Double Bass Ed Schuller hums

[Matthew Tucker]

Does Ed Schuller always "sing" along with his solos? He's a great player with a delicious sounding bass, but after the first few solos at a concert the other night (with Lovano, Grabowski, Tinkler and Barker) most of the people I was with were just wishing he'd leave the mic alone and let the bass speak for itself - he did it on every tune. I loved his playing though.

 

[isolated]

Yeah, Eddie always "sings along". I'm inferring from your post that he was doing so into a mic. That's not something that I've seen him do before. The singing never really bugged me, but I think it's because he's singing what he's playing, as opposed to Keith Jarrett's "singing", which is a bit distracting for obvious reasons....

Ed Schuller has long been a favorite of mine; his record "Mu Point" belongs in everyone's collection, I think.

 

[Matthew Tucker]

yeah he had a mike and leant into it; I don't know whether it was the sound guy's idea or his, but he was definitely making it a feature. But his voice doesn't compare with his bassplaying, and up in thumb pos he was *way* outta tune (singing!) anyway ... and we were all trying to work out whether he was singing what he was playing or playing what he was singing. If it just comes out, like Keith I suppose or Oscar Peterson, no it doesn't bug me, but when its a feature - more than one song and its ... Distracting.

 

[isolated]

That's really weird that he had a mic to sing into. Every other time I've heard him he just does it, and the music is generally louder than the singing so it's there but not, as you said, a feature. And yeah, his vocal pitch gets funky sometimes. So I would have to agree (without having been present) that it would proabably drive me nuts also. But don't tell Eddie I told you that.

 

[Marc Piane]

singing and playing can be a nice effect.

Slam Stewart

Major Holly


I only have recordings of him with his bro and, while you can hear him hum, it's definitely in the background. For him I prefer it that way.