Double Bass effective obligato examples? not the strings

[Tom Lane]

I went to hear a teacher of mine last night in a trio situation. He played great, Adam Cohen, in case you're looking for some jazz bass talent. On the tune When or Where, he played what I thought was a very effective ostinato pattern over the first 4 to 6 bars, which got me to thinking more about incorporating ostinato in my playing. I use them in some tunes, but I haven't really analyzed when they seem to work well. I mostly go by instinct which is fine, I suppose. So, my question, oh more experienced players, is, which jazz tunes do you use ostinato on, and in what scenarios? Are there rules of thumb? Thanks in advance. If you think this is a stupid question, please move on because I wasn't posting to you.

 

[Ed Fuqua]

Are you sure you don't mean ostinatos?

 

[Tom Lane]

Okay, yes, I did mean ostinatos. Now, care to answer the question smart a$$.

 

[Violen]

I saw the Gerald Clayton Trio play in May and they had a tune based on a Palindrome, which would have been an ostinato pattern. They didnt mention that fact till after they played it so i didnt understand what was going on at the time. Then it made sense, why the lines moved the way they did.

As far as plugging in an Ostinato, figure out a tune you want to do it on, perhaps something simple like Impressions. A really easy idea (one i did at a jam) was a hand percussionist wanted to play it as a Mambo.

Try thinking in those terms. Develop a pattern or a groove. Base it on the familiar like rhythm of the Melody. Explore.

Come back with some ideas, so we can learn from you.

 

[Ed Fuqua]

Okay, yes, I did mean ostinatos. Now, care to answer the question smart a$$.

Given your response, I'll just put you on my IGNORE list.

 

[Tom Lane]

Given your response, I'll just put you on my IGNORE list.

That's too bad. I would have liked to have heard what you have to say.

 

[Don Kasper]

tcl-
One way to think of an Ostinato is as a "rhythmic" Pedal Tone. A Pedal Tone, ( if you don't know), is named for the "pedals" on Pipe Organ - these pedals are played with the feet of the Organist and are used to play the lowest notes of the Organ. A Pedal Tone was usually a single, held low note, against which the harmony/chords occurred.
In a jazz setting, this device is explored with the addition of a rhythmic component added to the "Pedal Tone". This is usually used to create a harmonic/rhythmic "tension", which at some point is "released"- the bassist usually then chooses notes/rhythms more in line with the harmony and feel. A thorough knowledge of the harmony will ensure that your "Ostinatos" will make sense to the piano/guitar.

It is also common to have an arrangement of a tune that utilizes a preconceived Ostinato - A great example is Miles Davis 1958 version of "On Green Dolphin Street", where the arrangement is an Ostinato on Eb for the first 8 bars of the melody and on the second A of the form, as well ( bars 17 -24).

 

[Tom Lane]

Come back with some ideas, so we can learn from you.

Thanks Violen, that’s helpful and a good suggestion. I realize that I play ostinatos on things like Little Sunflower and other Latin jazz tunes, once you mentioned it. I also play around with ostinatos on ballads when the harmony, for lack of a better word, pauses, typically octave patterns. Good advice, thanks, and I’ll let you know what I come up with.

tcl-
It is also common to have an arrangement of a tune that utilizes a preconceived Ostinato - A great example is Miles Davis 1958 version of "On Green Dolphin Street", where the arrangement is an Ostinato on Eb for the first 8 bars of the melody and on the second A of the form, as well ( bars 17 -24).

Iona, thanks for the links. Green Dolphin is a perfect example. And, I realize that I apply the pedal tone to Old Devil Moon, sometimes playing the tonic and sometimes the 5th. Both sound good to me. But, I confess that I stole that from some of the recordings I listened to when I learned the tune. I also like to play an ostinato pattern on My Funny Valentine rather than playing the descending moving tone and, kind of surprisingly, at least to me, on Girl from Ipanema. In the later case, I developed the ostinato taking off from what the bassist played on the Stan Getz recording of the tune. In that case, he plays a very simple 1-3 pattern, almost Country Western or Folk, but the tune still grooves or sways so well because of the drummer and the melody. One of my idols is Ray Brown and so I enjoy playing very simply sometimes.

You’ve both given me something good to think about and I’ll post back when I find other good examples. Too bad I offended Ed and we lost his contribution, but I guess he’s kind of touchy and I'll just leave that alone.