BASSISTS AND ETHNICITY

[TrevorOfDoom]

in a related note, i was watching JT on Letterman the other night and noticed that JT was the only white dude in the group. seems he maybe went out of his way to hire only black musicians. struck me as odd.

then i remembered the Talking Heads. in Stop Making Sense, the four members of the band are the only white kids on stage. seems they had the same idea JT had. interesting...

bump for an interesting thought.

 

[Bobbo 77"]

Órale,
Here's my Dos Centavo's,
Black, White, Asian, Latino, ect,ect.....I believe it's what you've been exposed to, all the element's such as what you've grown up listening to, player's you dig, people who's style/ music you admire, family, ect. I noticed Female's have been mentioned in passing, check out Lydia......
that girl's from across the pond, but ooozes with so much FUNK ans SOUL! Rocco, Jaco, Carol Kaye, Black bassist's like Willie week's playin' " Authentic" country groove's, Victor with Bela..on and on...
So, My take, it's all about what you're exposed to in your formative learning year's, and what you feel MOST confortable playin'!
Bobbo 77' El Latino Vato de La Bajo!

 

[MikeBass]

Im just going to go ahead and say it. Yea i feel that african-americans have a better feel for groove. Dont know why. Most white people just cant feel it.

I don't think it matters, but the stereotype is there.
It's largely based in your upbringing and environment IMO.

Dude, I don't know if you're african-american, european-american, asian-american, mexican-american, martian-american, or what, but that's an awfully racist thing to say.

I agree here to a certain extent, but still don't think it matters.

Americans who descend from Africa or Americans who descend from Europe or Americans who descend from Asia- what ever your choice, the thing is, a bit of tempered ideas is always called for.


(BTW- the placing of XXXX-American to me is about as sad as it comes IMO- if you're an American citizen, then your American first, everything else comes second. I'm of Austrian/Hungarian descent, but an American first. Be proud, but damn, be an American. Thats why we're all here. Rant over & all IMO naturally).

 

[skaliwag66]

Metal (I have never seen a black guy in this genre ./QUOTE]

lots of blacks in metal dude. playing all instruments.

yea like me

Great post back there Jim, a lot of truths.

 

[sonofabass]

I hope this doesn't sound like I'm "shooting" the post down, and I hope it's been said already.

This is just, with all respect, a silly topic.
Right up...or down there with; we run faster, dance better and have bigger johnsons....the last one might be true but since I'm not surveyin' johnsons...

ok, that last part was my feable attempt at humour....anyone else hear crickets chirping?

seriously though. I think the questions just been asked too many times and it just doesn't matter. the players, the "better" players are the ones who shed/ practice more than the ones who don't

 

[bottomzone]

To loosely paraphrase the late great Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a bassist should not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their groove. Black, white, yellow, green, brown or blue-it makes absolutely no difference. Lincoln Goines, Jimmy Johnson, John Patitucci, Adam Nitti, Mark King, Donald "Duck" Dunn, Rocco Prestia, Pino Palladino, Jaco Pastorius, Tim Landers, Bunny Brunnel, Brian Bromberg, Gary Willis, Seth Horan, Jeff Berlin, John Entwistle, Doug Johns, Mark Egan, Bob Babbit, Flea, Ed Friedland, etc, etc, etc....... Neither of the previously mentioned bassists are African American to my knowledge and they all groove(d) like crazy!!!! IT'S ALL ABOUT THE GROOVE!!!!

A Groove is a Terrible Thing to Waste!

 

[DistantTremor]

I can see why that stereotype exists, considering where a lot of jazz originates from, and how earlier in the 20th century white people generally played/listened to classical music, and black people generally played/listened to jazz and blues.

Don't get me wrong, I know only so damn well that it doesn't matter what race you are when it really comes down to it, but that was just the way it appeared for a while, and the stereotype remains.

So like I said, color doesn't matter.

 

[rodl2005]

I don't think this is true at all anyway(O.T.) Sure pop/rock n roll orig. based from blues/african rythyms etc... so it -to me- seems obvious thet african americans/African heritage ppl in gerneral, as spanish, Sth American, Australia, British etc... are represented pretty well in ALL respects.

+1 color don't matter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Alaska Bass]

I'm not gonna beat you down for this one .

