ELECTRIC BASS

[Bart R Mallio]

The book I liked on how to play jazz on a bass was Rufus Reid's _The Evolving
Bassist_. The edition I have is from 1980, and was published by Myriad Limited
at PO Box 757, Teaneck, NJ. 07666.

More electric bass influences to chew on include:

* Al MacDowell, Jamaaladeen's sidekick in Ornette Coleman's "Prime
Time" band, and a wonderfully understated ensemble player;

* Michael Henderson. Henderson, sideman to soul heroes such as Stevie
Wonder and Aretha Franklin, was Miles Davis' bassist on '70s recordings such as
_Big Fun_, _Live/Evil_, _Agharta_, _Pangaea_, etc. For my taste, I really
liked _A Tribute to jack Johnson_ (which is a great exercise in "ostinato
evolution") and _On the Corner_ (which is just a terrific record all around);

* Marcus Miller. Another Miles Davis alum, Marcus is a great ensemble
player, a great "foil" for Miles and Mike Stern as solosists, and one of the
few players who really makes "slapping and popping" funk technique work in jazz
in a natural, exciting way. Hear him especially on "Back Seat Betty" and "Fat
Time" on the Davis recording _The Man with the Horn_;

* Steve Swallow. An upright guy gone electric, Swallow was a key
member of both Jimmy Giuffre's "drum-less" trios, and of Paul Bley's early
trio efforts. His electric playing is all over Carla Bley's recent releases,
and I think he is particularly "himself" on John Scofield's Enja trio dates
(_Out Like a Light_ and _Shinola_) and on the Paul Bley record _Hot_ (Soul
Note).

I assume you're conversant with all the "usual suspects" (Jaco Pastorious,
Stanley Clarke, etc.).

There are some good rock-n-roll players out there...I like John Wetton with
King Crimson (circa '73-'74), Mike Watt (with fIREHOSE and the Minutemen),
Les Claypool with Primus (an astounding technician, and a genuinely amusing,
compassionate songwriter), etc. Fred Frith, although perhaps better-known
for his virtuoso guitar deconstruction, plays a mean bass on releases from
the Art Bears, Henry Cow, and French/Frith/Kaiser/Thompson (especially _Live,
Love, Larf, Loaf_ on Rhino).

As a previous poster noted, Mel Gibbs is a great melodic player (esp. on the
Power Tools recording), Jamaaladeen Tacuma is a wonderful harmolodic funk
player (especially on Ornette's _Of Human Feelings_), Laswell is an effects
master (hear his weird timbral decisions on the duet recording with Peter
Brotzmann, _Low Life_; he has good "line playing" on Material's _Memory
Serves_). Kermit Driscoll keeps Bill Frisell's band together, but I personally
would disagree with his tone on the instrument.

Oh, yeah, and when you're sick of these guys, there's all these upright cats
you've got to check out... :-)

Have a great time learning it; its a great instrument!
Bart

[crut...@woods.uml.edu]

I know he's not a jazz player, but if you want to check out a guy whose middle
name is *groove*, then Francis "Rocco" Prestia, from the Tower Of Power is the
man. Also, Jeff Berlin is a fantastic bass player to check out.