Anyone see Letterman tonight? Someone was filling in for Will Lee. Anyone know who is was? No offense to Will - but I thought this guy's playing was great and funky and his tone was awesome. More in the mix than Will usually is. My opinion only.....
I only saw one clear shot of the guy, when they showed the band right after the Top 10 list. He was an older guy with glasses and gray hair. The bass looked like a Fender Jazz, red with a matching headstock.
I missed the show, but an older guy with gray hair playing a vintage red Jazz describes Neil Jason very well. He's been Will's first sub for many years.
http://video.google.com/videosearch...w.google.com&hl=en&emb=0&aq=0&oq="Neil+Jason# Go to 5:28, his solo starts.
...and, back in the day, they both played for the Brecker Brothers Band (you can A/B their takes on "Some Skunk Funk"). And both are known for bass/vocals & jingle work. Jason pretty much has the 'standard' for the Jazz Bass tone.
Neil is great. And he IS Will's usual Letterman sub. Yes, his playing is amazing and certainly that's a huge part of his sound... but he ALSO owns an exceptional early 60's Jazz bass that is just one of those special basses EVERYONE wants to buy from him as soon as they hear it. It's a killer.
I saw that there was someone else sitting in his "chair" but I couldn't figure out who it was. I'll try to hit Will up on twitter to see who it was. To be continued...
Holy $%#$!^! I have seen that video, but I always got side tracked before the solo.. obviously my mistake!
As I'm approaching old-fogeydom myself, I feel I should mention that Neil was subbing for Will on Letterman around 2 decades ago when he had dark hair and appeared a little more youthful. He still played the same old J-Bass, though ! Neil's a part of one of the biggest jingle houses in the country. If you have a TV or a radio, you've heard their stuff. He's listed on this page: http://www.jsmmusic.com/people.html
I watched the show last night and he was truly amazing, what a nice tone... Will should definitely turn it up a notch, IMO Neil’s volume was just right.