Recommend your favourite Bass Players

[Simon]

Thanks to Alfred Jazz Punker for recommending this thread :wink:

The topic says it all - post a list of your favourite bass players. I'm going to arrange mine in to 2 topics. Great Bass Players I Listen to & Bass Players who Influence me. Here goes...

Great Bass Players I Listen To

Jaco - Obvious! The greatest innovator of the bass guitar.
Stanley Clarke - Another of the all time greats.
Marcus Miller - Great player, but doesn't influence the way I play.
Victor Wooten - Mind Blowing player. Possibly the most accomplished player in all techniques.

Bass Players Who Influence Me

Stu Zender - The guy I heard who made me want to play bass.
Julian Crampton - Great player. Highly underated!
Randy Hope-Taylor - The stuff he played on the Incognito albums was class.
Jimmy Haslip - What can I say? Saw him with the Yellowjackets in July and I wanted to quit after seeing him play :shock: .

I've probably missed loads, but these are the guys that instantly come to mind. Plus, I gotta give you guys some names to mention :cheesy:

[Ben]

Stuart Zender - the reason i play bass,
Takeshi Ueda - mad bass man with the jap noise merchants Mad Capsule Markets
Andrew Levy - the king of smooth,
Stanley Clarke - silly putty seriously helped me when i was first learning slap,


:cheesy: theres more, but lets not be greedy!!

Ben!

[MrWigglesTheWorm]

People who had a direct influence on the way that I play (not strictly in order):

#1 BOOTSY BABY!! - THE greatest influence of my life and the way that I play, The Crown Prince of Funk. The sloppiest, tightest, dirtiest, greasiest, struttingest funk ever heard. Mutron globules oozing out at you like a big fat funkpopsicle. If you ever thought you invented a technique, I'll bet Bootsy invented it first to get some crazy noise or another out of that Space Bass - and WHAT stage presence. A real fashion icon!

#2 JACO! - My second biggest influence. I will forever be in awe of this man. Similar mental issues too. Has to have had the most obvious influence on my technique. THE MASTER!

#3 Bernard Odum - "Who's HE?", you may be asking. Well, he's one of James Browns many bass players, and a true funk innovator, just like Bootsy. Bernard's the guy behind "Cold Sweat", "Mother Popcorn" and a whole bunch of others. Master of the 8th note funk groove.

#4 James Jamerson! - SERIOUSLY underrated GENIUS! Really got into Jamerson the first time I heard "For Once in My Life" and "I Was Made To Love Her". Had a SERIOUS influence on my concept of rhythm and how to fool around with time. The best example with which to show anyone what "on top" or "laying back" is.

#5 Rocco Prestia - Another enormous influence. He and Jaco showed me how to play 16th's properly!

#6 Macca! - Wanna know how to support a song properly?? Well listen to this guy and Jamerson!

#7 Stuart Zender - goes without saying!! Had the 3rd biggest influence on my playing. Along with Bootsy, Mr Zender taught me how to squeeze the funk out of every note! Interestingly, both Mr Z and Bootsy "made it" big style with a really big name at the age of 17/18. Uncanny!

#8 Larry Graham - This is how to thump 'n' pluck everybody! And that voice!! His voice is almost a bigger influence as we sing in the same range.

#9 Louis Johnson - taught me how to slap, BIG TIME! Listen to "The Stomp" and beg for mercy during the solo! HUGE slap influence!

#10 Les Claypool - when I get weird, I think it's his influence.

===============================================

Now, the players I really dig, but don't really influence the way I play

Marcus Miller - Whew, that's some killer slap boy!

Stanley Clarke - "Spain" - THAT is how to play "samba" on an upright. In fact, go out and buy "Light As A Feather" by Return to Forever. Go and buy it RIGHT NOW!

Mingus - Dirty upright. DIRTY!

Flea - what spirit! Spontaneous? Think FLEA!

Billy "Bass" Nelson - UNH!! SWEATY Funk!

John Paul Jones - The Lemon Song - and who said the blues was boring?

Jack Bruce - whoever said the blues is boring NEVER heard Mr Bruce, for sure!

Nathan Watts - RAZZZZZ!! this guy lay's it down the SICKEST!

There's so many more, but I have to stop now. I have to take a shower...... JtheB

[Simon]

=D> =D> Thanks JtheB... you just extended my current favourite words to 2...

