The Best Players come from this Genre......

[PortlandBass77]

If by best you mean:

Most proficient in music theory

Able to work with anything thrown at them

Able to sight read

Then Jazzzz hands down

 

[roller]

Sounds like your negative expectations are clouding your ability to enjoy some great performances, as his band is ALWAYS performing live unless it's at a venue (like the Super Bowl Halftime Show) that prerecords performances for production purposes.

The band is in the background in terms of lighting here, but they're very clearly playing live:

My only personal knock on the hip-hop genres as of late is that they've gotten away from using the same live instruments on their actually album tracks that they do at their shows like they did in the 90's; I roomed with the guitarist of Rhianna for awhile and got to sit in at a few rehearsals, and her band absolutely KILLED. You'd never know it from listening to her records though.

Not really sure what you mean by "become" either, portions of the industry, particularly the pop genres have been playback heavy for decades now; even Syd Vicious from DK is notorious for performing without even being plugged in.

not negative... I just don't mind expressing my opinion that I favor the days of when, for the most part, musicians truly created music with their natural voices and/or by playing instruments. the planet is steadily moving away from that as ProTools and pre-recorded tracks have become commonplace... and that is unfortunate.

I'm sure the "bands" that back up pop and hip-hop artists are made up of good players. for example, Nuno Bettencourt tours with Rihanna... but a couple of hot mics run into the board while a bunch of folks behind them jump around with their instruments as canned tracks play doesn't constitute as a live performance to me. if it does for others, so be it.

and if he were still around, I bet Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols would agree with me. cheers.

 

[RyanKW]

Even though the company was producing R&B/Pop records in the 60s the book makes it clear that He was a local jazz player and the producers first let him free to do his thing and later wrote lines in the style he trail blazed for others to play.

I think if there was a bassist superstars or International Race of Champions type competition and you had an upright and electric bass and each was asked to perform in different genres and ethnic styles around the world I would choose someone whose passion was jazz, no matter what genre he earned his living in.

I've had the book for a while, because I wanted charts for it. Now I'm finally reading it. Can't put the thing down.

I love the idea, on the early recordings, that he'd record the track both with upright and electric on top of each other.

 

[Brad Johnson]

he may/may not have skills... just seems like every time I've seen him "perform," it's been more dancing than playing while the whole band is pantomiming.

but the same can be said for 90% of the "musical acts" that perform on Jimmy Fallon.

There's really no "may" about it.


I don't really go looking for Bruno but the majority of times I've seen them on TV they've been playing live. And Jamereo was killing. Where are you seeing him not play?

The majority of acts I've seen on Jimmy Fallon have been live, oftentimes playing with members of the Roots who are also playing live.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

the best are guys like Alex Skolnick, who can probably play any genre he chooses.

 

[Brad Johnson]

However, flip it around.

I'd bet those players who can blow through the Real Book will be more successful in that top 40 band, than the top 40 player will be with the Real Book.

But that really wasn't the point, was it? It was about a player in one genre playing well in any other genre. and the Real Book player is not a lock to kill at playing EDM.


I have a drummer friend who's into polyrhythms and is a big fan of Dave Weckl and Will Kennedy. I got him booked on an old school R&B/Funk gig and he struggled with tunes like the Staples Singers "I'll Take You Their". It really opened my eyes to the idea that skill in one genre doesn't necessarily translate to another.

 

[RyanKW]

not negative... I just don't mind expressing my opinion that I favor the days of when, for the most part, musicians truly created music with their natural voices and/or by playing instruments. the planet is steadily moving away from that as ProTools and pre-recorded tracks have become commonplace... and that is unfortunate.

I'm sure the "bands" that back up pop and hip-hop artists are made up of good players. for example, Nuno Bettencourt tours with Rihanna... but a couple of hot mics run into the board while a bunch of folks behind them jump around with their instruments as canned tracks play doesn't constitute as a live performance to me. if it does for others, so be it.

and if he were still around, I bet Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols would agree with me. cheers.

My cousin does backstage tour management for big acts for a living. He gets to watch the musicians warm up before anyone is in the building. He's a fantastic musician himself, so he has an eye for it. He told me that Snoop Dogg's touring drummer is hands down the best he's seen.

 

[pnchad]

And my favorite - that there is just plain fun & im mostly a jazzer

 

[MDBass]

not negative... I just don't mind expressing my opinion that I favor the days of when, for the most part, musicians truly created music with their natural voices and/or by playing instruments. the planet is steadily moving away from that as ProTools and pre-recorded tracks have become commonplace... and that is unfortunate.

I'm sure the "bands" that back up pop and hip-hop artists are made up of good players. for example, Nuno Bettencourt tours with Rihanna... but a couple of hot mics run into the board while a bunch of folks behind them jump around with their instruments as canned tracks play doesn't constitute as a live performance to me. if it does for others, so be it.

and if he were still around, I bet Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols would agree with me. cheers.

You're not understanding what I'm saying; none of the drum/bass/guitar parts for Rhianna or Bruno's live shows are prerecorded, unless the venue (in rare cases like the Super Bowl) demands it.

What you're hearing from those instruments is what's being played from the stage; they may use additional playback as well, but the primary instruments are ALL live.

That's why those gigs pay so well.

I don't disagree that the whole band miming to canned tracks would be totally lame, which is why I don't watch said halftime show even when someone I enjoy is playing, but that's just not the case here.

