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Bernard Edwards

#4
Dr. Cheese said:
I was playing along with Bernard and Chic tonight. He may well be my single greatest influence.:cool:
Click to expand...

Dr. Cheese said:
I was playing along with Bernard and Chic tonight. He may well be my single greatest influence.:cool:
Click to expand...

Doc...I love all the cats...JJ, Jaco, Anthony...but Bernard has a special place in my heart. He said so much while playing so little in the funkiest possible way and to me he personifies all that is great about our wonderful instrument. He was never really known for having ultra flashy chops...but so what. Chops mean nothing if you dont feel it like Bernard did...and boy did he have a great feel. It eclipsed 90% of the chops meisters out there today. Not many cats Ive heard cop that sort of feel

I think his playing first entered my conciousness around 1980 when 'Diana' first came out. I was only a 17 YO kid at the time and hadnt even started playing yet...but i was hip to the bass.

In later years I would get right into Chic and their stuff still rates as some of my favorite music (BTW im a jazz player). I paticularly like 'my forbidden lover' and 'everybody dance' but my favorite is 'I want your love' : It is completely haunting.....(especially the strings/horn unison riff) and completely transcends the genre for which Nile and Bernard intended, such was their genius (as do most of those standout 'Chic' cuts). I am so enamoured of Bernard and his sound that I even play a stingray exclusively these days...I love that sound

Stylistically I guess I am a hybrid of JJ and BE...(so you can imagine what my jazz is like .....hahaha!!!) anyway, I digress....Ive been reading your posts and we have very similar tastes.

I bet youre a big jamerson fan too....hes my greatest influence
 
#5
Funk 'N' Stein said:
Doc...I love all the cats...JJ, Jaco, Anthony...but Bernard has a special place in my heart. He said so much while playing so little in the funkiest possible way and to me he personifies all that is great about our wonderful instrument. He was never really known for having ultra flashy chops...but so what. Chops mean nothing if you dont feel it like Bernard did...and boy did he have a great feel. It eclipsed 90% of the chops meisters out there today. Not many cats Ive heard cop that sort of feel

I think his playing first entered my conciousness around 1980 when 'Diana' first came out. I was only a 17 YO kid at the time and hadnt even started playing yet...but i was hip to the bass.

In later years I would get right into Chic and their stuff still rates as some of my favorite music (BTW im a jazz player). I paticularly like 'my forbidden lover' and 'everybody dance' but my favorite is 'I want your love' : It is completely haunting.....(especially the strings/horn unison riff) and completely transcends the genre for which Nile and Bernard intended, such was their genius (as do most of those standout 'Chic' cuts). I am so enamoured of Bernard and his sound that I even play a stingray exclusively these days...I love that sound

Stylistically I guess I am a hybrid of JJ and BE...(so you can imagine what my jazz is like .....hahaha!!!) anyway, I digress....Ive been reading your posts and we have very similar tastes.

I bet youre a big jamerson fan too....hes my greatest influence
Click to expand...

I am a Jamerson fan too. I just don't have any jazz chops!:hiding:
 
#8
I remember when I first started playing bass (in 1989 or so) I tried to check out some disco records to hear what those guys were doing and I was terrified - they were all such awesome players. Later I found out they were all actually Bernard Edwards. :D
 
#10
Dr. Cheese said:
I am a Jamerson fan too. I just don't have any jazz chops!:hiding:
Click to expand...

+1:)
Out of all the greats, BE was my biggest influence. The way he could take a simple (or so it would seem) bass line and make it dance still amazes me today. I don’t know why anyone would need a transcription of his music. His lines aren’t that difficult to learn my ear. It seems to me that the lesion to learn from him is time and feel:) oh and taste:D
 
#11
He managed to get a funky, burpy, pulse from the bass unlike anyone else I've ever heard. He could throw in some subtle little sounds here and there which were extremely cool accents.

No kidding about the strings. I like some music that needs old dead ones, and other music that needs fresh live ones.

Hmmmm, maybe I need a dead string bass and a live string bass...
 
#19
I just recently (this week) joined a casino/covers/variety band. I looked over the set list to see if there were any difficult bass lines I'd need to spend some time on. Just one: "We Are Family" by Sister Sledge! Time to go practice.
 

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