Top 10 Bass instrumental records?

[Tim Skaggs]

Jeff Beck's Blow By Blow is obviously a guitar album, but Phil Chen's bass work on the album is worth a listen.

It's recorded with the bass close to equal with the guitar in the mix. Recorded on Chen's early 60's PBass with the LaBella flats that were on it when he acquired the bass when it was near new. It's not close to modern bass tone by any measure, but the playing is timeless groove that fits perfectly with what it is supporting. The bass lines provides the hooks in the songs normally provided by lyrics, especially to those who play bass…

 

[antfarm]

 

[Pdaddy1978]

Lou Reeds "Walk on the wild side"
David Essex's "Rock on"
Queens "Another one bites the dust"
All pretty bass-centric.

 

[Thumpin6string]

Here are 2 I could think of.
Alain Caron le band rhythms in jazz

Victor Wooten A show of hands

 

[JazznFunk]

Victor Wooten - A Show of Hands
Marcus Miller - The Sun Don't Lie and 'Renaissance'
Victor Bailey - Low Blow
Jaco Pastorius - self titled
Matthew Garrison - self titled
Oteil & The Peacemakers - Love Of A Lifetime
Sandor Szabo w/Michael Manring - 'Asymmetry' and 'Inner Smile'
John Patitucci - 'Heart of the Bass' and 'Imprint'.... 'Now' is also great, with John Scofield on several tracks
Gary Peacock - Snow Dance
Dave Holland - Emerald Tears
Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny - 'Beyond The Missouri Sky'

There are many others I'm overlooking that I'm sure I'll think of after a 2nd cup of coffee. There's also my stuff if you're keen on clicking that link below (lots of upright and electric stuff) to check out a fellow TB'er, but I don't put any of it in the same atmosphere as any of those records above. Those are masterful records.

 

[jbl71004]

Moto Fukushima-Songs Belong To The Night (2023) is a more recent one worth checking out.

 

[Sertsa]

Larry Grenadier's The Gleaners is solo bass.


As is Björn Meyer's Convergence


In rock, bassist Kiyoshi has a few albums.


There are also a few jazz duets albums with bass. Kenny Barron and Dave Holland's The Art of Conversation, Bill Frisell and Thomas Morgan's Valentine, and as mentioned Pat Metheny and Charlie Haden's Beyond the Missouri Sky.

Julia Hofer and David Helbock also recently released Faces of Night. Julia Hofer plays cello and bass (and the albums has various other musicians on most tracks.)

 

[Swerve]

Came here to post this. I wish more people knew about this album, but it's not on any streaming platforms (besides YouTube).

 

[brianrost]

Some favorites of mine that aren't well known.

Double bass:

Dave Holland, solo

Charlie Haden, duets

Glen Moore in a quartet with Jan Hammer on drums

Acoustic bass guitar!!!!!

Some favorite bass guitar moments:

 

[JazznFunk]

Larry Grenadier's The Gleaners is solo bass.

Thank you for including Grenadier's record.... Not sure how I overlooked that one. It's insanely gorgeous.

 

[woodyng2]

There you go! Ray Schulman is an unknown name for me. Do you have any recommendations as starting point?

I like all of their albums from the early days to the latest. They tended towards more deep prog with all kinds of baroque and classical influences earlier, but one of their last studio albums, the Missing Piece, is a favorite. They, like other big prog bands in the 80s, tried to modernise their sound for a larger audience.
This is a really good bass along video of their song "for Nobody".

 

[s_wood]

I really love a record by Darren Micheals called Cumulo. Most of the songs are just 6 string bass. Worth a listen!

 

[singlemalt]

Cris Squire's solo album.

Anything with Ray Brown.

Ned's Atomic Dustbin gets you into two bassist territory, as well as Dumpstafunk.

Maybe try creating a Pandora or Spotify channel focused on bass players…. Something that should keep AI busy for a while.

 

[pb9717]

Joe Frazier. - iconic

 

[FightMilk]

All good suggestions, the usual suspects Wooten, Jaco, Manring.

Trip Wamsley - Curve - was a great album influenced me a lot.
Steve Baily - Carolina - incredible album
Les Claypool Duo De Twang - basically a Les solo bass album + Keho on guitar
SMV - Thunder - come on, one of the best bass albums of all time.
Stu Ham - Diary of Patrick Xavier really cool solo bass w some looping
Taylor Lee - Lightning Man. Not a solo bass exclusive album, but really great player and dude. And I have one of his Modulus basses so that's pretty cool.

 

[J_Bass]

SMV is an obvious one, I'm surprised it wasn't mentioned.

Check out portuguese bassist Theo Pascal.

 

[J_Bass]

If you want double bass, there are lots of them.

Carlos Bica, John Patittuci, Barr Philips, Larry Grenadier, etc..


If you want albums with great bass playing, also check out:

Frontpage, with Dominic DiPiazza,
Bright Size Life, with Jaco Pastorius,
Bobby Vega and Chris Rossbach.

 

[Mario Ed]

Victor Wooten - A Show of Hands
Marcus Miller - The Sun Don't Lie and 'Renaissance'
Victor Bailey - Low Blow
Jaco Pastorius - self titled
Matthew Garrison - self titled
Oteil & The Peacemakers - Love Of A Lifetime
Sandor Szabo w/Michael Manring - 'Asymmetry' and 'Inner Smile'
John Patitucci - 'Heart of the Bass' and 'Imprint'.... 'Now' is also great, with John Scofield on several tracks
Gary Peacock - Snow Dance
Dave Holland - Emerald Tears
Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny - 'Beyond The Missouri Sky'

There are many others I'm overlooking that I'm sure I'll think of after a 2nd cup of coffee. There's also my stuff if you're keen on clicking that link below (lots of upright and electric stuff) to check out a fellow TB'er, but I don't put any of it in the same atmosphere as any of those records above. Those are masterful records.

Victor Wooten - A Show of Hands
Marcus Miller - The Sun Don't Lie and 'Renaissance'
Victor Bailey - Low Blow
Jaco Pastorius - self titled
Matthew Garrison - self titled
Oteil & The Peacemakers - Love Of A Lifetime
Sandor Szabo w/Michael Manring - 'Asymmetry' and 'Inner Smile'
John Patitucci - 'Heart of the Bass' and 'Imprint'.... 'Now' is also great, with John Scofield on several tracks
Gary Peacock - Snow Dance
Dave Holland - Emerald Tears
Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny - 'Beyond The Missouri Sky'

There are many others I'm overlooking that I'm sure I'll think of after a 2nd cup of coffee. There's also my stuff if you're keen on clicking that link below (lots of upright and electric stuff) to check out a fellow TB'er, but I don't put any of it in the same atmosphere as any of those records above. Those are masterful records.

I'd recommend giving some of Bryan's stuff a listen. I recently discovered his music on Bandcamp and have been enjoying it.

 

[N4860]

Ive been digging a lot of Anthony Jackson's work lately. Particularly, his live stuff with Hiromi is worth checking out. Not lead bass all the time by any means but still cool parts and the odd bass lead. His stuff with Michel Camilo is worth checking out too

 

[Neil Folkard]

As it hasn't been mentioned yet, I definitely recommend Rich Brown's recent release Nyaeba. Virtually every sound on this album was made on his 6-string bass and it is all based around the theme of African griot storytelling. Wonderful album.