Who is your Favorite Slap Player

[Raoul_Duke]

Tony Vitti is your favorite slap player?!?!

I'm sure Tony would be the first to encourage you to get out more, expand your horizons, and listen to a ton of other bassists
...not because Tony isn't an excellent slap player (or an excellent bassist all around) but because he is a genuinely humble musician who understands where journeymen fit in the world compared to the pantheon of truly brilliant innovators.

Not to strike an argumentative tone, because I understand your point, but I have to disagree with this sentiment. I think the point here is that the dude appreciates that guy’s slap style and tone as much as or more than other “better” slappers.

I know for a fact that my favorite anything is not that which I deem to be “best” or “fanciest”, and that pretty much applies to all of tastes, not just bassists. There is a weird type of stereotyping that happens with slap bass. People seem to see simpler lines as uninteresting, yet the super technical stuff is seen as nonmusical wanking.

 

[bigdaddybass12]

Jimbo Wallace, plays for Reverend Horton Heat...

 

[Killing Floor]

 

[pglaser01]

Danyel Morgan’s work on Robert Randolph and the Family Band “Live From the Wetlands” is pretty stellar to me.

 

[rashrader]

I really can’t say that I have one…. Uh. Larry Graham?

 

[Raoul_Duke]

I forgot to add my pick. This is difficult! I really like all the R&B guys who use it for accents over their finger stuff. I am also partial to earlier Claypool for the sheer creativity, but I do find him more impressive as a singer and songwriter.

 

[Jeff Hughes]

Davie 504

 

[lowendrachel]

Wooten, Claypool, Kai Eckhardt..

 

[azureblue]

Pops Popwell comes to mind - he was on some of the crusaders stuff when Wilton decided to pass on playing bass

 

[dkelley]

Everyone on youtube who's way better at slap than I am. Back in the 90s I was considered able to slap. Now... I'm not even worthy of saying I can slap, compared to the genius slap stuff people work out all the time now.

I fully admit that it impresses me like crazy. The timing and rhythm and practice required to do it as well as these people do it is something I really admire.

And I think ti's cool to listen to.

There, I said it. I'm a slap junky.

 

[Michael Simpson]

Probably Wojtek Pilichowski. Not everybody's favourite, but certainly one of mine!

 

[son_of_mogh]

Marcus Miller
Doug Johns
Doug Wimbish
Ryan Martinie

 

[MYLOWFREQ]

Very hard to answer because there's a lot of great players, most of them are already mentioned. But if I had to pick, it'd be Alain Caron, Mark King, or Victor Wooten in no specific order.

 

[dougjwray]

Kim Clarke is amazing.
Kim A.Clarke-acoustic and electric bass
I'm not a slapping connoisseur like many of you, so I'll simply go with Larry Graham.

 

[Bob_Ross]

There is a weird type of stereotyping that happens with slap bass. People seem to see simpler lines as uninteresting, yet the super technical stuff is seen as nonmusical wanking.

:beer:
We can hang.

 

[Agent P]

In terms of live feel and sound = BrownMark. His approach directly influenced the way I play rumble/thumb/pop bass today:

 

[ruju]

Marcus Miller!

 

[micguy]

Larry Graham. The O.G. of slap.

I'll second Larry, but......I have to throw in (with an asterisk) John Entwistle. Larry was the guy who pretty much developed slap to what we know it as today, but John definitely started things with his style of flailing and bouncing strings off of the frets with reckless abandon. Everyone builds on what went before. John got us halfway there, Larry got us pretty much there, and numerous others did some finishing touches.

 

[glocke1]

Probably Marcus Miller, he's one of the few for whom slap sounds musical to me.

 

[Johnny Fingers]

Moses Harry Horwitz.