And I couldn't care less what a junkie poser like Sid has to say about anything

 

[MDBass]

But that really wasn't the point, was it? It was about a player in one genre playing well in any other genre. and the Real Book player is not a lock to kill at playing EDM.


I have a drummer friend who's into polyrhythms and is a big fan of Dave Weckl and Will Kennedy. I got him booked on an old school R&B/Funk gig and he struggled with tunes like the Staples Singers "I'll Take You Their". It really opened my eyes to the idea that skill in one genre doesn't necessarily translate to another.

Exactly what I'm saying.

No "best", just various flavors of exceptional

 

[Honch]

I mean, just as if you say "Oh, he's a great blues bass player..:". But you don't. Like it was some kind of unique and special merit. You're either a good bass player or not. And everything in between. Musicianship is never about style, or genre. BTW as many posts have already said, you've omitted quite a lot of styles there that displays many quite skilled players. To me this poll is like saying something like ... "in which occupation will you find the nicest people?". It's just as moot.

 

[davy4575]

Here is the basic heart of the problem of this thread. We have a tendency to loosely throw around words like good and best. Really what we mean is that a bassist appeals to us on a cognitive or emotive level, or both. Time and time again, we hear so and so is the best or they need to be good enough...its meaningless and has no value. A statement that has value would be more like: "Les Claypool appeals to me due to his use of unconventional bass tones, his slapping and his interaction with the drums" or "Peter Hook appeals to me for his bright yet distorted bass tone and his writing of very simple yet dynamic songs, clearing showing that a simple bassline can make a person feel strongly" These are two different genre of bassists, one plays complex timing, and very technical lines, the other plays very simple yet highly emotive basslines, both however are songwriters and usually use the bass to write the songs. (much of Joy Division and New Orders basic song structure was written by PH). Neither one is better or best or good or bad.

 

[SteveCS]

Even the best classical players would not do as well in other settings. The reason for this is that they often rely on sight reading (no improv), and they generally don't add any swing or 'groove' to their notes. They tend to play very straight, since almost all classical music is very rigid in terms of timing. I'm not saying that the best classical players can't do this, but they would have to learn it from another genre of music.
...

IMO this is a sadly common misconception. The Basso Continuo is very much an improvised (granted not normally by the bass or Cello) concept, using figured bass (essentially a chord chart) as the guide. IMO the mental processes of a good Continuo player are on par with a top jazz player.

 

[Chinchano]

I gotta go Gospel!

 

[Bob_Ross]

I'd bet those players who can blow through the Real Book will be more successful in that top 40 band, than the top 40 player will be with the Real Book.

ime there's a huge overlap between those two sets: Most of the folks I know who play in working Top-40 bands have a substantial musical education [sic] whose pedagogy included a healthy amount of Real Book shedding.

Perhaps a tangential observation: A much smaller set would be those musicians who can play a set of Real Book tunes and make them sound like engaging, sincere, inspired music, rather than just hack renditions of old war horses. Much smaller set. I'm not sure if any of the Top-40 players I know can meet that standard.

 

[Brad Johnson]

IMO this is a sadly common misconception. The Basso Continuo is very much an improvised (granted not normally by the bass or Cello) concept, using figured bass (essentially a chord chart) as the guide. IMO the mental processes of a good Continuo player are on par with a top jazz player.

And that doesn't guarantee either can play Bluegrass.

 

[climber]

What is "best"? Great players can com from any genera, or anywhere. Carol Kaye was a guitarist, Wilton Felder was a sax player, Will Lee was a French horn player... Lots of other examples on bass or other instruments.

 

[Brad Johnson]

welp... "they can groove"... however, I don't ever seem to be in a vantage point to witness it.

I know true live performances when I see them... and what I see with Bruno Mars and his "band" and many other "bands" assembled behind a hip-hop acts doing isn't a live, musical performance. it's fine that these folks are deemed by some as being good players with real ability... but unless you're actually going to showcase that and do it live, then who cares??? at the end of the day, you're not playing your instrument while you're on the clock in your day job. heck, look at Mariah Carey on New Year's Eve -- this isn't just an issue for people with instruments strapped around their necks.

yes, it's sad this is what the "music industry" has become... but it's even more of a sob story that so many people on the planet can't realize when the wool is being pulled over their eyes when it comes to live music and they're satisfied seeing a bunch of guys jump around to choreographed moves. if people spoke out and demanded real performances, maybe things would be different.

Then you clearly haven't been seeing much of Bruno's band. It's not like I go out of my way looking for them but I've seen them play live on TV several times.

As far as other "bands" assembled behind a hip-hop acts... that's not Bruno. Maybe you have him confused with something else. Which is why I said it was a bad example. It was a really bad one IMO. And yeah they do the choreography WHILE playing. Things are already different, some apparently don't see it.



Have you seen bands with Adam Blackstone MD'ing, like Justin Timberlake? They play live often too. The Roots play live every show on Jimmy Fallon.

 

[roller]

yes, The Roots have some truly fantastic players.

unfortunately for them, too many of their tunes sound exactly the same.

 

[bucephylus]

I didn't see Carrots on the list. Wassup with that?

There are so many facets to be skilled at in the various genres that this is definitely an apples / oranges discussion.

Being really effective in any genre requires a lot of work, aptitude, and working knowledge of the genre. Some of my fav players work across several genres; but, a player can only go so far with their time. So, how does one compare Edgar Meyer and Will Lee, for example? Here's how I do it: They are both treasures and we are lucky to have them.