j-raj** · #4 09-25-2005, 05:28 PM

plenty of bassists influence me: Fima Ephron, Dunn, Babbitt, Avishai Cohen, Porter, jaco... Neal Fountain....but who really has given me a challenge, is Charlie Hunter. Granted he isn't exactly a bassist, his technique is tough on bass.

emjazz · #5 09-25-2005, 07:32 PM

Dominique DiPiazza. A roomate of mine in college had the John McLaughlin "Que Alegria" cd and played it for me. Since my roomate was a classical guitar player the only way we could conceive that Dominique was playing was with a classical guitar technique with his right hand. From that day forward I wanted to work on using my thumb and 3 fingers on my right hand. I later learned about Gary Willis's technique and eventually Matt Garrison came along with his. It turned out that mine is very similar to Matt's. I found out much later that Dominique primarily uses only his thumb and his first finger to do what he does......

The other person that inspires me the most as an electric bass player is Anthony Jackson. There simply isn't an electric bass player alive that plays with the sort of conviction and execution that Anthony does. He's the only electric bass player that I've ever heard upright players speak in reverence about (other than Jaco and especially Steve Swallow). His feel is much less aggressive than most electric players, as is his sound. His sound affects me a great deal. I have yet to find a sound in a bass that is what I want for myself because I'm constantly hearing that giant sound that Anthony gets. His feel and choice of notes are unequaled.

Bernie Connors · #6 09-25-2005, 08:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by emjazz

The other person that inspires me the most as an electric bass player is Anthony Jackson. There simply isn't an electric bass player alive that plays with the sort of conviction and execution that Anthony does. He's the only electric bass player that I've ever heard upright players speak in reverence about (other than Jaco and especially Steve Swallow). His feel is much less aggressive than most electric players, as is his sound. His sound affects me a great deal. I have yet to find a sound in a bass that is what I want for myself because I'm constantly hearing that giant sound that Anthony gets. His feel and choice of notes are unequaled.

That's what I'm talking about!

groove100 · #7 09-25-2005, 09:01 PM

for me its mixed bassist and other instrumentalist.
Chic Corea and Coltrane are contributing factors in my playing. While Dave Holland, just changed the way i play about a year ago

Alvaro Martín Gómez A. · #8 09-25-2005, 09:43 PM

Stuart Hamm and his "Slap, Pop And Tap For The Bass" video made me realize that I was so far from being a good bassist. Maybe still am, but he made me practice harder and could accomplish a small percentage of what I wanted to do after seeing him for the first time back in 1991.

Jaco was second. He showed me that playing bass in a supporting role wasn't only "boom, boom" as I used to think. It took me a long time to realize that his tone came from soloing the bridge pickup, something unthinkable in a tropical music band, but his playing was another factor that helped me broaden the way I looked at the bass guitar.

**Adam Barkley** · #9 09-25-2005, 10:38 PM

Daryl Jennifer
Trevor Dunn
Jeremy Wood

McHaven · #10 09-25-2005, 10:49 PM

Sheehan. Entwistle. Bruce

superbassman2000 · #11 09-25-2005, 11:04 PM

Jack Bruce, Victor wooten, Les Claypool, Reed Mathis

Sound Chaser · #12 09-26-2005, 04:50 AM

Billy Sheehan for his near mastery of the instrument.
Chris Squire for his great tone and melodic lines.
Les Claypool for his originality and energy.
Geddy Lee for his perfect bass-lines.
John Paul Jones for initially inspiring me.
Stanley Clarke for his perfect tone.
Cliff Burton for his tapped harmonics.

emjazz · #13 09-26-2005, 05:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by groove100

for me its mixed bassist and other instrumentalist.
Chic Corea and Coltrane are contributing factors in my playing. While Dave Holland, just changed the way i play about a year ago

I'm glad that you brought this up. It's important for us as bass players to listen to all other instruments as well. For me John Coltrane has also been a huge influence. Certain players are in my head when I play music......Coltrane, Hendrix, Charlie Haden; he's changing my playing everyday, as is Paul Motion's playing from the past 5 years. Many more as well. It's the energy and the passion that these players contribute as well as their approach.

Petary791 · #14 09-26-2005, 06:01 AM

The first time I heard Les Claypool for sure.

bassist 4 life · #15 09-26-2005, 06:13 AM

Louis Johnson: How I larnt to slap, he really improved my slap technique, and hes an aweosme bassist.

Steve Harris: Really improved my ftechnique on both hands and intorduced me to fills.

John Myung: Also improved my technique, he is also one of my greatest influences (all three of the bassists i listed are anyway)

The Owl · #16 09-26-2005, 08:20 AM

Janick Top and Bernard Paganotti of Magma: Influenced my tone for more aggresive playing, I was blown away how they could make a fuzz or overdriven bass tone work so well musically, roar with authority yet come out clean and articulate.

Anthony Jackson: Between his carefully considered note choices, his dark piano-like tone and the way he interacts in an improvisational context (listen to his playing with Steve Khan or Michel Camilo as great examples), how could I NOT be affected. Plus, I think Anthony influenced me and reaffirmed for me not only in regards to approaches to playing, but having an uncompromising attitude with the whole idea of personal artistry and refusing to give into trendiness and being true to one's muse, being completely honest as an artist.

HarrisIsGod · #17 09-26-2005, 09:52 AM

Steve Harris for stage presence, songwriting and right hand technique.
Duff McKagen for bass fills.
Flea for melodies.

MikeyFingers · #18 09-26-2005, 11:09 AM

Les Claypool---I started listening to Primus about a year after I started playing bass. Claypool got me into strumming chords and slap.

Jaco---95% of my finger picking skills came from listening to Jaco. He taught me to groove and I definately sound a little like him when I'm just grooving around.

Cliff Burton---My earliest influence. Playing Cliff's old stuff gave me a lot of my speed. Practicing old Metallica definately got my right hand working overtime for a while, so I have excellent endurance and speed with it.

NJL · #19 09-26-2005, 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cliff Bordwell

For me, the 1st time I heard Willie Weeks playing "little Ghetto Boy" live really did it for me. WOW!

Anything Willie plays can do it for anyone!

Otiel
Meshell
Gary Willis
Matt Garrison
etc.

....are the people who have changed my playing...

skewh · #20 09-26-2005, 11:52 AM

Jaco. After listening to 'Jaco Pastorius' for the first time I was a changed bassist. My chops, skill and musicality have all increased more in the past year (since I discovered Jaco) than they had in the four years prior to it. Granted, other bassists influenced me strongly before Jaco (Phil Lesh, JPJ, etc.) but none changed the way I play more than Jaco.