BEST OF BASS
A resource page for bass players

BASS PLAYERS

My Top Ten Alphonso Johnson. Best known for his stint with Weather Report (Mysterious Traveller, Tale Spinnin', Black Market). Has also recorded with Flora Purim (Open Your Eyes You Can Fly) and made albums as a leader. Dave Holland. English jazz double bassist who worked with Miles Davis. Later formed Gateway trio with John Abercrombie and Jack de Johnette. Has also performed and recorded as a leader. Doug Rauch. Innovative player best known for his work with Santana (Caravanserai, Welcome, Love Devotion Surrender, Lotus). Also made albums with Lenny White (Venusian Summer) and Billy Cobham (Life and Times) using a fast double thumbing technique. Died of a drug overdose in 1979 aged 28. Doug Wimbish. One of the original Sugar Hill Crew musicians, Doug has also performed and/or recorded with Tackhead, Gary Clail, The Strange Parcels, James Brown, Mick Jagger, Little Axe and Living Color. Eberhard Weber. German double bass player and composer with a distinctive sound. Has recorded extensively on ECM. Jaco Pastorius. Came to prominence with a distinctive fretless sound in Weather Report. Also recorded with Pat Metheny, Joni Mitchell and as a leader. Died in 1987 aged 35. James Jamerson. A hugely influential bassist who played with the Funk Brothers on most of the Tamla-Motown hits of the 1960s and early 1970s. A genius largely unrecognised while he was alive, James Jamerson died in 1983. John Paul Jones. Best known for his work with Led Zeppelin. Paul Jackson. Best known for his work with Herbie Hancock (Headhunters, Thrust, Manchild, Secrets), Paul is not a slap and pop player, but is nevertheless a master of the funky groove. Stanley Clarke. A virtuoso on both double bass and bass guitar, Stanley first came to prominence in Return to Forever. He has also recorded extensively as a leader.

Doug Rauch	Doug Wimbish	James Jamerson	Paul Jackson

Other great bass guitarists worth checking out include Aston "Family Man" Barrett (Bob Marley and the Wailers), Bakithi Kumalo (Paul Simon's Gracelands album), Bernard Edwards (Chic), Bill Laswell (Material), Bootsy Collins (James Brown, Parliament/Funkadelic), Chuck Rainey (session musician, Steely Dan), Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Francis Rocco Prestia (Tower of Power), George Porter Jr (The Meters), Habib Faye (Yossou N'Dour), Jack Bruce (Cream), Jah Wobble (Public Image, recordings as a leader) Juan Nelson (Ben Harper), Julian Crampton (Incognito), Larry Graham (Sly and the Family Stone, Graham Central Station), Les Claypool (Primus), Marcus Miller (session musician, Miles Davis), Paul McCartney, Percy Jones (Brand X), Pino Palladino (session musician), Ralphe Armstrong (Mahavishnu Orchestra, Jean Luc Ponty), Tiran Porter (The Doobie Brothers), Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel) and Victor Wooten (Bela Fleck and the Flecktones). The following great players are or were primarily jazz double bass players: Marc Johnson, Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen (NHOP), Palle Danielsson, Paul Chambers and Ron Carter. This is not a definitive list of all the great bass players there are or have been.

BASS RESOURCES/FORUMS ActiveBass Bassplayer.co.nz Bass Player Magazine On Line GlobalBass.com Harmony Central Bass Resources No Treble TalkBass.com

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