Who changed double bass the most ? I’m an electric only player that is getting into at least listening to old and new school jazz. Always wondered who is the Jacob of double bass ?
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Double Bass Who changed double bass ( like jaco )
- Thread starter stuntbass77
- Start date
Jimmy Blanton, Israel Crosby, Slam Stewart, Milt Hinton, Oscar Pettiford, Charles Mingus, Paul Chambers, Richard Davis, Jimmy Garrison, Charlie Haden, Scott LaFaro, Gary Peacock, Barre Phillips, Mark Dresser, Peter Kowald, Bertram Turetzky, Gary Karr, Fernando Grillo, Stefano Scodanibbio, and Francois Rabbath come to mind.
Sean's list is inargruable but if I had to pick one as Jaco, it'd be Scott LaFaro because he was so original.
I don't know if there was anyone to do quite for DB what Jaco did for electric. My first thoughts were Jimmy Blanton and Scott LaFaro. Bottesini's a good suggestion; and if we're going to go there, we may as well throw in Dragonetti.
If you are looking for harmonics and all that stuff check Jiri Slavik.
Dragonetti (Beethoven’s first call bassist), Gary Karr, Serge Koussevitsky, and last but not least and probably the best of them Edgar Meyer. That’s mainly on the classical side, for jazz I’d add Eddie Gomez, NHO Pedersen and Charlie Haden. But honestly there’s no one on the double bass side that’s analogous to Jaco.
- Dec 13, 1999
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- Chuck Sher publishes my book, WALKING BASSICS:The Fundamentals of Jazz Bass Playing.
I don't think that's accurate. There's a paradigm shift from the early uses of double bass in jazz from progenitors like Pops Foster, Steve Brown, Wellman Braud, etc. when Blanton comes along. There's an evolution of THAT paradigm and then Scott LaFaro comes along and shifts the paradigm again.
I agree. If it’s licks and virtuosity it has to be Bromberg. Impact would be Blanton, Mingus and LaFaro. You’d also have to throw in guys like Bill Johnson, Pops Foster, Wellman Broad, Milt Hinton and Steve Brown because they were the first to actually popularize using string bass instead of tuba in Jazz.
Sorry, should’ve been clear. Not really looking for someone that sound anything like Jaco. Was just curious if there is somebody really stands out as an innovator on the double bass. I just got turned onto Pedersen and he’s amazing !!!!
Jimmy Blanton is probably the most analogous to Jaco in regards to the double bass in the jazz community. What he was doing at the time was completely unprecedented for the double bass at the time (and arguably the double bass in general) and inspired nearly every subsequent innovator on the instrument. Oscar Pettiford, Ray Brown, and Charles Mingus sight Blanton as an important inspiration for themselves. NHOP also recorded a great tribute album to Blanton with Mulgrew Miller playing the music from the Blanton and Ellington duets.
In terms of our modern perception of chops, Blanton and his contemporaries sound tame but at the time very very few people were doing what they were doing and they truly opened up the doors for the double bass in general.
Renaud Garcia-Fons
(just a few examples..
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(just a few examples..
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There's also a duet album of Duke with Ray Brown called "This One's For Blanton". I'd suggest you listen to the original Duke/Blanton duets which were as much of a bombshell in 1939 as Jaco playing "Donna Lee".
Blanton featured with the whole Ellington band. Note the walking as well as the bass intro and solo at the end.
Oh yeah, Blanton also died young just like Jaco.
Would it make sense to divide between amped and unamped? To me the players in the unamped era would have a different approach to sound compared to the amped era. LaFaro is a bridge between the two. He played acoustically but seemed to depend on close miking to fully get his approach across. All of the newer mentions use amplification to some degree, I believe. Blanton to me is the one who changed the concept of bass playing in jazz the most given the equipment he had to work with. As someone who started out playing acoustically in all situations but later went to more amp use I know it changed my approach even in my limited way.
I would also have to go with nhop based on his technical skills that far exceeded other acoustic bass players of his era. I love all his peers as well but he definately stands out with his right hand speed and agility.
