Prog rock Bassists

[Limelight]

Name your favorite prog rock bassists and why you like them.

Mine:

Geddy Lee
Chris Squire
Greg Lake
Roger Waters

[bassist4dalord]

Geddy Lee, because he is amazing... need I say more?

[vegas532]

Geddy Lee - the reason I picked up bass

Tony Levin - timing, tone, and taste...who could ask for anything more?

John Wetton - 70's era King Crimson...case closed!

Chris Squire - most melodic prog bassist ever

Justin Chancellor - Tool made it cool to be prog again; king of inventive effects usage.

[Feyd-Rautha]

John Wetton - He's been in some many of my favorite bands, King Crimson, Roxy Music, UK, Asia..... Yeah I said Asia!! What?

[StanFan]

Probably many of my favorites play in more progressive bands: Tony Levin, John Wetton, Geddy Lee, Trey Gunn (Warr Guitar but also a bassist), Trevor Dunn, Colin Edwin, Patrick O'Hearn, Mike Rutherford, and the list goes on.

[Winston TK]

I pretty much agree with all the bassists already mentioned here (especially Chris Squire, my personal fave), so I won't repeat them.

But, I would like to add a new one -- the late Gary Strater of Starcastle. His band frequently gets slagged by prog rock lovers as being merely a poor Yes imitation. Although this is partly true, this is really unfortunate, as Starcastle definitely has a certain vibe all its own at times. Strater's bass playing and tone (Rick 4001 on the early stuff, an Alembic later on) is nothing short of stellar. Check out Starcastle's last studio album, "Song Of Times". The playing, as usual, is tasty, and the tone is some of the best on record that I have ever heard. Luckily, Strater managed to finish his tracks prior to passing away. It's a great tribute to his band's music, as well as his incredible skill as a player.

Gary Strater
R.I.P.

[IconBasser]

Tony Levin, Geddy Lee, Felipe Andreoli (Angra)

here's some of Felipe:

Guitar-Off


Solo song thing

[dls59]

Dave Hope of Kansas and Greg Lake of ELP. They're both rock solid players who drove their bands, had great tone and technique.

[ronniequeue]

Juan Alderete with The Mars Volta, for his lightning fast yet tasteful chops, his groove, and his creativity with effects.

[AlphaMale]

Does Progressive Death metal count?

[pjmuck]

Well all of my favorites have already been mentioned, though I'd like to add Percy Jones. Here's another name that never gets mentioned -
Dave Hope of Kansas. I just started getting into Kansas about a year ago and realized that he's a very solid, underrated player. His playing is not as individually distinct as someone like Squire, as he's more of a pocket foundation player, but his playing is intricate and often mirrors some very technically difficult lines along with the guitarist/keyboardist. Still, worth checking out.

[Limelight]

Originally Posted by AlphaMale

Does Progressive Death metal count?

...ew

[Marcury]

Agree with many already mentioned, I'll add John Greaves of Henry Cow and various other Canterbury related bands. He can play solid grooves, float time when necessary is a great improvisor and has a real handle on odd time signatures.

[arai]

some goodies mentioned id like to add bill MacCormick of 801

[Valerus]

Originally Posted by AlphaMale

Does Progressive Death metal count?

I know exactly who you are thinking of.


Martin Mendez

Geddy of course
Juan Alderete

[son_of_mogh]

Tony Levin - the groove master
John Wetton - the most avante garde P-bass guy, beautiful use of distortion/fuzz
Geddy - can't say anything that hasn't been said to death already
Jon Camp of Renaissance - the most melodic progressive rock bassist out there, his solo on the live "Ashes Are Burning" stands out even today

[theNoseBleedKid]

Bassist for Spock's beard
Bassist in FZAMOI (Frank Zappa and mother of invention)
Gensis' bassist
Camels bassist
Jonas Hellborg
Bassist in Porcupine tree

I'm bad with band members names, see?

[stratovani]

I like all of the above - especially Geddy - but don't forget Mike Rutherford of Genesis. A solid if not especially spectacular bassist who often has to double on guitar as well.

[jerry]

Originally Posted by son_of_mogh

Jon Camp of Renaissance - the most melodic progressive rock bassist out there, his solo on the live "Ashes Are Burning" stands out even today

I really glad to see his name on here, I always dug Renaissance! I saw them a few times and still break out their live albums about once a year....great Ric-tone!

[Marcury]

Originally Posted by arai

some goodies mentioned id like to add bill MacCormick of 801

+1 and even though he's been mentioned i have to give a +100 to Percy Jones, one of my main inspirations.