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Sorry if I'm being a jerk, but I think you're missing the point. When we transcribe we don't seek perfect ideal solutions to musical problems, but rather to find out what happened in real life successful examples of the idiom. Wes's version of Summertime is a happening piece of music. The bass...

It's just one of those realities of being a working bassist. When I first came to NYC I studied with a great, "hall of fame" bassist. Once during a lesson he got a call for a gig. He hung up and said "I'm playing duo with .........(a great, "hall of fame" pianist). Wow, I said, I can't wait to...

I did a show on an old ply strung with guts and got the bug to try guts on my bass, so I ordered a g and d of these. Put them on Sunday, and played gigs on Tues and Wed and the tuning was surprisingly stable - some minor tweaking after every set. Today - Friday - the tuning is all over the...

I'm not sure where to post this, so here it is under misc. I live in NYC and have suffered a serious wrist injury requiring surgery. The pins come out in a couple of weeks, and I'm gonna need OT. My wrist surgeon doesn't know any therapists who specialize in musicians, and, surprisingly, a...

Don't know about the time, but that Bill Evans track don't swing at all. Happens to the best of them. I find it kind of encouraging, actually.

I too find the compas 180 set great across all four strings.

I have found Building Jazz Bass Lines (a book by Ron Carter) very helpful.

Any of you using this string primarily jazz players? Like them? I'm using Velvet 180s now, and have tried a bunch of stuff over the last few years after using Spiros for a long time.

So what's that thing attached to the tailpiece

Sorry , but I don't know how. Ill try to figure it out.

Playing conventionally in tune isn't as crucial as we think

I know some guys who teach at the New School who say Reggie Workman plays so strong that he makes piano players sound out of tune. Maybe there's something there. Maybe pl

Apples and oranges. His Bach is hideous, obviously. I am one of the idiots who actually spent money on the CD. Try sitting through that baby. Jazz is different. I really am curious; do those of you who cringe at RC's intonation cringe when you listen to Miles or Jackie McLean? Do different...

I went to the U of Michigan in the late 60s as a brass player. The big kahuna faculty in that area was a trumpet teacher who used to bring up Miles as a horrible out of tune musician, especially when compared to a great jazz trumpeter like Doc Severson. Seriously, do Miles, Sonny, Billie, or...

Sorry to get obsessive about this, but as an older cat who has played a lot of great music, but has not had the career I'd hoped for, I like to listen to guys like Ron and figure out why they're so great. I've come to the conclusion that his approach to pitch is far from a problem. It is an...

Intonation is subjective. In the case of true Masters (check out Bird, Miles, Ron Carter, Jackie McLean) it's about strength of line and intention, not European style perfection. Do Billie Holiday and Lester Young sound out of tune to you? Again, a recording Every Week for Fifty Years. Poor...

According to Ron's site he's on over 2500 recordings. A recording per week for 50 years is 2600. Think about that. Perhaps the thing we should do is focus on what this genius does right instead of foolishly and childishly nitpicking on what are obviously unimportant issues with his playing.

I took up birdwatching as a hobby about 10 years ago. Binoculars are the necessary equipment. My first pair was $70 and I loved them. Soon realized their limitations and got a new $120 pair - loved them. Realized their limitations and bumped up to $200, you get the idea. Finally got a pair for...

I could go on and on...any of you have any luck learning to play fast tempos by straining, clenching, pushing through pain, sweating, and bleeding? That's how you do it, apparently.

If you're already putting in 2 hours a day on scales and arpeggios, enough already with the drill; don't pile a mode routine on top of that. You're covering most of that with the scales anyway. Get into some music! Life is short.

Bel Cantos don't make it for jazz. Evahs can go both ways.

I like blues. Cheaper than the others; nice sound.

I thought it was an awful film. Really corny, unrealistic, and unbelievable. The whole vibe of the movie was much more like I picture drum and bugle corps or marching band than jazz. Am I wrong? I'm an old fart who came up before jazz was taught in college. Is this at all like what's going...

Sweet Basil Trio - Evidence Music - ECD22120 - recorded 1991 (I was in the audience on one of those nights) but not released 'till 1995

Uh, you're kidding, right? Dude nails a Sonny Rollins solo arco, and you're making suggestions?

The best book on learning to solo I've seen is The Improvised Melodic Line by Mike Longo. He's a quirky guy and wrote this book, apparently, before good notation software was available, but it's wonderful. It will get you hearing and playing better and inspire you to develop your own ideas. A...

I love the way you say "accompanied only by Wynton Marsalis." Often it's the rhythm section that really makes the music work, but, sadly, listeners don't really get that. This is truly a great track and one I've never heard - thank you. In the rapturous comments on youtube no one mentions the...

I love the way you say "accompanied only by Wynton Marsalis." Often it's the rhythm section that really makes the music work, but, sadly, listeners don't really get that. This is truly a great track and one I've never heard - thank you. In the rapturous comments on youtube no one mentions the...

I've had these on for two months now. They are very clear, and amplify beautifully. For me, just the right amount of sustain, similar to velvet blues, the strings I replaced them with. The sound gets there quicker than the velvets and doesn't sustain as long as spiros. No mwah - the thing...

I think a lot of us live in an idealized bass-centric universe and don't really see the big picture, sometimes. Our job as bassists isn't to sound beautiful or put out some sort of idealized "true bass sound," but rather to make the music work. Dave Holland uses (at least was using the last...

I find the current vogue for playing amp-less and it's partner, using gut strings, fascinating. When I moved to NYC in the 70's I checked out all my bass heroes, of course. Everyone was using steel strings and amps, from Milt Hinton to Richard Davis, even in small settings. For example Milt...

I've seen a set of the new "white" labellas, and that's what he was using. Calling them white is misleading. They look as I described them in my previous posts.

The g str. did look kinda white, but the bottom 3 were different - to my eyes a coppery look, with that coarse sort of round wound look that velvets have, but with balls at the tailpiece end, unlike the velvets that I've had (haven't seen them all) that have a loop like guts.

Saw Ron's band at the Blue Note last nite. BTW, he's not getting younger, and anyone who hasn't seen this master in person should do so and get a master class. He had a lifeline pickup and a big speaker up on a pole right behind his head; hope he's not experiencing hearing loss. I couldn't id...

I can't imagine life without my Gaines wheel. Keep it kinda soft for extra cushioning and use common sense when "driving" your axe around. Two downsides: you will eventually get a flat, fixable but a pain, and I think using the wheel over time speeds up the process of widening your endpin hole...

Don't have the recording. I think metronome settings are very important for any transcription.

The only Velvets I've ever used are the Blues, 'cause I refuse to spend the price of the others on any string. I love them. I'm on my 2nd set now and have had them on for almost 2 years. The first lasted almost 3 before I got the urge to replace. Love the sound, no breakage. Worth a try...

I'm very happy with my etymotic research ear buds. Excellent sound and noise cancelling too. I can listen to a Haydn string quartet on the subway! Their noise-reducing ear plugs are great also.

When I bought my bass, a pollman, at kagen & gaines in chicago (still in business?) I knew nothing and just went for the best sound I could afford. Several people were steering me to a couple of other basses they said were much better bangs for the buck. I stupidly went for the axe that came...

I loved hearing Sam Jones playing at Boomers and the Angry Squire in NYC. He was using Spiros at that time, as was almost everyone I saw. All the guys who make their fame and "fortune" using guts had switched to Spiros - Milt Hinton, George Duvivier, Sam, Mingus, Percy Heath, Major Holley...