A lot of people here are just jumping on the 'This is Racial !!!'bandwagon , which I'm sure is not what the threadstarter has intended . After reading a lot of stories off TB , of what people expirience and what other people tell them , it seem that the African-American community is dominant on music genre's like Blues , Jazz , Funk and others in that regard , same way the white americans have traditionally been good at Country , Bluegrass , Rock , Metal (I have never seen a black guy in this genre . Might be my shortsightedness .) . There are guys who will crossover obviously and you'll have white guys becoming Flea and Patitucci , and black guys becoming Hendrix and BB King , but even in those case , music you create is influenced by what you listen to as you grown up . If the guy grew up on James Brown , he is gonna go towards a funk direction , a point at which color or race doesnt matter .

There is no real relation to color . There is only what sort of music has influenced you and the enviorment you grew up in which matters most in the equation .

Think about it this way ;

In a white american family , billy whose just about to get his first taste of music , gets a few tapes of Bob Dylan from Aunt Marge , because thats the sort of music she has enjoyed .

In contrast in the other family(African American) , dad hands his son a tape of the James Brown Funk connection or something which he remastered in his days .

Not to say the roles cant be interchanged . But you'd be lying to yourself if you'd accept that the social barrier and enviroment that is generated by family members and enviorment is not in effect here .

+100000000000

I too, believe that your exposure to music at an early age tends to color your musical preferences and creative expression as you age. This pattern is true in character formation (90% of a persons character is formed by the end of age 8). There are shining exceptions to this as well, but they are just that, exceptions.

BTW, is it just African-Americans that are supposedly great on bass, or are the African-Africans (SNL, George Bush skit) great on bass as well.

 

[ohmeplateau]

BTW, is it just African-Americans that are supposedly great on bass, or are the African-Africans (SNL, George Bush skit) great on bass as well.

blacks can play bass. africans play drums. duh.

white dudes don't have rhythm, but they got melody.

 

[MtManiac]

Be proud, but damn, be an American. Thats why we're all here. Rant over & all IMO naturally).

I'll be a proud Canadian, and you be a proud American.

Putting XXXX-before "American" is just to be more specific about to which ethnicity within the American melting pot you are referring, or consider yourself belonging. "American" isn't an ethnicity or a race - maybe in a thousand years or so when the countries in the Americas are as old as any of the youngest European countries are today and mostly everyone in each of the American countries share the same unique culture and unique language within their respective borders, such as the nations of France, Poland, Germany, England, etc. - but until then the United States of America is a state, or more specifically a union of states, Canada is a state, Mexico is a state, just like China is a state, South Africa is a state, and New Zealand is a state. "America" is two continents, North and South, and the countries on those two continents are all to varying degrees melting pots of all other world counties.

What I find interesting is that nobody seems to say "European-American," they just say "white." Like everyone else is "ethnic" except for "white" people, and "white" people are native to the USA or something, like they belong there more than anyone else. Where do you think plaid, golf, sausages, and sauerkraut come from??? Chicago??

Geography lesson over. Now back to the regularly scheduled thread.

 

[MtManiac]

I can see why that stereotype exists, considering where a lot of jazz originates from, and how earlier in the 20th century white people generally played/listened to classical music, and black people generally played/listened to jazz and blues.

Hmmm... Then who listened to bluegrass??? Must have been the blue people, sadly wiped out by smallpox in 1937. (sorry couldn't resist the joke. I agree with your point.)

 

[Alaska Bass]

"America" is two continents, North and South, and the countries on those two continents are all to varying degrees melting pots of all other world counties.

So does that make you a Canadian-American

 

[MtManiac]

So does that make you a Canadian-American

I guess it would if Canadian was an ethnicity...

 

[ohmeplateau]

So does that make you a Canadian-American

thats an insult to canadians dude...

 

[Alaska Bass]

By American, I meant the continent!

 

[MtManiac]

By American, I meant the continent!

Hey, I'll be a Canadian-American if you be an American-American!!

 

[ohmeplateau]

everyone knows alaska is part of canada anyway.

we're gonna take it back.

just wait.

keep waiting.

 

[davidlee]

There are many great bass players of many different ethnic backgrounds. There are also many phenomenal Native American bassist that are, as usual, overlooked.....
It doesn't matter who you are, man if you can play, you can play....that's the bottom line.....We're all family in music.

 

[Alaska Bass]

Ohmeplateau:

I'll keep waiting. I've got nothing better to do here at -10* F. The bad news is it is getting ready to get cold, the good news is in a few weeks we will start having more than 3 hours of daylight!!!