Double Bass The Duo Thread

[Mike Goodbar]

Our friend Paul W. pm'd me a story once about how he was playing a duo hit with tenorman Spike Robinson. Spike leans over and says to Paul, "I'm going to go out and check the balance."

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Here's one from a few years ago that was recorded with a guitarist friend for his grad school audition tape. A Gary Peacock tune that is on the Oracle recording he did with Ralph Towner. I'll look around for some duo stuff with Tenor or Alto, although when I record gigs it's usually just for me and I delete it soon after, I have done quite a bit of duo with sax.

That sounds great! I love the sound of well recorded nylon string guitar. In a way, it's like halfway to playing with a single line instrument because even though it's harmonic, it's not a thick sound that eats a lot of sonic space like piano or amplified guitar. You get a great sound on this. Nice solo, too.

 

[Feral Feline]

Great Idea for a thread! I have nothing to offer, maybe in the next lifetime.
However, it reminded me of how much I enjoyed Red Mitchell and Clark Terry together...

 

[Chris Symer]

Thanks Chris. I agree about playing with nylon string guitar, something more open about it as opposed to electric. I suppose that's how other musicians feel about acoustic vs electric bass as well. As for my sound on that recording, sadly I haven't been able to get that sound since Velvet stopped making the Compas 180 set for fifths tuning. I really liked the way those strings worked on my bass.

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

You may not be as happy with your sound as you were then, but the sound I was hearing was mostly about the playing and I'm sure you can find a good sound on anything reasonable. Just out of curiosity, what did you end up switching to?

 

[Funky Ghost]

I know Kesslari had a thing posted as a duo some time back.

Folk In A | Free Listening on SoundCloud


Kess I hope you don't mind me throwing this out there

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Oh, and just because somebody ought to say it, Red Mitchell was a Bad MuthaSHUTYOMOUF.

 

[50bass]

My fav right now is father and son team, John and Gerald Clayton, some amazing interaction, definately worth the download price:

The first CD release in the John Clayton Parlor Series. The Parlor Series features fan-funded ArtistShare projects in which John Clayton collaborates with other featured artists in a duet setting.

Track Listing:

1. Alone Together
2. If I Should Lose You
3. Zingaro
4. Yesterdays
5. And So It Goes
6. Isfahan
7. Sunny Day Go
8. All The Things You Are

 

[Huy Nguyen]

Funny, I posted a similar thread when I started playing (that was 10 years ago?). So here's what I got after all this time. (my faves in bold)

I hunted down all the Red duo material as much as I could
Red Mitchell w/ Someone else:
* Jan Johansson - Blaus
* Jim Hall - (you already know this one, right?)
* Lee Konitz - I Concentrate On You (already mentioned)
* Clark Terry : To Duke and Basie
* Warne Marsh - Big Two Vol 1 & 2
* Joe Beck - Live At Salishan
* Rich Mattheson - Life's a Take
* Karin Krog & Warne Marsh - trio album but this is worth your time!!!! Singer w/ instrumental duo

Other peeps:
Harvie S/Kenny Barron - Now Was the Time
Kenny Barron/Buster Williams - Two as One
Houston Person/Ron Carter - Something In Common, Just Between Friends, Dialogues, Nows the Time
Steve Swallow & Steve Kuhn - Two by 2
Steve Swallow & Deidre Holland - Twin Falls
Jim Hall/Ron Carter - Telephone, Live from Village West, Alone Together
Matthew Brubeck/Dave Widelock - Monk/Not Monk. This is cello w/ guitar. I found this by accident but one that hits me right "there". Worth your attention - you'll be surprised! Brubeck plays his cello like a bass.
Milt Hinton/Lance Hayward - Hayward & Hinton
Joe Pass & NHOP - Chops, Northsea Nights
John Abercrombie/Don Thompson - Witchcraft
Michael Moore/Bill Charlap - Concord Duo Series Vol 9
Rufus Reid/Michael Moore
Kenny Burrell - Tin Tin Deo - he plays a duo with Reggie Johnson on the Miss Jones track


And lest we forget:
Paul Warburton/Dale Bruning - Our Delight. Unca P just knocks this one outta there. Serious.

There. That should keep you busy.

 

[Chris Symer]

...................Just out of curiosity, what did you end up switching to?

You know we are treading close to the string forum, right? Oh well, it's your thread. I went back to spirocore Red Mitchell's with a Labella 7720 D string for a while. Then a pair of Evah's (mittle D, solo A) on top. Last week I finished a four month stint of trying to like Obligato's fifth set. Back to Red Mitchell's on the bottom two and Flexocore Deluxe on the top now and I am liking it quite a bit. Works well both arco and pizz., a lot more volume than the Obligatos and they feel pretty good under the fingers too.

