Terrible experiences meeting any bassists?

[Akami]

Originally Posted by Johan Baltié

Saying something so racist seems really strange to me for someone so involved in charity issues with amazonians and performing with black, arabs and indian musicians (the so wonderful Anoushka Shankar)

Maybe he was such in jerk in "ancient times" and he changed...

Ok I quit trying to advocate the case

Sometimes people go through a lot of motions to be who they'd like to be but other parts of their personality leak out when they're stressed or cranky.

Even if he made the statement it wouldn't make him a racist any more than calling the driver of the next car a bitch would make someone a woman hater.

It would be nice to think he never said it but it also doesn't make him a hopeless cause if he did say it.

(Devils advocate)

[Dr. Cheese]

Originally Posted by Akami

.

Even if he made the statement it wouldn't make him a racist any more than calling the driver of the next car a bitch would make someone a woman hater.


(Devils advocate)

I disagree to certain extent. If a person uses that sort of abusive language, they are guilty of committing a racist/ sexist/ whatever act. Such a person may not be actively racist or sexist, but such a person clearly is harboring such thoughts or they would not have come out at a moment of tension or stress. That said, none of us are perfect, and I would not want to be judged solely by the most cruel or thoughtless statements I ever made.

[Grueber]

This is not a bad experience, just not as good as i expected.


I won a contest through Victor Wooten's new record label by posting flyers around town for his concert with Dave Mathews. I got a free ticket to the show, and they told me i would get to mett Victor as well. They said i would get to go backstage and maybe on the tour bus.

after he opened for DMB, they said he would be signing autographs at the merchandise stand. Me and the other contest winner went to go stand in line. When we got to Victor we explained that we were the contest winners, and all he said was good job. We waited around and talked to Anthony Wellington until Vic was done, but then he just walked past us and went backstage.

Oh Well

[Akami]

Originally Posted by Dr. Cheese

I disagree to certain extent. If a person uses that sort of abusive language, they are guilty of committing a racist/ sexist/ whatever act. Such a person may not be actively racist or sexist, but such a person clearly is harboring such thoughts or they would not have come out at a moment of tension or stress. That said, none of us are perfect, and I would not want to be judged solely by the most cruel or thoughtless statements I ever made.

It makes them less guilty of racist/sexist thought than possibly guilty of poor choice of words which permeate our language. Remember that the word which Sting was purported to have said is not a bad word, because if it were we wouldn't be getting slammed with it on a daily basis over the airwaves and on the streets. It's a perfectly legit word for the hypocrites of color and although I don't use it, I won't be able to completely accept that it's such a bad thing to call someone until those who would be so incensed at the use of the word quit using themselves.
The sexist word in question is actually a perfectly legitimate word which simply took on a new usage and meaning within our language and is often spoken in times of anger with no particular degradation to the sex intended.

Has no one here used these words in anger?

So while I like the idealism in your thought, I at least for the time being still disagree and feel that, especially the "sexist" remark makes one guilty of nothing more than anger.

[JAUQO III-X]

Originally Posted by Johan Baltié

Saying something so racist seems really strange to me for someone so involved in charity issues with amazonians

Tax write off.


I've been told by some respected artist in the industry that he can be and a lot of time is an A hole.


p.s.

I don't know Sting and I've never met him but I believe what I was told.

[Smallmouth_Bass]

I have met a bunch of great bassists over the years, but all were nice and friendly:
Ken Tizzard
Gary Willis
Michael Manring
John Patitucci
Norman Lachapelle
Will Lee
Victor Wooten
Rocco Prestia

[Clay_Bass]

Originally Posted by Asaf

i had 2 bad encounters :

1. 1998 : i was in new york with my brother in law and my dad, and my brother in law is a bassplayer as well and was a big fan of patitucci. so we bought tickets to see his acoustic jazz show (with adam rogers) after the show we went to get his autograph (he was sitting with his friends/family) and told him we're from israel and big fans etc. etc. and he was all :"well...good for u" in a cynic tone (not in the way dave letterman says it) sketched something on the paper and went to talk to his friends. that sketch was nothing like his original autograph - it was just a sketch.
i must say for the record that we came relaxed , acted with courtesy and we haven't told him the story of our lives or something - not like some crazy fans that want a piece of his shirt.

2. 1997 : after one of the best shows i've seen in my life - the brecker brothers (in the red sea jazz festival), i saw couple of young bassplayers asking for autographs from james genus while he was folding his rack - and he was all nice and a warm guy i thought to myself i should ask from scott ambush at the concert the day after.
so after the spyro gyra concert couple of young jazz fans called the guys names while they were waiting for their ride backstage - doing nothing. and i saw some guy calling scott and he just looked for a minute then igonerd him totaly until the keyboard player told them let's wait in a quiet place and they all went.

besides that, all the bassplayers i met were the nicest people ever : lincolen goines, jeff berlin and a couple more.

Sounds like you caught those guys at a bad time which is unfortunate for you. Ive met scott ambush and he seemed like a really nice guy and was willing to talk about ideas and playing etc. you could have just caught him at a time when there were some personal issues happening or he was sick whatever. Also I hear patitucci is really nice too but if he was with his family he may have not wanted to go spend time with fans you know? The thing with famous people is that they are people just like us and have bad moods and families to take care of. Luckily I havent encountered anything like this but if I do I wont think to much of it.

[Fawkes007]

Originally Posted by fleabee

I heard wimbish was a really cool cat and definately wooten.

Doug Wimbish is a cool guy.

[thephilosopher]

Nearly all bass players I know are really good, solid cats. The only ones I can think of that are assholes are younger guys that have sticks up their asses and chips on their shoulders that think they're the next Jaco.

I've found that bass is a much more community-oriented instrument.. I know a good number of bass players around here and we're all friends.

