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Who's your favorite bassist?

#82
John Paul Jones made me want to play bass. Trying to play like Paul McCartney made me take it more seriously. But the single biggest influence on me, and my favorite bass player is George Porter Jr. His groove and phrasing is always an inspiration. Along those lines, I also love Steve Scipio (Cymande).
 
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#86
The one that made me want to be a bass player.
James Jamerson.
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#90
Garagiste said:
That's so interesting to me. I was at the New School from 2019-2023 finishing an undergraduate degree that I abandoned decades earlier. He is one of the few professors there who is on faculty and not an adjunct hired semester to semester. I would see him in the hallways and just kind of sit up straight when he walked by, or stand up and say hello when he popped his head into a classroom. He was in the audience once during one of my ensemble performances and said the "bass sounds good", which made me happy, in spite of the fact that I was playing electric and not upright, which is my main axe. I never had him as an ensemble coach. And despite the fact that he played on some amazing records ("Night Dreamer" by Wayne Shorter), he was never one of my favorite bassists. I probably don't know enough of his work. Still, when I got on the elevator with him, I would say hello and think to myself "this dude played and recorded with Coltrane". He's one the few remaining links to the birth of one of America's great art forms.
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There's never a "best" musician since all this is subjective. But his work with Blakey/Messengers could not be better. Same with Freddie Hubbard and of course, Coltrane. To me, Workman is the right bassist when he's in the room. I know a lot was recorded before I was born but when I think about musicality, about the utility he brings to a piece. Take advantage of anything he can teach you.
 
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#96
2F/2F said:
I don't think of "favorite musicians" in a vacuum. I judge them not so much on "them," but on how I like the music they played a role in making.

Those would be the ones who played on the widest range of stuff that I like – which is primarily '30s–'70s American music that was marketed primarily (or entirely) to a black American audience – or "R&B," for short. I can narrow that down farther, to the classic periods of Chess, Stax, and Motown. From there, I'd have to name their most commonly recorded studio bassists, which would be Willie Dixon, Duck Dunn, and James Jamerson. I hold all this music in pretty equal regard in terms of quality, though each has a different and distinctive type of R&B sound. If I really had to pick one of those three over the others, I'd pick Stax.

Therefore, my answer is Duck Dunn.

Is he the best bassist who ever lived? Nope. But he played the bass on the greatest music ever created (if I was truly pressed to pick). That is far more important to me than "how good" he, or anyone else, was/is.

Not so surprisingly, then, Steve Cropper is my favorite guitarist, Al Jackson, Jr. is my favorite drummer, and Booker T. Jones is my favorite keyboardist. :laugh:
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Can't believe this went three pages before Dunn was mentioned...must be a sign of the times...or ages ;).
 
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#98
Ezrah said:
Hello, TalkBass, I'd just like to as everyone here who their favorite bassist is. No Arguments. Although feel free to rank them, It's no contest though. To answer my own question, It's Cliff Burton of Metallica! Rest in peace, Cliff, My dearest condolences to your family. After him, It'd be Steve Harris, Nate Navarro, Charles Berthoud, And Definitely Justin Chancellor. Who's Your favorite?
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So many categories of favorite that it's impossible to pick one player. Jamerson, of course, for his own playing and his influence on others whose playing I love. Tommy Cogbill, David Hood, Duck Dunn from the Memphis/Muscle Shoals axis of goodness. Chuck Rainey, Jerry Jemmott, Willie Weeks, Sir Paul, Pino, Jaco, Marcus, Anthony Jackson, Abe Laboriel. Lee Sklar is a titan in multiple categories. Dee Murray was a huge early influence—the way he and Nigel Olsen locked into a groove that was always at least a little bit funky, and the way he used non-root tones to outline and mesh with Elton's changes. On the upright side, there's Ray Brown, Ron Carter, Eddie Gomez. Brian Bromberg is an absolute beast. So many "favorites," and I'll think of a dozen more after I hit "post."
 
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