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Here's an article from bass player magazine talking about this subject:
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Michael League is a genius too. Trust me....
Same with math. It took humanity 1000 years to solve the quadratic equation. Now it's taught to school kids.
as a bass player you owe it to yourself to put the headphone on and spend 1:24 mins in study
I can remember having a conversation with the late Eric Fuchsman of Cort/Groovetools at the Messe in Frankfurt in 2001. We were right next to Jeff Berlin at the Dean Booth and there were great bassists everywhere. He opined that the state of Bass in 2001 was about where the state of Guitar had been a couple of decades back after the innovations of players like Hendrix, McLaughlin, Martino and Montgomery had become commonplace. I think the early innovators are tending to get lost in the shuffle because everyone is so much more aware of the great players who have taken the innovations and run with it.
I can teach most Freshman Bass Students at Belmont to play Teen Town. Composing something like that is another thing entirely.
The guys I'm paying attention to are the new "ramp guys" like Hadrien Feraud, Damien Erskine and Matt Garrison. There's a young player here in Nashville named Scott Fernandez that I think people will be hearing about very, very soon if they haven't already. Very innovative and definitely pursuing his own vision.
Roy
Keep your eyes peeled for a fellow by the name of Dane Alderson, a young Australian bass player who's been tearing it up over here for years ( I think he might have moved to NYC)...anyway. I've seen him live several times and suffice to say he's an astonishingly great player
jaco was an amazing bassist, but the word genius gets thrown around a lot. amazing? yes. genius? no.
Jaco is totally an amazing player, but can someone explain why he's revered as a god in the bass world? Don't get me wrong, I am not doubting him in any way, he's certainly in the top 5. I just want an explanation on how he innovated.
But Mingus never sold out stadiums, and, for the most part, outside of jazz circles, not many bassists have heard of him.
And then opinions, opinions, opinions. When I listen to guys like Jaco I wish bass never got out of the first octave. He didn't bring anything new to music, all he's done has been done a dozen of times long before he was born or was simply not good enough to warrant any sort of popularity, but he has given a lot on insight regarding technique. In order to be innovative in music it's not enough to transpose old lines to a new instrument. It's also my opinion that in order to truly enjoy his music, one must take a similar amount of drugs to what he was using. There's absolutely no doubt he was an amazing player. He had the great feel for rhythm and dynamics. However, composer? Meh. Arranger? Meh. Person? Meh. Drug abuser? Yeah. Being a genius would have to include far more than what he was and would require that you create something that's truly amazing while sober.A genius is a person who displays exceptional intellectual ability, creativity, or originality, typically to a degree that is associated with the achievement of unprecedented insight.
And then opinions, opinions, opinions. When I listen to guys like Jaco I wish bass never got out of the first octave. He didn't bring anything new to music, all he's done has been done a dozen of times long before he was born or was simply not good enough to warrant any sort of popularity, but he has given a lot on insight regarding technique. In order to be innovative in music it's not enough to transpose old lines to a new instrument. It's also my opinion that in order to truly enjoy his music, one must take a similar amount of drugs to what he was using. There's absolutely no doubt he was an amazing player. He had the great feel for rhythm and dynamics. However, composer? Meh. Arranger? Meh. Person? Meh. Drug abuser? Yeah. Being a genius would have to include far more than what he was and would require that you create something that's truly amazing while sober.