I've met a bunch of nice drummers... Bernard Purdie (Steely Dan, Aretha, etc) has to be the coolest. Dom Famularo is probably one of the nicest and friendliest people I've ever met.

[Smallmouth_Bass]

Originally Posted by thephilosopher

Nearly all bass players I know are really good, solid cats. The only ones I can think of that are assholes are younger guys that have sticks up their asses and chips on their shoulders that think they're the next Jaco.

I've found that bass is a much more community-oriented instrument.. I know a good number of bass players around here and we're all friends.

I've met a bunch of nice drummers... Bernard Purdie (Steely Dan, Aretha, etc) has to be the coolest. Dom Famularo is probably one of the nicest and friendliest people I've ever met.

Dom Famularo is the best! I caught up with him after a performance during which he made a few jokes about bassists (it was a drum festival). When I brought it up afterwards, he sayed he loves bassists and has three in his band! He's hilarious and a great person and player.

[steveb98]

I have to say John Patitucci really goes out of his way to be nice to his fans. Many a moon ago I went to GIT and John Patitucci came to play a show for BIT. He showed up looking like death warmed over, he was sick as a dog. From what I heard it was his only time he had before leaving town. He played a hell of a show on DB and BG. Then after the show evan as sick as he was he sat on the end of the stage and signed autographs and answered questions for awhile. That's going above and beyond the call of duty.

[Yvon]

Originally Posted by Smallmouth_Bass

I have met a bunch of great bassists over the years, but all were nice and friendly:
Ken Tizzard
Gary Willis
Michael Manring
John Patitucci
Norman Lachapelle
Will Lee
Victor Wooten
Rocco Prestia

I didn't talk about Norman Lachapelle here, i thought that nobody would have a clue of who he is.

He is a GREAT guy. I once called him to have a lesson and we talked for over one hour on the phone.

[Smallmouth_Bass]

Originally Posted by Yvon

I didn't talk about Norman Lachapelle here, i thought that nobody would have a clue of who he is.

He is a GREAT guy. I once called him to have a lesson and we talked for over one hour on the phone.

I talked with him for a little while after a great outdoor show at the Jazz Fest a few years back. A co-worker is the brother of the pianist that he was backing. He introduced me to him. A really nice guy and a phenominal player.

I've heard a bad story from a bassist friend about Alain Caron though...
I've never met him myself.

[Asaf]

Originally Posted by Clay_Bass

Sounds like you caught those guys at a bad time which is unfortunate for you. Ive met scott ambush and he seemed like a really nice guy and was willing to talk about ideas and playing etc. you could have just caught him at a time when there were some personal issues happening or he was sick whatever. Also I hear patitucci is really nice too but if he was with his family he may have not wanted to go spend time with fans you know? The thing with famous people is that they are people just like us and have bad moods and families to take care of. Luckily I havent encountered anything like this but if I do I wont think to much of it.

i don't think of them as bad guys - they are people with feelings and personal life. people have their bad times and good times, as well as i do, just wrote about my bad experiences.
after the spyro gyra show i guees they were tired as hell and wanted some quiet...i think it was the same issue with patitucci.

[ldiezman]

Originally Posted by JAUQO III-X

Tax write off.


I've been told by some respected artist in the industry that he can be and a lot of time is an A hole.


p.s.

I don't know Sting and I've never met him but I believe what I was told.

I have heard this several times as well... never met him... but from most of the stories i've read, i don't know if I would want to

[Funkzfly]

Originally Posted by JAUQO III-X

Tax write off.


I've been told by some respected artist in the industry that he can be and a lot of time is an A hole.


p.s.

I don't know Sting and I've never met him but I believe what I was told.

BUT, and in Sting's defence, although I've never met him either, he's a household name and hugely famous (one of the biggest bands ever). Many of these other Bassist's aren't...I think he's been in the public eye a lot, and although I in no way condone his behavior if he did say what he supposedly did, I think to an extent he's much more pressurised than, for example, Victor Wooten or John Pattituci is to sign autographs etc. after shows.

[Bass Viking]

Originally Posted by xgabriel

I once met jazz great Charlie Biddle a few years before he passed on. My dad and I was talking to him during a break at one of his gigs, and my dad happened to mention that I play bass "guitar".... well, apparently Mr. Biddle does not think too kindly of the bass guitar, and said something to the effect of "you better stay away from me, boy..."

I later approached him after his gig, as this had upset me quite a bit. I asked him what we said to upset him, and he apologized. Apparently, he feels strongly that the electric bass has taken away from the standard upright bass he has loved for so many years, but he did not mean to be rude to me. He then offered to let me try to play his bass, and he gave me a quick lesson. So it turned out to be o.k.!

Don't feel bad. I have it on good authority, from a musician buddy who's played with him, that Biddle is not that great a bassist. He's known mainly because of the Jazz club in Montreal that bears his name and because he has worked with Oliver Jones. My friend's feeling is that he's overrated at best. He had timing problems and his solos on the faster tempo numbers consisted of just a walking bassline.

[Lo end PUNCH]

well I got three for ya,

Mark Adams-After a Slave show in the early 80's a couple of us teens snuck backstage and ran straight into Mr. Mark himself, he was boggled down with luggage. We were like; "Mark!!! You are a bad mutha****a on that bass!" He looked at us and said "Can you guys help me with some'uv this stuff?" we were like; NO PROBLEM!!!. He thanked us and offered us some bar b que ribs that the band had ordered. Talked to us a while and was a very laid back guy.

Brian Bromberg-Met him in Milwaukee at a club on the east side. Loves to talk to all his fans and mingle with the crowd.

Terry Lewis-Talked to me at a Minneapolis hotel about the music biz, they were doing a workshop and music critique for up and comming artists.