1st being: 'Bouncebackability' a word fast approaching the dictionary :cheesy:

2nd being: 'Funkpopsicle' inspired by JtheB, and if it isn't in the dictionary. It should be!!!

[Simon]

Can't believe it :cry: how on earth did I miss Jamerson out :?:

I too highly recommend the 'Standing in the Shadows of Motown' book....really good book, loads of top bass players redoing Jamerson lines!

Don't forget Jamerson had one hell of a right hand technique...

[Simon]

Thats James Jamerson by the way..... not Jenna... :lol:

[MrWigglesTheWorm]

Ha ha ha!! Guess it's easy to do - Motown pretty much forgot to mention him all along! :-({|=

For anybody interested, they recently made a film inspired by the book Simon talked about above. It's also called "Standing in The Shadows of Motown" and features the remaining Funk Brothers (with Bob Babbit on bass - he was Motown's number 2nd in bass-command) playing some of the songs in the book with excellent guest singers including Bootsy (! :shock: !), Me'Shell N'degeocello(! :shock: !), Joan Osborne, Ben Harper and Chaka Khan. It's a mixture of live footage of their performances, archive footage of Jamerson, Benny Benjamin, Earl Van Dyke etc and the remaining funk brothers returning to the "snakepit" (the original hitsville motown studio in detroit) and telling the story and stories of the motown hit machine. It's an incredible piece of film, and very moving in places too. Really worth watching for any musician!! The soundtrack is awesome too!! JtheB :D

[Emilio319]

Wow... a lot of action going on in the forum, I'm having trouble keeping up!

Here are the main bass players that have influenced me and that I love the most.

1.) FLEA (Red Hot Chili Peppers) -

http://www.vh1.com/sitewide/flipbooks/img/shows/vh1_backyard_bbq/red_hot_chili_peppers/2158.jpg
Probably my biggest influence on bass. The guy can be playing punk, funk, rock, or any other style but the bass line is always "alive" and full of soul. I love how he's always improvising and ad libbing on the bass when playing live. I highly recommend the RHCP dvd's "Off The Map" and "Live At Slane Castle".

2.) Norwood Fisher (Fishbone) -
http://www.fishbonelive.org/img/20020210_1093016523_47b2dc30b3127cce9ccb1a77091800 00000611.jpg
When I first started playing bass, Fishbone quickly became my favorite band. If you have never heard of them, they are a punk/funk/rock/soul/ska band (kinda like RHCP) from Los Angeles. Anyways, Norwood/Fishbone really inspired me to keep going during my early years when I was having a hard time learning music theory, learning how to read, and struggling with the bass.

3.) Stuart Zender - I was very fortunate to stumble onto the EOPE cd when it first came out and immediately loved the bass playing of STU...especially on "Too Young To Die" and "If I Like It, I Do It".

4.) Kevin Wyatt - Most of you have probably never heard of this guy but he was the bass player on many of the albums of one of my favorite artist, Terence Trent D'arby (who now goes by Sananda Maitreya). I really love the way this guy plays bass and supports a song. I highly recommend the album "Vibrator" by Terence Trent D'arby. If I had to choose one album with bass playing that I love the most then I would have to choose this one.

5.) Paul McCartney - He's a great bass player but really, the reason I love this guy is because he is one of the greatest songwriters ever. Pure genius. Great voice too. A real master. I love his music, both solo and with the Beatles.

6.) Sting - same thing as McCartney....great bass player but more importantly, a genius when it comes to songwriting. Very jazzy/soulful voice as well.

7.) Billy Cox (Jimi Hendrix/Band of Gypsys) - Listen to the Hendrix cd "First Rays of the New Rising Sun". His bass lines are very funky and bluesy. Very "old-school funk." I highly recommend the Hendrix dvd "Blue Wild Angel." Incredible footage of Billy Cox, Mitch Mitchell, and Hendrix at what I think was there peak, sadly only about a month before Jimi passed.

8.) James Jamerson - I don't really listen to Motown cd's much but I do own the "Standing in the Shadows" book that was previously mentioned and this guy is definitely one of the best bass players ever. That book is a must-have for any serious bass player, there is so much to learn from it. Jamerson's style is incredible. He's not fancy in the way that Jaco or Victor Wooten are, but personally I admire his bass playing more than I do the guys that do "crazy stuff" on bass.

I'm also influenced by other bass players but I would say these are the main ones.

