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Uber bassists- I don't get it.

#343
I saw VLW tonight. Great show, but I was, once again, reminded of how much I am not a fan of bass gymnastics. The show was the Flecktones (with Howard Levy), and John Scofields' Combo 66 band. The best part of the evening (there were two, actually) was when John came back to do a song with the band (John Scofield & The Scotones :D), the other great moment was Howard Levy's harmonica solo (truly amazing). :bassist:
 
#345
Claypool's solo work is a lot more flashy. Of Whales and Woe is a good example of him showing off his chops.

I can play a few Primus songs, and thing thing that strikes me about that band is how much MILAGE they can get out of one or two riffs. Also, despite being repetitive, I find them to be deceptively difficult to master, especially slap material. Claypool is a unique talent, even if he doesnt shred constantly.
 
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#350
Thorny1 said:
Claypool's solo work is a lot more flashy. Of Whales and Woe is a good example of him showing off his chops.

I can play a few Primus songs, and thing thing that strikes me about that band is how much MILAGE they can get out of one or two riffs. Also, despite being repetitive, I find them to be deceptively difficult to master, especially slap material. Claypool is a unique talent, even if he doesnt shred constantly.
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Claypool is indeed a unique talent, my point is that he always uses his technique as a mere tool at the service of making a good song, not the other way around. Thus I don't see him as a "virtuoso", I see him as a great musician.
 
#351
Paulabass said:
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.
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#352
I think i replied already...but in any case, at the end of the day there are really only 2 "uber bassists" I can listen to for more than a few minutes..Jaco and Marcus Miller...Jaco has chops and taste enough to keep me interested all day long. In general, slap bass annoys the heck out of me more often than not for multiple reasons, IMO it's overdone most of the time (seems like every bass or amp demo made has a huge slap component), and usually lacks any bottom end or lower mids..However Marcus (to me anyway), nails a great combination of good tone and taste to deliver something that I can listen to and enjoy.

I'm not dismissive of the talent that chops bass players have, but it sometimes saddens/frustrates me that people use those guys as a metric with which to judge bass players in general and I've been compared to those guys in the past.

The guys I really enjoy listening to are the folks that lay down a solid foundation/groove and frankly some of my favorite bass lines to listen to are ones that would be considered fairly simple.
 
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#355
My first exposure to Wooten was on the PBS concert series "Live at Wolftrap", way back in the early '80s. He was with Bela Fleck. It was in my younger, less secure days when I would seek some tiny flaw in a great player, so I could tell myself, "I could do that!" It would often happen with ridiculously chops-heavy players who weren't particularly musical.
Victor really depressed me because in addition to his crazy chops, his solos and accompaniment were about as musical as anyone I'd ever heard. Tasty! No flaws there! I made a mental note, "Remember this guy."
 
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#356
glocke1 said:
I'm not dismissive of the talent that chops bass players have, but it sometimes saddens/frustrates me that people use those guys as a metric with which to judge bass players in general and I've been compared to those guys in the past.
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Not being able to play like those “uber” guys certainly makes one feel insecure and inadequate. So, I had to come up with a phrase to make myself feel better:

“I’m not a flashy player, but hopefully I have good taste to make up for it.”

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

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