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Double Bass Your Source Recordings - Bass Sounds You Cherish
- Thread starter Jason Sypher
- Start date
Dave Holland's "Triplicate". Don't get me wrong, I love all the OG masters, but his sound and harmonic/melodic ideas hit me the hardest. Still do.
Ray Brown - Live from NY to Tokyo
Charlie Haden - Michael Brecker/Night And The City/Missouri Sky/The Moment
Gary Peacock- Standards Live
McBride- Lush Life/Live Scenes
John Patitucci - Long Road Home
Scott Colley - Melody
Sam Jones - Right Down Front
Brian Bromberg- Wood
Charlie Haden - Michael Brecker/Night And The City/Missouri Sky/The Moment
Gary Peacock- Standards Live
McBride- Lush Life/Live Scenes
John Patitucci - Long Road Home
Scott Colley - Melody
Sam Jones - Right Down Front
Brian Bromberg- Wood
I had played the EB for 30 years but always wanted one. What sent me over the edge was I started watching Edger Meyer Playing Bach Cello Suites then my kid got into blue grass, which opened the door to actually committing to purchasing a DB, additionally these recordings and the bass timbre really initially drew me further in:
Dave Holland - Flower Power Died/John Hartford
Ray Brown - I want to be Happy/Stan Gets and the Oscar Peterson Trio
Edger Meyer - Big Country
Sam Jones - Autumn Leaves/Somthin Else
Dave Holland - Flower Power Died/John Hartford
Ray Brown - I want to be Happy/Stan Gets and the Oscar Peterson Trio
Edger Meyer - Big Country
Sam Jones - Autumn Leaves/Somthin Else
These are some of the tracks I recall loving when I started playing upright in the 1970s.
Oscar Pettiford, Stardust
Leroy Vinnegar, Walk On (from Leroy Walks)
Ray Brown, Night Train
Sam Jones, Holy Land (from A Night at Boomer's vol. 1) -- more for the groove than the bass sound, but what a groove!
Oscar Pettiford, Stardust
Leroy Vinnegar, Walk On (from Leroy Walks)
Ray Brown, Night Train
Sam Jones, Holy Land (from A Night at Boomer's vol. 1) -- more for the groove than the bass sound, but what a groove!
The most important album for me starting out was the Edgar Meyer Bottesini/Meyer concertos. I was lucky enough to see Edgar play Bottesini and Bach a few years ago
20 years ago I was listening to these on my sony discman on repeat:
Man now I'm relistening to Superbass 2 with good headphones. What a good time!
20 years ago I was listening to these on my sony discman on repeat:
Man now I'm relistening to Superbass 2 with good headphones. What a good time!
This isn’t the recording that made me want to play bass, but this recording was one of the most impactful to me because the sound is very focused, but it’s so free and effortless (and is also what ultimately led me towards the Rabbath method):
More recently, the bass sound that’s wowed me the most is Janne Saksala’s performance of “Per questa bella mano” with Berlin. It’s unfortunately only on the digital concert hall, but it’s phenomenal.
More recently, the bass sound that’s wowed me the most is Janne Saksala’s performance of “Per questa bella mano” with Berlin. It’s unfortunately only on the digital concert hall, but it’s phenomenal.
Not restricting this to double bass sounds, mine goes:
1. Coltrane’s “My Favorite Things” (1961) with Steve Davis on double bass
2. Martha and the Vandellas' “Heat Wave” (1963) with James Jamerson on double bass
3. The Zombies “She's Not There” (1964) written by Rod Argent (including the bass line) with Chris White on a Gibson EB-3 or maybe Argent playing it on keyboard.
#2 and #3 really got me hooked. I still love to play those tunes.
1. Coltrane’s “My Favorite Things” (1961) with Steve Davis on double bass
2. Martha and the Vandellas' “Heat Wave” (1963) with James Jamerson on double bass
3. The Zombies “She's Not There” (1964) written by Rod Argent (including the bass line) with Chris White on a Gibson EB-3 or maybe Argent playing it on keyboard.
