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Tal Wilkenfeld?

#21
Geddyfleaharris said:
man...I don't even want to go there but....^^^^BINGO! And not to be sexed but the key is "she".

...I am sure there are young GUYS her age who are as talented as her. Maybe I am selling her short but I do think that the novelty of a young, attractive female playing bass opened a lot of doors that would not be opened for a guy with the same talents etc.

Not bashing her and good for her to get all the recognition but something else other than talent might be happening here. :hiding:
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by any bass player on this forum or elsewhere, it can truthfully be said that "(a) there are bass players better than i am who have been noticed less, and (b) there are bass players less talented than i am who have been noticed more." so, the fact that tal has been noticed more or less than people who are better or worse on bass doesn't require the additional explanation that it's somehow due to her being female.

it's not a female thing, it's a bass thing - that's the way the music world is. there are plenty of famous male bass players who suck (or at least aren't all that great) - no complaints about them getting tons of undeserved attention?

tal deserves all the attention she's getting, imo.
 
#25
don't forget that she left school and went to america at a young age to play bass ALL DAY,...

I'm sure that helped her along the way somewhat...

and she isn't the only one, Orianthi the guitarist has done similar,... though the connections has to be right as they were 'promoted' via the big guys, if they were just good players but noone heard of them they would just be good players that noones heard of?
 
#26
JimmyM said:
I think they're selling her a little short, too.
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And that was not my intention when I responded to Buster Brown's post even though I stated I might be. She is a very talented musician.

JimmyM said:
However, there is no doubt in my mind that if she looked like Roseanne Barr that we wouldn't be hearing from her, at least not so soon.
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And that was my point and what I think Buster was asking. We all know there are tons of talented people both male and female who don't get to tour with legends like Jeff Beck when they are 20 or 21.

As Jimmy said....image is everything.

I am not intentionally trying to dig myself into a hole. lol :help:
 
#30
Geddyfleaharris said:
And that was not my intention when I responded to Buster Brown's post even though I stated I might be. She is a very talented musician.



And that was my point and what I think Buster was asking. We all know there are tons of talented people both male and female who don't get to tour with legends like Jeff Beck when they are 20 or 21.

As Jimmy said....image is everything.

I am not intentionally trying to dig myself into a hole. lol :help:
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No, I agree with you! Rock & Roll is a very visual thing as well as musical! When somebody is great to look at, you take notice!
 
#31
She's awesome in bass, though I feel she lacks a little bit of soul. She plays too clean for my taste. Anyway she happens to be pretty and BOOM.

Gotta say it's kinda depressing when you hear an interview w/her and she talks about her apparently easy way up. It's like your teenage lazy dream come true: "well I didn't learn anything in high school, so I dropped out, went to the U.S., went to music school, got an endorsement from sadowski, and made it big". She makes it look like she never had to make ends meet and completely skipped common things you have to deal with when you become a professional musician. Maybe I'm just a jealous guy.
 
#32
hectorjcm800 said:
Gotta say it's kinda depressing when you hear an interview w/her and she talks about her apparently easy way up. It's like your teenage lazy dream come true: "well I didn't learn anything in high school, so I dropped out, went to the U.S., went to music school, got an endorsement from sadowski, and made it big". She makes it look like she never had to make ends meet and completely skipped common things you have to deal with when you become a professional musician. Maybe I'm just a jealous guy.
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You shouldn't be depressed. Her circumstances are probably different than yours, not everyone that comes to this country from another has to worry about making ends meet because some of them have support systems that enable them to not worry about these kinds of things. In other words they are taken care of, they don't have to worry about where their next meal is going to come from, having money in their pocket or where they are going to sleep. When you don't have to worry about those things you can devote if you're inclined to, all of your time to studying and working on your plan of world domination. :D
 
#33
Phil Smith said:
You shouldn't be depressed. Her circumstances are probably different than yours, not everyone that comes to this country from another has to worry about making ends meet because some of them have support systems that enable them to not worry about these kinds of things. In other words they are taken care of, they don't have to worry about where their next meal is going to come from, having money in their pocket or where they are going to sleep. When you don't have to worry about those things you can devote if you're inclined to, all of your time to studying and working on your plan of world domination. :D
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for me this just cannot happen,... I have a mortgage... has to be paid for by working,... working takes up too much of my personal time,... hence I always have to worry about those things :( but im still trying for world domination!
 
#34
I saw her for the first time on PBS when they broadcast Eric Claptons crossroads festival last year. Alot of this music doesnt interest me. I was playing online game at the time and just had the tv on for sound. It wasnt till the second song i looked up to see who the bass player was that i realized she was a cute girl. Point being i think she got where she is on skill more then looks. Shes cute like girl next door cute, she isnt model hot like half the female country/pop singers out there now who dont write thier own songs and can barely sing them and just look nice for music videos. She one of the better female musicians out there and her looks probably help her get noticed, but if she couldnt play she wouldnt be on those stages. To me Sarah Mclachlan is the hottest woman in music, has been for a long time, but ive never had the thought in the 10 years i been listening to her that her looks got her where she is, she writes great music and plays it well and sings it perfectly, the looks are just a bonus.
 
#35
hectorjcm800 said:
She's awesome in bass, though I feel she lacks a little bit of soul. She plays too clean for my taste. Anyway she happens to be pretty and BOOM.
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I have her CD, and I agree with you, her playing and writing style lacks a tinsy little bit of soul, and this comes from a person who's spoiled by the "Heavy Weather" cassette (then CD).

She's really a natural, very gifted. Her looks is only the icing. Ahd she's doing it all with a 4-string.
 
#37
Hoover said:
Every time I wonder (or hear someone else ask) "How did so-and-so become famous?!?!" I am reminded of an almost offhand but incredibly astute comment Rob Mounsey once made in the middle of a usenet flame war:

"the Music Business is not a meritocracy"
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Perhaps not, but it is an industry where merit sometimes does count for something.

I certainly wouldn't argue that the worst musicians rise to the top of the Music Business.

But a person often has to be way more than just a great or fantastic musician to make it in that Biz. So merit alone doesn't work to get a person to the top. Tal is a talented bass player, and apparently, she can also hold the personalities of a 5 piece touring band together, as well as hang out with older more famous players without getting on their nerves - indeed, they like her.

All of that counts, too, but of course an occasional a-hole who also can't play makes it somehow. Wish I knew more about how that happens.

I also suspect that "can't play" is highly subjective (which makes the word "merit" hard to define). Tal plays in what I would call several somewhat distinct styles, all of them overlaid with something of her own style - she's young, it's all developing and interesting to watch.
 
#40
There was another thread a while back about Tal Wilkenfeld that quickly went the same way - 'yes, she's talented but would she have got the gig if she wasn't a cute girl?' Outwith being a very successful musician, she can't win. What does she have to do, work in a McDonald's 'til she's 30, maybe gain 90 pounds in the process until she's on a 'level playing field' ..?!?

The only reason these 'points' come up is because she's good looking and female. The fact that she's way above average as a player doesn't seem to enter into it - the notion of there being a huge supply of similarly excellent Men who might have got the Beck gig would only be relevant if Beck had held open auditions. He didn't - the gig was a word-of-mouth booking based on Tal's talent and her work.

Don't think I'm right about the inherent sexism in these suppositions? (Oh yeah - I broke out the 'S' word!!) - then why don't these discussions break out round here about Hadrien Feraud - young, good looking and has the audacity to land a bassists' dream gig (McLaughlin). But that's okay. He's a guy.
 

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