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Vail Johnson

#2
He plays beautifully.

You know, the sad thing is, I remember thinking how lame this music was when it came out back in the day. It was a total 'dumbing down' of the whole 'post fusion pop/jazz/funk' thing that started with the Yellow Jackets, David Sanborn and others.

Now, compared to the absolutely HORRIBLE stuff that passes for 'smooth jazz' today, Kenny G. actually sounds like he has some game....... :eek:

This is not a good thing:hmm:
 
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#3
Hmmmmm...I watched this and immediately thought : "Mullet!!" :eek:

I don't know - I don't really like music like that - no real content apart from "showing off" and I though the bass tone was thin and weedy...?

Vail Johnson could probably "whup my ass" in so many ways ....:p

But that doesn't mean I have to like what he plays!! :D
 
#9
At the risk of sounding like a heretic-
...the very early Jeff Lorber Fusion albums w/ Kenny Gorelick are OK (as far as late '70s/early '80s Fusion goes).
Bassist Danny Wilson & drummer Dennis Bradford bring it.
 
#10
Killer bassist. I have all his cd's and they all kill! My problem was his stage persona. The wife beaters and wrist bands were so played out as is the short mullet thing he's got going. I know it's an old vid but he ran amock with that style. He's also a stage hog drawing attention away from the 'star'. Why is the bassist stationed in the middle of the stage?
 
#11
JimK said:
At the risk of sounding like a heretic-
...the very early Jeff Lorber Fusion albums w/ Kenny Gorelick are OK (as far as late '70s/early '80s Fusion goes).
Bassist Danny Wilson & drummer Dennis Bradford bring it.
Click to expand...

As I have mentioned before this mostly passed us by in the UK...so I watched this clip for historical interest! ;)

What do you think of the clip linked in the OP?

To me it is like "the worst of Level 42" - so at least they had some tunes and catchy riffs!! :p
 
#16
I dunno bout the rest of you, but i´m 31, i didn´t know what a friggin´bass was until the day my uncle played this record for me. I remember asking him what was that wonderfully sounding instrument (at the beggining of VJ´s solo) and when the guy began to slap silly that Kubicki, i knew right there and then what instrument i wanted to play. OK OK OK he looks awfully silly in the video but c´mon, can he play or what?

(Strangely enough...i haven't slapped a single note in the last 6 or 7 years, BTW)
 
#17
The boink-y tone only a Kubicki can give you!

Johnson has chops, can groove and knows how to entertain an audience, but I'm usually underwhelmed when I hear him play. It seems he's relying on a lot of pentatonic/blues licks, then gets to some sub-Stu Hamm/Vic Wooten type show-off stuff to "entertain" the audience. Nothing real memorable.

I guess he played with Herbie Hancock. Wonder what it sounded like.
 
#20
Vail is a monster no doubt. I stumbled across him when I had a Kubicki and was looking for more records where I could hear them being used. I ended up buying "Terminator" and "Says Who" by Vail.

Both records have some highlights and some catchy tunes, but a lot of it is generic and not very good at all. The one thing that is consistently pretty darn good though is the bass playing and the bass tone (when he uses his Kubicki!). Each album has a "show off" track of him jamming with some percussion that are pretty entertaining, and overall, Vail has some pretty cool stuff that is worth hearing.

I can't check the video at the moment though, as I'm at uni and don't have my headphones!
 

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