#2 and #3 really got me hooked. I still love to play those tunes.
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I started playing on electric bass… mostly learning by ear. I didn’t have a chance to work with a teacher for my early years.
By the time I was in High School, I was able to take a couple of music theory classes. The Band director had been a serious session player and sideman ( Trumpet player). He was very encouraging and I used to talk to him a great deal about music.
I was mostly playing Blues and Rock but he turned me on to some great Jazz players.
My early DB influences were.
1. Willie Dixon
2. Charles Mingus
3. Ray Brown
4. Stanley Clarke
5. Eberhard Weber
Scott Lafaro
I have come to appreciate almost everyone who ever played DB… there are so many great ones
It took me years to get a DB and be able to take lessons … it just makes my appreciation greater.
By the time I was in High School, I was able to take a couple of music theory classes. The Band director had been a serious session player and sideman ( Trumpet player). He was very encouraging and I used to talk to him a great deal about music.
I was mostly playing Blues and Rock but he turned me on to some great Jazz players.
My early DB influences were.
1. Willie Dixon
2. Charles Mingus
3. Ray Brown
4. Stanley Clarke
5. Eberhard Weber
Scott Lafaro
I have come to appreciate almost everyone who ever played DB… there are so many great ones
It took me years to get a DB and be able to take lessons … it just makes my appreciation greater.
This is absolutely astounding to me. Really listen to his lines. Very abstract stream of consciousness but the harmony is right there. On the front side of the beat but never rushing. When I got to the point where I got the point of PC I felt I finally understood jazz bass.
"Why did you want to play the bass?"
I have played (and play) winds (saxes, flutes, et al) and was/am aware of how some bassists have been able to play in a way that let me know what the next changes were going to be, so using my ears alone, not my eyes (or memory) wasn't a problem. Some bassists played the "right" changes, but not in a manner that predicted the next changes. It made me want to become one of the bassists that are easy to play with.
I have played (and play) winds (saxes, flutes, et al) and was/am aware of how some bassists have been able to play in a way that let me know what the next changes were going to be, so using my ears alone, not my eyes (or memory) wasn't a problem. Some bassists played the "right" changes, but not in a manner that predicted the next changes. It made me want to become one of the bassists that are easy to play with.
Sam Jones in general…. This a fine example
https://open.spotify.com/album/0Wv7KPJsuYJggFVul2CzNi?si=6i1kn_AaT8GWArEnFnVfKg
Jean Perla
Mr PC
https://open.spotify.com/album/0Wv7KPJsuYJggFVul2CzNi?si=6i1kn_AaT8GWArEnFnVfKg
Jean Perla
Mr PC
One particular bass sound that I cherish, but didn't discover until later on is Percy Heath's playing on Bill Evans' Interplay. Incredible...
This was it:
So free and swinging.
Also, seeing William Parker as a kid who was into punk rock as a teenager. I still have no idea why he was in my small rural hometown with Cooper-Moore but that show blew my head right open. He did the slow entirely acoustic and I am still not over how good it sounded. I had to play after I saw that. No record from that day sadly.
So free and swinging.
Also, seeing William Parker as a kid who was into punk rock as a teenager. I still have no idea why he was in my small rural hometown with Cooper-Moore but that show blew my head right open. He did the slow entirely acoustic and I am still not over how good it sounded. I had to play after I saw that. No record from that day sadly.
That Quarrington Bottesini is amazing. Thanks for sharing.
Not a bass but it's almost always in my head.
Pizzicato it's Peacock's live sound. This recording gets pretty close.
This is my ideal bass sound:
Pizzicato it's Peacock's live sound. This recording gets pretty close.
This is my ideal bass sound:
Not yet mentioned, never out of mind:
Ron Carter
Stafford James
Gary Karr
Jaco Pastorius
And Steve Swallow & Gary Burton's "Hotel Hello," which I can't reach on YouTube
Ron Carter
Stafford James
Gary Karr
Jaco Pastorius
And Steve Swallow & Gary Burton's "Hotel Hello," which I can't reach on YouTube
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