Discovering the breeds of great bass players: rock steady, melody men and showboats
Bass players get made fun of by snooty guitar
players pretty often. But as guitar players, we
know deep down that a great bass player can
take a band to a much higher level, and they
are hard to find. We also know that they’ll
get about a hundred times more work than
we get. So, what makes a great bass player?
There are different kinds of bass players, and
each can be great in their own way.
Rock Steady. First, there’s the rock solid player that you sometimes don’t even notice, but
when you listen specifically to what they play,
you’re left with your jaw hanging open. The
chief of this style in jazz is Ray Brown. Brown
never would show off, but the foundation he
laid down was rock solid—and oh, man, could
he make things swing. There is a feeling of lift
in his playing that drives the music forward
without rushing anything. Check his recordings with Oscar Peterson. In blues or funk,
this rock solid playing can be heard in Jerry
Jemmott. Listen to him with B.B. King or King
Curtis. You may not notice him right at first,
but listen to what he plays: lines that are just
right, lines that become such an integral part
of the song that it’s hard to think of the song
without that bass part. In rock, you might
give a listen to Rick Danko of The Band. He
often played a wacky looking Ampeg fretless
bass which had a very staccato sound. His
lines are at once percussive and melodic, but
also like the other guys, rock steady. I can’t
leave this section without a bow down to
Francis “Rocco” Prestia, of Tower of Power.
If you haven’t heard him and you think you
know good bass players, you don’t.
Melody Men. Another category is melodic
bassists. In jazz, one of my favorites is Don
Thompson. Thompson considers piano to
be his main thing (he also plays great vibes),
but his bass playing is beautiful. Check out
his playing with Jim Hall on Live! or on his
recordings with sax great Paul Desmond.
Thompson has a style that supports what’s
going on, but also has a conversation with
the soloist—and when he takes off to solo,
you’ll be left singing his lines in your head. In
rock, ya gotta go right for Sir Paul McCartney.
I expect you all are familiar with that old
band, The Beatles? They were pretty good,
and McCartney laid down some amazing
bass. “Lady Madonna,” “Come Together,”
“All My Loving”... all good. Check out “I
Will” from The White Album. McCartney
sings along with the bass part—way cool
sound. You might not hear this stuff right off,
but when you do you’ll be a happy camper.
My all-time favorite melodic bass part would
have to be the one on the Jackson 5’s “I
Want You Back,” which features Wilton Felder
on bass. Granted, this seems to be mostly
a composed line, since it is doubled on the
piano, but it is a great bass part: well played,
and an essential part of the tune.
Showboats. These are the guys who walk a
dangerous line between virtuosity and maybe
too much. But they can be a ton of fun to listen to, and I love these guys, too. In rock, the
first great showboat was probably Jack Bruce
playing with Cream. Bruce often played what
amounted to a simultaneous solo along with
Eric Clapton. They would dodge and weave,
and it was damn exciting. How about Billy
Sheehan? His galloping triplets are like having another drummer rocketing the band
along. Check out David Lee Roth’s album
Eat ‘Em and Smile. In jazz, have a listen to
Scott LaFaro playing with Bill Evans. LaFaro
seemed to solo the whole time and the level
of interaction between him and Evans is
astounding. Another amazing chops-a-saurus
is NHOP—Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen.
The sheer strength in his playing is, on its
own, amazing. Check his duo work with Joe
Pass. NHOP at times leaves Pass in the dust
with his lightning fast sax-like lines, and Pass
was no slouch. Then of course there are players like Bill “The Buddha” Dickens and Victor
Wooten. These guys are just crazy ridiculous,
and all you can do is laugh in amazement
when you hear them. Holy smokes how do
they do that? It’s like playing the drums on
the strings plus melody and harmony.
Of course, no bassist is all one thing or all
the other, and checking out these different
styles will just add to your musical toolbox.
Thinking about groove, time, melody and
harmony is good for all of us, whatever
instrument we may play. Think about what
you’re trying to get across. Are you locked
in with drummer and feeling the time in your
bones? Any of the guys I mentioned could
lay down a groove on their own with no
drummer around. How is your time? I can’t
say it enough: any player should be able to
establish a groove all by themselves. When
we play with others, job number one should
always be to make the other people sound
great, not to show them up. Complement,
don’t fight. Make what you play essential to
the song, because the song is king. What can
you do to take the music up a notch, or down
a notch? Mull on this stuff and try to think
from the perspective of each instrument in
the band; what bass part would you want to
hear, what drum part? And as always, listen,
listen, listen!
Pat Smith
Pat founded the Penguin Jazz Quartet and played Brazilian music with Nossa Bossa. He studied guitar construction with Richard Schneider, Tom Ribbecke and Bob Benedetto, and pickin’ with Lenny Breau, Ted Greene, Guy Van Duser and others. Pat currently lives in Iowa and plays in a duo with bassist Rich Wagor.