Uber bassists- I don't get it.

[Wanker_Joe]

he’s not so much playing bass as he is playing a complex piece of interesting music and just so happens to be using an electric bass to do so......

Lol wut? Playing a piece of music on the electric bass is playing the bass. Complexity of the piece has nothing to do with it.

 

[7615]

The give a way is "play a song". A song is a structure that is not ubiquitous to all music. The question is by someone who has no concept of music outside of a very narrow idea as to what music is.

It is often outside players who bring ideas that make their way into the mainstream. Terry O'Riley is a avant garde classical composer. I am sure the OP would find his music unsong like. The Who on Who's Next - Baba O'Riley - the front end of that song is O'Riley. Aladdin Insane - Bowie - where does that crazy piano playing come from...

 

[bass12]

As for Mark King, well...I think he goes in with all those others you're talking about. The music he created is utter garbage to me, regardless of how technically proficient he is. I still can't wrap my head around who exactly sits down and actually listens to that crap for fun.

If I had to name a "favourite band" then it would probably be Level 42. Should I bother trying to explain why? Nah, probably not. Sounds like you already have everything figured out.

 

[bass12]

After a certain point of working to achieve technique, you will find players that don’t feel the need to always show it...
But the masses will exert pressure that they should. Whether they be the average punter, an endorsement deal, or a promoter. There is a balance where everything equals out ... In the public and the artist I believe...

Yes. The last time I saw Victor Wooten was with the Flecktones a couple of years ago (it was the original line-up with Howard Levy). I got the impression that Victor was a little tired of having to "wow" the public with technique but what was he going to do? I've heard Victor play some truly beautiful solos on fretless but can you imagine him substituting his slapping and tapping pyrotechnics with melody? People would be lining up for refunds.

 

[GlenParks]

 

[India_Sierra]

Manring

This why I love Talkbass! It can still deliver a hidden gem like this so thank you so much for sharing. I have a complex relationship with Michael Manring's music. He is easily my joint favourite fretless player, along with Alain Caron. I absolutely adore his tone and the way he can control a note. The way he generates attack and controls the decay is superb. However, I have little interest in the tuner-flipping antics which have become the centrepiece of his music in the past few years. When he just plays it straight, without altering his tunings, he absolutely slays it. I have never seen as compelling a version of 'Bright Size Life' as the one he did on his old instructional video. Similarly, his earlier solo records featured dazzling technique but never at the expense of the overall music. This Windham Hill classic is part of Manring's lost legacy. There are no doubt many, many Windham Hill records that he had played on in a similar vein to this that are no longer available, and probably troves of lost material that was never made public. It's a shame that when you search for Manring's material, you're more likely to find him flipping tuners and using the Ebow than really blazing on a fretless over a great tune like this.

 

[Axstar]

Uber bassists are like regular Taxi bassists, only they charge about half as much for their services and usually haven't been vetted especially stringently.

 

[noodler]

Playing a piece of music on the electric bass is playing the bass. Complexity of the piece has nothing to do with it.

And this is the conundrum: Does “playing the bass” equal “playing bass”?

 

[rtslinger]

Wow I thought this was going to be a thread about bassist taking Ubers to get to the gigs?
ahh for that reason I'm out

 

[JimK]

It is often outside players who bring ideas that make their way into the mainstream. Terry O'Riley is a avant garde classical composer. I am sure the OP would find his music unsong like. The Who on Who's Next - Baba O'Riley - the front end of that song is O'Riley. Aladdin Insane - Bowie - where does that crazy piano playing come from...

Big Mike Garson fan. "Aladdin Sane" is a beautifully played & recorded piece.
...and I'm sure I hated it when I first bought that LP back in the '70s.
Bowie was lucky to have Garson.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

Am I the only one who finds the quote "virtuosos" boring and just plain wanking? Michael Manring, Les Claypool, Stanley Clark, Alain Caron, Just about anybody who endorses Fodera, including Victor Wooten and many others.
I admire their proficiency, and technique, but then say to myself 'Now play a song'.
There are highly adept players I love- Phil Lesh, Chris Squire, etc. that CAN play that stuff, but somehow always keep the music first. I NEVER thought that John Entwhistle was wanking, no matter how fast he was playing. Mark King is about the only guy who ever slapped a bass that I could listen to a whole song.
I'm not saying everyone should play bass like Chris Hillman, or Timothy Schmitt, there's lots of room for advancing the art, but most hi-tech players sound like they are only playing to impress, not drive the song.
Discuss.

The thing that all virtuoso bassists have in common is that at some point in life when they could totally focus on being great bassists, they did just that, and they became the best they could be. The irony is that more than a few bassists who play simply have the chops to play like the bassists you don’t like. They just don’t do it for any number of reasons.

 

[JimK]

Boo!

Uber bassists are like regular Taxi bassists, only they charge about half as much for their services and usually haven't been vetted especially stringently.

Wow I thought this was going to be a thread about bassist taking Ubers to get to the gigs?
ahh for that reason I'm out

Pg. 1, Post 5...

I prefer Lyft bassists.

 

[Chickenwheels]

The thing that all virtuoso bassists have in common is that at some point in life when they could totally focus on being great bassists, they did just that, and they became the best they could be. The irony is that more than a few bassists who play simply have the chops to play like the bassists you don’t like. They just don’t do it for any number of reasons.

Mike Porcaro springs to mind. He does a quirky and awesome solo in a Toto tune called “Mushunga” that gives his chops away, about the only time you’ll hear it!

 

[Jeff Scott]

This why I love Talkbass! It can still deliver a hidden gem like this so thank you so much for sharing.

The first time I saw Mike perform was with Montreux, in '89 or '90 (can' recall exactly). I do remember that it was at the Wadsworth Theatre in West Los Angeles.

 

[Wanker_Joe]

And this is the conundrum: Does “playing the bass” equal “playing bass”?

I would think it has to, otherwise we risk running into a "no true Scotsman" type of problem. If "playing the bass" doesn't equal "playing bass", then how do you determine what "playing bass" really means? I can see this argument devolving into a bunch of gatekeeping statements very quickly, and ultimately it'll become meaningless.

 

[Geri O]

All those bassists you mention don't care what you call them.


As long as you call them......

 

[Erokker]

I saw Claypool a few years back and Stanley Clarke last week. The audience at both were filled with adoring fans who ate up every frenetic note. I however was left cold and unmoved. So no, you're not the only one.

 

[j_zuilkowski]

I get what you're saying. At the same time, I can zen out to "Lochs of Dread" or "Sinister Minister" as well as anything. Listen to Jaco's "Barbary Coast" and tell me something is missing from that brilliant piece. I've never liked anything remotely connected to The Who, so personal taste accounts for much here.

Just like the late 80's had a swelling of empty shredder guitar guys, now we seem to have a similar thing with bass. All in all though, the effect will be that they just up the ante a bit, and that's good overall because it forces the rest of us to improve, even if only a little.

 

[BigBadBen67]

I heard an interview with Lee Sklar where he was talking about this. He had a great line that went something along the lines that these guys were wonderful, but the only problem is then you have to find someone to play bass.

 

[brother21]

The first time you hear something great it sounds wonderful fresh and mind blowing. By the 5th listen you have learned it has major relationships with other song tones and patterns. Maybe were all bored and want to solo.