[Alfred Jazz Punker]

Well... It's hard to say it...

I think Stuart Zender was the reazon I was waiting to start with the bass 5 years ago.. So This is the one...

Of course There must be Jaco... Nobody sounds like he did... It's amazing how he gets deep into his bass and plays awesome...

Jamerson... I miss him too... And wasn't alive when he died (i think... i really don't know...)... He really did something new, he took his bass and carry it to the next level... that's the best thing ever!

Jeff Ament... Yeah! I love Pearl Jam and Jeff's playing... Just keep it low, simple, smooth... but Hard!

Wooten... I really don't know... he might be to "happy" or I don't know what, but he is a must to everybody...

Jonathan Mayron from Groove Collective must be one of the new places in my heart... he plays so cool that I don't know what else to say except to mention his perfect grooves he puts into his live and studio work...

Flea... Come on, everybody has heard him, he's a teacher for a lot of entire generations of bass players!

Charles Minugs... This man did something nobody else has done... The same as Jaco... A Big guy with a BIG sound!

And Finally... MYself!... ja ja ja.... (just jocking... :cry: )

[Emilio319]

I've heard some of Jonathan Mayron's (is that the right spelling?)work and the guy is definitely great. I only have the first Groove Collective cd and his playing is definitely top notch.

[wahit]

1 - Jaco Pastorius
2 - Les Claypool (Primus, etc...)
3 - Stu Zender

yeah, just three.... but i love these guys ;)

[woodchuck]

I'd like you guys to check out Gene Perez. Plays on the Masters At Work projects. AMAZING bassist.

[Simon]

Yes Woodchuck, i'm with you there! Must admit I didn't know his name, but always wondered who it was playing on the MAW stuff. Thanks, and welcome to the forum :wink:

[basscowboy]

1. Stu Zender
2. Les Claypool
3. Jonathan Maron
4. Paul Jackson
5. Bootsy
6. Larry Graham
7. Richard Searle - anybody remember Corduroy?

[Rob]

Anyone ever heard of a Spanish dude (I think) called Pepe Bao? Well, 2 minutes ago I also didn't know his name, but I knew his playing. He's the bassplayer of a Spanish band called O'Funk'illo ...I have no idea what the songs are about, but they do sound funky! They sound a lot like the RHCP.
You should check some songs out. I have some of them anywhere on a cdr, so cant tell you which songs, but on most of them you can hear dirty bassplaying. All my other fave's have already been mentioned. Though, did anyone mention Pino Palladino? I actually dont know that many of his records, but his playing on D'Angelo's album VooDoo is great. ...my two cents...(or how does that expression go? lol)

[bloop]

My fav player is Me'Shell NdegeOcello (I think that's how you spell her name). She is just the funkiest and most soulful player I know, she also sings. If you haven't heard of her go out and get any of her albums (I recommend Plantation Lullabies or Cookie)! Be warned though, her stuff is so funky you'll probably need a wash after listening! Also don't let any children listen (even to the intrumentals!) ;)

Second fav player is Alex Malheiros of Azymuth one of those simple, not what you play it how you play it guys (like me!).

Got to love Paul Jackson -> The original Stu Zender (in my opinion).

That's my 2p's worth! (UK version of 2 cents ;) )

[Simon]

Rob,

for Pino Palladino, check out some Paul Young - I believe he did some great fretless work with him - espcially the track 'Wherever I Lay My Hat'.

[Alfred Jazz Punker]

Damn it!... I was forggeting this guy...

Steffan Lessard! (is that the correct spelling?)

Damn... this guys knows how to rock and how to funk at the same time... His sound is something like the deep end combined with soul and tons of energy... I think everybody has heard him (Bass Player of Dave Mathews Band...)

[basscowboy]

Two more I forgot to add. Kim Clarke of Defunkt who played on their 2 best albums from the early 80`s - "Defunkt" and "Thermonuclear Sweat", and Rhonda Smith - Prince`s bassist for the last 8 years or so and I reckon the best he`s worked with.

[muzzander]

well here goes my top 10 list..

1.Stuart Zender
-need no introduction...the reason is same like you guys..

2.Verdine White
-this guy can funk his bass while dancing and singing..well that's cool!!

3.Jaco
-i love this guy's playing to death..his bassline has soul that can move people..alott :cry: ...

4.Wooten
-he's the Steve Vai of bass...

