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Double Bass Suggestions for transcription

#2
Some of these may be a little beyond your reach right now, but the albums and artists should give you a good idea.

If nothing else, look for a medium blues and start there.

Walter Page “Lady Be Good” Count Basie: America's #1 Band – Count Basie

Milt Hinton “Pluckin’ the Bass” How Low Can You Go? Anthology of the String Bass – Various

Jimmie Blanton “Jack the Bear” The Blanton-Webster Band – Duke Ellington

Leroy “Slam” Stewart “I Got Rhythm” The Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz – Various

Israel Crosby “But Not For Me” Cross Country Tour 1958-1961 – Ahmad Jamal Trio

Oscar Pettiford “Tricotism” Tricotism – Lucky Thompson

Wilbur Ware “Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise” Live at the Village Vanguard, Vol. 2 – Sonny Rollins

Ray Brown “How High the Moon” The Oscar Peterson Trio Live at the Stratford Shakespearean Festival - Oscar Peterson

Percy Heath “Walkin” Miles Davis All Stars Walkin’ – Miles Davis

Sam Jones "Lover, Come Back to Me" More Party Time - Arnett Cobb

Jimmy Garrison “Acknowledgement” A Love Supreme – John Coltrane

Paul Chambers “So What” Kind of Blue – Miles Davis

Charlie Haden “ “ The Shape of Jazz to Come – Ornette Coleman

Scott LaFaro “Gloria’s Step” Sunday at the Village Vanguard – Bill Evans

Ron Carter “My Funny Valentine” The Complete Concert 1964 My Funny Valentine + Four & More – Miles Davis
 
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#7
A couple of other suggestions - Thelonious Monk LIVE AT THE IT CLUB, Larry Gale plays a full chorus of walking in front of pretty much every solo of his, so you can hear the line without a lot of other instrumentation in the way. Also the two trio records MOTION (Sonny Dallas w/Lee Konitz) and WAY OUT WEST (Ray Brown w/Sonny Rollins), there's no chordal instrument so once again you can hear the bass line much more clearly.
 
#8
I HIGHLY agree with Salty's recommendation of Wilbur Ware's "Softely" solo. It really shows how you can play basically just the changes of the chords with arpeggios and approach tones while still having fresh concepts.

I'd recommend Miles' solo on So What. It fits very naturally on bass, actually.
 
#10
Hey all,

I had mentioned trying to come up with some easier beginner lines. Here's some ideas if anyone is interested!


Paul Chambers "All of You" with Miles

Sam Jones "Autumn Leaves" with Cannonball

Israel Crosby "Broadway" with Ahmad Jamal

Arvell Shaw "Mack the Knife" Jazz Is Back in Grand Rapids – Louis Armstrong

Oscar Pettiford "Just You, Just Me" with Monk

Ray Brown "Moten Swing" with Sonny Stitt with OP Trio

Percy Heath "Doxy" Bags' Groove - Miles

Ben Wolfe "A Nightingale Sang In Berkley Square" We Are in Love - Harry Connick, Jr.
 
#11
Ed Fuqua said:
A couple of other suggestions - Thelonious Monk LIVE AT THE IT CLUB, Larry Gale plays a full chorus of walking in front of pretty much every solo of his, so you can hear the line without a lot of other instrumentation in the way. Also the two trio records MOTION (Sonny Dallas w/Lee Konitz) and WAY OUT WEST (Ray Brown w/Sonny Rollins), there's no chordal instrument so once again you can hear the bass line much more clearly.
Click to expand...

Also, +1 to this fo sho
 
#14
The one album is called "Leroy Walks!". Originally on the old great West Coast Jazz label "Contemporary" now available on disc. All the tune titles have the word walk in them.
Great pic of Leroy on the cover walking towards the camera with his bass. Victor Feldman did the charts. Good shot of his four Artone gut strings Too.
 
#15
... Cookin' , Relaxin' , Workin' with the Miles Davis Quintet. All of it. PCs bass is super-audible on most of the tracks, the material is just jamsession-classics, different tempos, and PC plays some great lines.

Other than that: Ron Carter on "No greater Love" on My Funny Valentine/Four and More (Miles Davis as well).

Ray Brown with Oscar Peterson, f.ex. "We get Requests".
 
#16
Mathias didn't mention Steamin', but i guess that was included in the general drift.

i would also mention the recordings PC made as a leader (some of which are better than others) but also the absolutely fantasic swingin/walkin lines he played for the Red Garland Trio recordings, like A Garland of Red or Groovy. crisp, melodic, counterpoint, walking and solos. that would be great stuff for transcribing.
 
#17
Let me give you a good idea mate! Make it easy for yourself! You get a couple of Hal/Leonard play along book such as Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, Bud Powell, Coltraine, and Parker just a few to mention! You can turn the balance to one side and just listen to the head and then just drum and bass, you can clearly hear the bass all the way mate! These cats are great players and their lines are just as good as any! I sit on the floor for hours with my fretless acoustic bass transcribing whole songs writing out every note also gives you the opportunity to discover different substitutions all the time so before I know it 3-4 hours passed by! Once I'm done I already half know the song by heart so just have a cup of tea and grab the upright figure out few different fingerings and off you go! I recommend to start with some friendly Charlie Parker song, but while you at it learn the head too, its always nice to surprise your band members when you play a section of the head spontaneously! I did that with Donna Lee and I slept great that night! Also at night in bed instead of reading Harry Potter read bass lines imagine the fingerboard at the same time so you playing inside your head!
 
#18
As the original poster of this thread I figured I'd come back in and give my two cents on what I've learned.

When I'm looking for a tune to transcribe I look for an album that is a duo or a trio, or an album where the bass player is the leader (Ray Brown usually mic'd himself). I try to find a tune that has pretty straightforward changes.

Originally I was listening to an 2 bar section over and over and putting the notes on paper as soon as I figured them out. Now, especially as I start to transcribe solos, I listen to a 4 bar section each day and memorize it. After a few days I sit down with my bass and play through the line. Then write down the changes and make note of the nuances of the player.

After a while you start to learn the MO of a certain player. For example, when I'm transcribing Ray Brown I expect to hear a delayed root all over the place and I can listen for it.

Anyway, the main way I find a good tune to transcribe is just to listen to as much music as I can and pick the tunes I like the sound of. I did a couple of the tunes suggested above and they helped me step outside of some of the main players I had been listening to.

Long story short, this has been a helpful thread for getting me jump-started.
 
#19
Paul Warburton said:
The one album is called "Leroy Walks!". Originally on the old great West Coast Jazz label "Contemporary" now available on disc. All the tune titles have the word walk in them.
Great pic of Leroy on the cover walking towards the camera with his bass. Victor Feldman did the charts. Good shot of his four Artone gut strings Too.
Click to expand...

These were some of the first charts I transcribed. Such awesome playing for all of the players.
 

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