 

[mdcbass]

Here's another

 

[Don Kasper]

I believe the enforcement of obscure "Cabaret Laws" in NYC, banning drums ("Drums=Dancing"), during the 70's/80's/(90's?), spawned a bunch of Duo gigs and subsequent recordings. Bradley's was a famous Duo room where these two performed "sans drummer". "Bradley", the owner, nicknamed George Mraz "Bounce", because he was "One Bad Czech".
This is a 20 Bar Blues:

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

You know we are treading close to the string forum, right? Oh well, it's your thread. I went back to spirocore Red Mitchell's with a Labella 7720 D string for a while. Then a pair of Evah's (mittle D, solo A) on top. Last week I finished a four month stint of trying to like Obligato's fifth set. Back to Red Mitchell's on the bottom two and Flexocore Deluxe on the top now and I am liking it quite a bit. Works well both arco and pizz., a lot more volume than the Obligatos and they feel pretty good under the fingers too.

No worries. I'm fascinated by all of this stuff. I'm fascinated by Red Mitchell because he did his own thing. I don't think I could ever play with that light touch that you see in his videos and hear in so many of his recordings, but when he does it it sounds like the voice of god. Somewhere in the back of my mind there is this vague idea that I have __X years left to learn to play the bass, and what I'm heading toward is the kind of lyrical "don't give a ****" freedom that Red plays with combined with a seriously strong acoustic pull and sound with that weight and clarity to it that I love so much. You really had that kind of sound in the recording you posted. FOGHORN likes to use the word intent, and I somehow correlate that sound with that concept. Rightly or wrongly, I don't know. But that kind of sound that has a solidity to it, that you have to commit to completely to get it to speak. When you make a mistake playing with that sound, it's right there, bigger than life. But when you get it right.... same thing.

I had a realization recently that it's the intimacy of duo playing that I love so much. Both players are pretty much standing there without a stitch of musical clothing on, and there's just nowhere to hide. It brings out the best and the worst in a player, but it's worth it to get to the best. Rambling now, time to sleep. Keep 'em coming, folks!

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

My fav right now is father and son team, John and Gerald Clayton, some amazing interaction, definately worth the download price:

The first CD release in the John Clayton Parlor Series. The Parlor Series features fan-funded ArtistShare projects in which John Clayton collaborates with other featured artists in a duet setting.

I'm a huge fan of both players, but especially Gerald Clayton, so I'll have to check this one out.

 

[rickwolff]

Chris, this thread gave me a great idea. Back in 1978 I was playing with a wonderful pianist from Brazil, Manfredo Fest, (who happened to be blind). We often worked as a duo. One night I recorded the gig with my little Sony stereo cassette deck. Not a great sound but pretty good separation between the instruments with one in each channel.

Not long after that I quit playing for over 25 years and didn't touch a bass again until about two years ago. Meanwhile, Manfredo passed on some years ago.

I've always had a very special place in my heart for that wonderful, talented man and the many great times we had together.

Tonight, I played the piano side of that recording from my laptop to my Zoom H4N and recorded my bass acoustically at the same time. It was like re-connecting with a dear, old friend.

At some point I may see if a sound technician can improve the sound quality of this old recording, but for now here it is, as recorded in 1978 (piano) and 2015 (bass).

Thanks for prompting the great memories!

 

[Michael Karn]

Dex and NHOP, this version is one of my all time favorites

 

[Huy Nguyen]

[QUOTE="Chris Fitzgerald, post: 17357708, member: 11080]

I had a realization recently that it's the intimacy of duo playing that I love so much. Both players are pretty much standing there without a stitch of musical clothing on, and there's just nowhere to hide. It brings out the best and the worst in a player, but it's worth it to get to the best. [/QUOTE]

This combined with the fact that there are no limitations. The only real limit is how far your imagination can take you. You can go in various directions, have immediate impact on how your tune is being presented, and not be constrained by any idiomatic roles.

Of course with great power comes great responsibility. but for me yeah, it's the freedom and intimacy that makes it so intoxicating.

 

[oliebrice]

All the Red Mitchell duos are amazing - absolute master... Only read this thread quickly so might have missed it, but there's 2 CDs of duos with Warne Marsh which are incredible too, although the Konitz one is best of all...

And as you asked to hear from TBers - here's me playing free in duo with the tenor saxophonist Tom Challenger:
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[Chris Fitzgerald]

@rickwolff - I think that sounds great as is. The vintage vibe on one side and the modern on the other tells its own story. Manfredo must have been fun to play with.

 

[Sam Sherry]

I forgot all about Glenn Moore and Nancy King! I used to listen to Potato Radio all the time -- "Little Cowboy" will re-thread your bass-playing head!