5.Les Claypool
-he made slapping sound so much fun teheheh :cheesy:

6.Billy Sheehan
-because he play with Steve Vai...:cheesy:

7.Myung
-i sometimes don't understand what he's playing and i definitely never going to be able to play DT basslines...but he's cool and he's asian..so he got my vote :cheesy:

8.Nick Fyffe
-he's fast,he's funky and he got technique...and he made canned heat bassline :cheesy:

9.Dirk Lance
-Incubus x-low ender...glad he left anyway since incubus is getting softer and softer..

10.Thomas Ramdhan
-he's a bassist for a famous indonesian band called GiGi...i dig his style

[woodchuck]

Gotta add Scott Ambush from Spyra Gyra and Randy Hope Taylor.

[Drunken funkster]

Stuart Zender:- Sorry, obvious! My favourite player by far.

James Jamerson:- The man was clearly a genius just for playing with the likes of Marvin Gaye. The ultimate influence on any bassist whether they like it or not!

Nick Fyffe:- I really enjoy Nick's playing, and although he's no big Z, it's unfair to compare the two.

Jaco:- Again, obvious, but it's hard not to fall in love with his flawless technique, and his finger speed...

Marcus Miller:- Brilliant player, I highly reccomend you get 'M2' if you're into him and haven't got it already

Alphonso Johnson:- Often overshadowed by Jaco, but none the less a great player for the Weather Report.

Bernard Edwards:- The ultimate disco bassist...Chic and Sister Sledge's work are both admirable

Pino Palladino:- Brilliant fretted and fretless player, I especially like his more recent work.

Mark King:- Only for the 80's 'Lessons In Love' appeal! Nah, not really, he's a great player.

I also enjoy Freekbass, Flea, Dirk Lance from Incubus, I kind of like what Victor Wooten and Steve Bailey do, Jimmy Haslip, Richard Bona (although sometimes he gets too 'Jaco' for my liking), and loads, loads more. the ones I listed at the top are my main ones, but I'll post in later with a 1000 ones I forgot :mrgreen:


Liam :cheesy:

[bloop]

I forgot to mention one of my fav players. Was listening to some of his CD's at the weekend. Tom Jenkinson aka Squarepusher! That bloke is an absolute genius. Got a seriously rocky/funky d&b thing with Jaco type solo's inbetween going on. He writes the most beautiful (and sometimes scary tunes). Love Iambic 5 poetry, such a haunting melody. Hard Normal Daddy is my favourite album of his though!

If you haven't heard his stuff check him out, but be warned. You'll either love it with all your heart or think "What the fuck is this?". Unfortunately most my friends choose the later, but I love it! :cheesy:

[Andy]

I'm surprised Andrew Levy has only been mentioned once!! The man is the King Of Cool as well as being a big influence on my playing! 8)

[bloop]

Don't you think Andrew Levy dresses really camp though? :P

No... Seriously he is one cool cat, and a very nice person too! He was the first person who said to me, "It's not what you play, it's how you play it!". I couldn't agree more! :cheesy:

[Alfred Jazz Punker]

I'm pretty sure that some early live versions of what Stu played for "When you gonna learn" was a mix between his original CD line and what Andrew Levy did in the original demo... You know that? He could hav got to Jamiroquai... ha ha ha, but we would have never had Stuart! Freaky! he he he...
Whatever, What do you think of bassists that appear on Groove Armada CDs? there are som cool bass lines, especially in "Northern Star" and "Goodbye Country, hello night club"... You should check them out, they are pretty funky... In fact, Groove Armada is damn Funky!

[apache]

of course all of the mentioned players are die hard bass cats. love em all.

but you forgot to mention the one and only PRINCE. he has an absolutely catching groove.

also listen to the roots' LEONARD HUBBARD - he's always down to earth but in midst of the show he tears the roof off and leads you to the stars!

RAPHAEL SAADIQ, another great player who's keepin' it really real.

and finally, KEZIAH JONES. better known for his unique style on the guitar. but also groovy as hell on the bass.

[Niktus]

My list of bass players:

-STUART ZENDER: my inspiration to start to play the bass... and even today my header bass player with Randy & Julian.
"Too young to die", "If I like it I do it" and "Stillness in time" best lines

-RANDY HOPE-TAYLOR & JULIAN CRAMPTON: I´m deeply falled in love with ALL the bass lines of Incognito. They are simply awesome, each one.

