Advice on what bassists to listen to!

[Pierre_Pontroli]

Hi there.

Hope this doesn't annoy anyone! I've just started appreciating Jazz, and was wandering if anyone could tell me of some good jazz bassists to listen to. I'm liking solo stuff really, or just bass and drum, minimul stuff. I know of Jaco Pastorius! and I love his stuff already! I've just gotten a Miroslav Vitous CD too, and thats really interesting. I am an electric bass player, but I'm loving the sound of the Upright.

Thanks

[Francois Blais]

Bonjour Pierre, et bienvenue sur Talkbass!

My first recommendation is that you fill out your public profile:
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/profil...do=editprofile

Other members will then have a good idea of who you are, where you are, your gear setup, tastes, musical history, etc. and will be more likely to provide good advice!

You still to like modern bass playing, don't you?
So are you looking for other modern bassists?

Regards,
François

[Karl]

Okay, check out Stanley Clarke and Niels-Henning Orsted-Pedersen, both stunning soloists.

[Ed Fuqua]

All of them?

There are SO many great bassists but, if you are coming to this music from more rock oriented stuff there are going to be any number of players you just aren't going to be able to "hear" yet ( at least I know that's how it was for me. I could "hear" velocity but not line or harmony). I couldn't hear PC until I was "ready" for what he was saying. I would suggest that you keep a list of the personnel on the records you play that you DO like. And if you like the way a particular bassist sounds, see what other configurations and other musicians (than the recording you already have) they play with. If you find a bassist you like, see how many different drummers you can find them playing with. If you like the way a certain drummer hooks up with one of your favorite bassists, see who else THEY play with. Check out the different bassists they play with. Just keep brancjhing out.

And ALWAYS backtrack from time to time. When I first was getting into this music there were so many players whose work I dismissed cause all I could hear them doing was "thumping quarter notes". It wasn't until my ear became a little more sophisticated that i could hear how hip their line was, how deep their time was, how much they interacted with the other musicians. How, even though they didn't play fast, what they played was a projection of their wit, intelligence and emotional depth.