-MARK KING: God! How can you play the bass like that, and singing at the same time???. And with his new solo band, well... we´re in front of one of THOSE bands.

-MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO: She plays with mind, soul and technique.

-JACO: He no need words...

-ANDREW LEVY: He is another of my inspirations at the moment. Andrew plays really great, simply, effective and groovy lines.

-BOOTSY COLLINS: father of groovy bass.

-VERDINE WHITE: uncle of groovy bass.

-NORWOOD FISHER: His lines sounds very complex and simple at the same time, a really great player. Shine in "So many millions".

-NIKTUS BABY: I stole his name! haha...
I love the F.F.F and Nicolas is a great player too. He has some brilliant and groovy moments in the F.F.F songs.

-ROBERT TRUJILLO: He plays funky and heavy bass lines with the same masterskill. Shine in Infectious Grooves.

-MARCUS MILLER: no needs presentation. Best slap ever, even better (for me) than Victor Wooten (another monster).

-CARLES BENAVENT: if you don´t hear nothing of him... you must do it.

-MICHAEL MANRING: another unknown monster. Listen "THONK" album.

Keep groovin´!
Niktus

[woodchuck]

Manring is snsane! Great guy and great player!

[Simon]

Hey Niktus, good to hear you like the Incognito boys ;-) Check out the bass transcriptions on my site if you haven't already.

I recognise the line in your signature....is it 'On The Road' from Life Stranger Than Fiction? :P

[Lex]

i'll add Bakhiti Kumalo; think Paul Simon's "Graceland", and specifically "Call me Al"... one of the reasons i picked up the bass in the first place. oh, and the awesome fretless sound on "diamonds on the soles of her shoes"... this guy is fantastic

another is Oteil Burbridge... have a listen to "Plain or Peanut" by Aquarium Rescue Unit... pretty cool indeed

Lex

[Splinter]

Well here's my selection,

first the obvious - Jaco and Zender and James Jamerson........ no more explanations needed!

I'm also a huge fan of Pino Palladino, as Simon mentioned, check out the Paul Yound "No Parlez" Album........"Come Back and Stay" (THE most epic tune of the 1980s), and the great ballad "Wherever I Lay My Hat" - amazing fretless playing which is so melodic.

I don't think he's been mentioned yet, but I'll add Aston "Familyman" Barret (I think that was his name), bass player for Bob Marley and the Wailers......reggae style and rhythm has had an enormous influence on my playing, and this guy rocks my world. Songs like "I Shot the Sheriff", "Could You Be loved", "No Woman No Cry", "Exodus", are perfect examples of using space for effect, and cutting across rhythms in interesting ways.

I've also learned a great deal from many anonymous session players who have featured on various mainstream RnB tracks.......check out everything from Usher to TLC and you can find some really good stuff - "Waterfalls" by TLC has some of the best playing I've ever heard!

Last but not least, the man who posted above - Lex Sadler! He's the older bro of one of my good mates, and when I picked up the bass I was given copies of the music he recorded - he has an amazing style which has influenced me a enormously as I've progressed....... cheers mate!

Jimmy

[Drunken funkster]

Oh yeh, I forgot to mention Nathan Watts (Stevie Wonder's Bassist), a really great player. He played on Superstition, Sir Duke, Do I Do, Masterblaster, and I Wish just to name a few tracks.

Liam :cheesy:

[Niktus]

Hi Simon!

Yeap, your work in the transcriptions is very good.
The talkin´loud line really helps me. Thanks!

(oh god, I love the solo bass in Magnetic Ocean).
Was a moment of happines when I could play it with the same spirit some time ago. Randy did it the most beautiful solo I ever heard.
(Like Maceo Parker solo in the "Let´s get in on" version)

You´ve got a great eye about my signature... but it´s not from "On the Road", it´s the main line of "Byrd Plays" from Who Needs Love.

(Jamiroquai it´s not the same since long time ago, but we have Incognito full of Life!)

Salut!
Niktus

[Simon]

Glad you like the transcriptions Niktus :wink:

Yep, that solo in Magnetic Ocean is special - I knew I had to transcribe it when I heard it :P

[Alfred Jazz Punker]

Hey... let me recomend to you a bass player called "Sabo Romo", he's mexican and the best way you could hear him it's on his old band called "Caifanes" (maybe you'll find it as "Los Caifanes")... It's a rock band from this lovely country that existed about 7 or 8 years ago (now there's the new versiond called "Jaguares").
The thing is that I found that this guy constructs frases quite the same as Zender. Using the same kind of progressions and that "gettint bigger with the time" (I mean about the way the line grows everytime it gets to the same point)...
Of course it's not funky music, it's rock and maybe some tunes you'll may think it's on a strange wave that begun with "The Cure"... But no matter way the lines of this guy ARE funky... I don't know exactly why...

The list of CD's where you could catch him are:
"Los caifanes"
"El Diablito"
"El silencio"

(By the way... this guy also left his band after the third record... ha ha ha)

[SpaceMan]

1)Jaco Pastorius...I don't need to explain this...he's the greatest bass palyer ever...Just to cool of a guy.I have a DivX concert from Montreal from 1976...I think....and it's just mindblowing!!!He's a god in my book.
2)Stanley Clarke:The closest one to get to Jaco is....I think...this guy.He has it all...Slaping,Poping,Choards...and great solo lines!I just love "Stories to tell"...that is the best bass solo I've heard...I just melt when I hear it.I remeber the first time I heard "Silly Putty"...oh my god I was blown away,and songs like "Time Exposure","Vulcan Princess","Desert song" are just too god to be true!
3)Victor Wooten:Well...what to say about this guy.He picked up where the greats left off.He's just too much.He's has unique thumb technique...If I know anithing about tapping...he taugt me everything!
4)Stu Zender:He's the guy we all are here for.I learned to groove thanks to this guy!I think a lot of things have been said about him so I am just gonna shut up :cheesy:
5)John Patitucci:None of my Bass friends like him.They say his is boaring...but I think he's awsome!Songs like Kingstontown blues and Seerching,Finding are amzing...he's a great bass soloist!A great influence on my bass sloloing(if I have any bass soloing :cheesy: )
6)Les(IS MORE!) Claypool.Oh my god....I love this guy...he's just my hero!This man is insane.The first time I heard "The Awakening"...I went nuts...I couldn't belive it...it was to cool!And "Jarry was a race car driver"....my god is that bass line f***n' cool or what!!?!?!I just like this guy to much...I would give my left leg to see him in concert!
7)Bodan Arsovski:this guy is likely to be unknown to you because he's a Macedonian...He used to play in a Yugoslavian Fusion band "Leb i sol"...which was a great band,by the way,...He is a amzing fretless bass player...If you haven't heard of him you sholud try to find his suff with "Leb i sol" as his solo projects!
I think they are the bigest influence on my playing.Others that influenced me:Flea,Luis Johnson,Bootsy,Stu Hamm,Sting,Tony Kanal,Garry Willis

[Alfred Jazz Punker]

Must say that Les Claypool it's one of the biggest... the colonel.... he he he, recently there was a big review of him in a magazine, do not remeber exactly if it was bass player o bassist or which one...

[deerosa]

1. Geddy Lee - Famous tone and he had to keep up with Neil Peart?

2. Larry Graham- The master.

3. Bernard Edwards.

4. Jameson

5. Zender- for a young guy to come and just completely have a great groove at what age 20 or something? Amazing, very influential bass player.

6. Ruben Rodriguez - Latin and Salsa player. This guy can slap the tumbao like a mother! (Tito Puente, MArc Anthony, ...)

7. Paul Denman - SADE ( who says playing a million notes make you a great player, sometimes playing the right notes and leaving some space is the way to go, solo on smooth operator is a classic.).

8. Marcus Miller - The most humble and honest popular musician I have met and spoken to. Has a very melodic way of playing both styles. He can funk you to death and play the hell out of be-bop and jazz. Out of all the bass players this is what I aspire to be! I even have his sig bass which is an amazing instrument.....also when Miles Davis hunts you down to produce an album then you are the man!!!!

9. Sting - He did some good things on those early POLICE albums.

10. Randy Hope Taylor - Early Incognito albums were simply amazing. I wish he would do a full fledged album and not some selected cuts with BLUEY again.

There you have it. Honorable mention for me is :

Steve Harris - Maiden
Billy Sheehan
David Dyson
Jon Maron - Groove Coolective
Stevie Wonders Left Hand :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

[bloop]

"Stevie Wonders left hand" - What a great mention! =D>

:cheesy:

[SpaceMan]

I just remembered one:Francis Rocc Prestia(Tower Of Power),the inventor of Figer Style Funk!Man that's one cool Dude!

[Alfred Jazz Punker]

That guy is loved by the industry men... I mean, all those things they did when he got that dissease?... was amazing (Rocco... of course)

[Leo]

#1 - Jaco : what can I say... he is amazing
#2 - Stu : like many of you, he made me want to play bass
#3 - Alphonso Jonhson : I love his playing
#4 - Stanley : another "Jaco"...

[leftyjazzabuser]

Has anyone mentioned Norman Watt-Roy ???!!! What a player, not just for his Blockheads work, but his playing for the Clash and even Frankie Goes To Hollywood !!! Oh, and then theres Chuck Rainey......the list just grows

[JB]

1. James Jamerson
2. Marcus Miller
3. Stu Zender
4. Paul Denman
5. Steffan Lessard

[JB]

Hey it's interesting that no one has said Duck Dunn or Nathan East . . including myself.

[Alfred Jazz Punker]

I know that Nathan East has been told... just not remember where, and I'm to lazy to search for it in the whole forum... It's too big... he he he

I love his work on Reptile of Eric Clapton, I know it's simple, that's blues... But come on, he has feeling... The most important thing of music...

Plus, his live sound it's just insane...

[Simon]

I know that Nathan East has been told... just not remember where, and I'm to lazy to search for it in the whole forum... It's too big... he he he.

Use the Search button at the top of the page :)

The name Nathan East comes up in bothe of these threads:

http://www.stuartzender.co.uk/forum/search.php?mode=results

Genius :mrgreen:

[danhorner]

Isn't this guy playing with Incubus now?

For that matter the old bassist for Incubus, name escapes me, rocked, lots of influences from Flea, but same goes for the rest of the band and red hot chili peppers I suppose.

For me the guys that most influenced me were the guys I grew up reading about in Bassist magazine - opened me up to a lot more musical influences and styles. Damn shame that magazine doesn't exist any more - I've still got the magazines from when it started...

For me it came down to original songs that made me start thinking about bass. You remember when you started to 'forget' to listen to the rest of the song and only listen to the bass? Well these were the guys that made me do it...

Especially:

Pino Palladino - Work with D'Angelo is outstanding
Mark King - Love Games - one of the first things I learned to play, though my thumb literally started bleeding one time
Obviously Stuart Zender - why else would we be here otherwise...
Marcus Miller - My favourite song of all is the live version of Summertime he does with LalaHathaway - That was a solo that took TIME to get right
Flea - Coffee Shop solo was off the wall - made me buy a wah pedal
Nathan East - Might be wrong about this one - but if it was him playing with Santana for a while, those were his bass lines I digged the most

And if anybody knows who did the bass line for "Praise You" by Camille Yarbrough (the original song that FatboySlim nicked the vocal from) I would love to know, that is one of THE funkiest bass lines ever.

And just for getting amazed and in no way ever trying to emulate him - cos I can't - Victer Wooten. The man's on a different level...

[joelx817]

Donald "Duck" Dunn F*$&ing rules... that guy has the most righteous groove ever.

[Drunken funkster]

Hey Danhorner, Incubus' ex-bassist was Dirk Lance (I had to rack my brains over that one as well, so it was satisfying posting this!).

Liam :cheesy:

[Superdave]

Ben Kenney is playing with Incubus now, he used to play guitar with the Roots.

You need to check out Fima Ephron, from the Screaming Headless Torsos, the cat can groove.

http://screamingheadlesstorsos.com/Website/SHT.html

Check out the 1995 CD.

[Alfred Jazz Punker]

Hey, Ben Kenney it's a cool bass player (don't kill me)...

I must admit that when I knew that Dirk Lance was gone I was like "damn it"... But this guy didin't tried to fill his place... He went for something else, everybody was talking crap because he uses a pick and could be probably a simpler player that Dirk... But I love his tone and style, a lot of rock, power and groove...

Love the way he did the little "solo" of megalomaniac at the "bridge" of the song... It sounds weird and cool... Many people never know that this is the bass...

[Superdave]

Ben Kenney is a great player, he pretty much changed Incubus' sound, and I dig it.

I read in an interview somewhere about how Kenney could play circles around Mike, and this was straight from Mike's mouth.

[Big T]

I was also really disappointed when Dirk Lance quite incubus, but ben kenney has changed it around for incubus, love the new thing. they were a band in desperate need of renewal and with ben they found it. he has some kickass b-lines on A Crow Left of the Murder

[Alfred Jazz Punker]

I think that was the best thing of this guy... Changing and not going for the bone... I think was a smart way of doing it.

[Ian]

I can recommend you:


Bertrand Simonet (from the band Stereotypical Working Class, a french rock band....): he's dumb in real life, but he's a good bass player...


Benoit Julliard (of Pleymo) : a "new metal" bass player with "Les Claypool" skills....


Stuart Zender : of course!

Tim Commerford (Rage against the machine, now in Audioslave)

Sam Rivers (Limp Bizkit)

Dirk Lance (previously in Incubus)

[Superdave]

You also gotta give it up for John Paul Jones...he's not only a great musician, but he also rips the organ as well.

[Big T]

yeah JPJ is great! has anyone mentioned the late great John Entwistle yet?

[Harada]

well, I was thinking of listening to some recommanded bassist you guys just mentioned, but then I realised that I dont know in what band they are playing so, I was kinda stuck...
:|
help?

[JB]

Some of the bassists listed actually play with many performance artists while others have their own band. This is some of the one's mentioned - I'm doing this off the top of my head right before I leave work so I'm sure other people on the board can add to this considerably:

Nathan East - Eric Clapton, Lionel Richie, Babyface and tons of other artists

Marcus Miller - Miles Davis, Aretha Franklin, awesome solo work but you know that (M2) - lots of others

James Jamerson - practically every Motown song you've ever heard (Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Jackson 5, Supremes, etc.)

Carol Kaye - Motown Bassist

Bob Babbit - Motown Bassist

Duck Dunn - way too many artists to list - but lots of Memphis Blues artists - especially in the 1970s - he was also in the movie Blues Brothers

John Paul Jones - Led Zepplin

John Entwhistle - The Who

Andrew Levy - The Brand New Heavies - first song on Emergency on Planet Earth (before Jamiroquai picked up Stu)

Paul Denman - Sade (one of the most underrated bassists ever)

Larry Graham - Sly and the Family Stone, Graham Central Station (credited for inventing slap bass)

Jack Bruce - Cream

Jimmy Haslip - The Yellow Jackets (most people don't know this but he's on Anita Baker's early stuff too)

Fred Robinson - okay he's a new guy on the scene - I bet no one on this forum has heard of him - plays bass for KEM - check him out!



. . .gotta go - I'm an R&B guy so no offense to you Metal bassists - just don't know much of that genre.

[marcus]

There are a lot of cool bassists out there. The bass sound shapes my music taste (as usual), so that I can say that every bassist playing in the things I listen to is somewhat cool. But my main criteria in choosing my favorite player is the spirit/mood, rather than technical perfection. For this reason John Myung will not appear on my list for example. Yes, he is fast but that's it. There is no mood in his lines. I get the impression of a cold-blooded reptile from his tunes. That's why Liquid Tension Experiment makes much more sense than DT; 'cause Myung is replaced by Tony Levin, the master.

Well, let's move on to the list:
Jaco Pastorius: Natural born bassist. The fretless genius and the harmonic guru.
Tony Levin: He is unique in his style. You can recognize the Levin sound from miles away.
Paul McCartney: I love his songs. I love his basslines. I love his tones, especially the tone from his Rickenbacker 4001. He currently uses a 5-string Wal, by the way...
Stanley Clarke: Master of fretless and upright. Should also mention his Alembic piccolo bass with the A-D-G-C string config.
Marcus Miller: A slapping genius. Should hear him playing in Spyro Gyra's Incognito album.
Mick Karn:The "Greek Freak" playing the fretless Wal. He's on the edge and I like it :cheesy:
Geddy Lee: A live example of how cool you can get with a Jazz Bass. Great tone, great lines. He also sings at the same time!..
Nurhat Sensesli: I don't think you know this guy. He's Turkish. If you can somehow get the albums of "Laco Tayfa", an ethnic fusion band of Turkish gypsies, you'll have the chance to hear his playing. He plays the 6-string and the fretless, and I can assure you that he's better than John Pattitucci :twisted: I don't have my own web space. If one of you can provide me some space, I'll gladly upload some mp3's for you.

Well these guys influence my style. I also should add some Bass acrobats like Stu Hamm, Victor Wooten and Billy Sheehan. I also enjoy them, of course.

[Harada]

JB - Thanks, Ill go look for thouse when Ill have time.