The funny thing is that this guy is so good that I’d still be glad to have him playing his “wrong examples” on a gig. But the right examples are much better.
"Handle yer sonic bidness"😎 And please love your neighbor!♥️😉 Brilliant , as always. Check it out, though: the sonic thing gets tricky...A lot of times when one plays through an amp onstage, it is necessary to make the tone brighter than usual to compensate for the sonic "throw"(sound projection distance/dispersion pattern) of one's speaker cabinet(s) as well as for the acoustics of the stage and/or the room...Live recordings of both Anthony Jackson and Gary Willis come to mind in which the tone settings of their basses are very bright, yet somehow still manage to sit well in the mix of the overall band sound...On RU-vid, check out Willis with Bireli Lagrene(live) at the Blue Note in Milano and check out Anthony in a trio setting with Steve Khan and Dennis Chambers in Germany; allegedly, Anthony played through a rackmounted phase shifter or chorus straight into the board because the provided backline amp was so crappy. In both scenarios, those guys swung their butts off and the house sound folks did their job, the somewhat bright tone settings on the basses notwithstanding...Love your channel, thanks for these fantastically engaging and informative posts!👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽🤗
This is so great, just found your channel yesterday, already in my top 10 music channels, working your way up quickly! I am harmonica player (46 years, was full-time pro by age 20) and I had a Swing Dance band for 10 years. (Bass, Drums, Guitar, Piano, female vocals, myself on harp, plus 1-2 horns so we could play lines and get a big band affect). I would meet with swing dance teachers and we played at events, they will critique you hard on tempo's and swing feel if you don't have it going on! We played straight ahead Jazz too, as well as Blues, R&B. I had Bass players over that 10 years who played both electric and stand-up on same gig, some electric only. You could really tell when someone employed the techniques you lay out here. I could not always tell why, which makes then video even better! I only knew by feel.....like funk or other things, in swing "you are either swingin' or you're dying" a a wise person once told me. Jimmy Smith plays some pretty cool good sounding swinging bass on B-3 organ also. Love your videos, thank you so much for posting, quite valuable, even as a harmonica player!
@@pdbass I am based in San Diego at the moment, was in Austin 7 years just before COVID. I have played with some cool people over the years, mostly by invite sitting in: Lester Chambers (He plays harmonica too so he invited me to sit in on his set at a festival), Bo Diddley, some of the horn players from Joe liggins old band, One of my guitar players did that tour with Rose Royce when working at the car wash came out, He is a white guy but Barry Gordy picked him for the gig to tour! Did you ever know of Cecil lytle? The piano player who was head of music at UCSD? I did a very cool concert with him in 1978, just him on piano, me on the solos he gave me for harmonica and then the full gospel choir doing some funky black gospel. I I haven't seen yet where you are located but I'm going through your videos right now I am on the Chaka Khan naughty. We used to do Chaka Khan, Aretha and Sade, had good singer that could pull it off.
Another stellar lesson session, Paul!! I would constantly wonder how I got the swing vibe working by accident and then couldn’t retrace my steps how I got there, much to my disappointment. Now I know how to repeat that. Thank you so much for your passionate and educational videos, which are so very helpful and inspiring!! Thank you!!!
Excellent video! I play strictly electric bass in a pianoless jazz-rock group (two saxes, bass, drums), and on our more straight-ahead swing tunes, I've been working on employing all of these techniques to sound "less electric". One other suggestion I'd add is to play with flatwound strings! It took me 30 years of playing bass before I ever tried flats, and not only do they sound better for swing, they're smooooth to play. I just have to say though, the demos in this video crack me up… you can't play badly even when you try! :D
Flatwounds definitely along with a muted bridge. Leo had it right with the early P basses. I see a lot of younger guys using flats on a Precision. John Mayer's bass player and the guy with Snarky Puppy as well.
@@jeffmorrison5695 Yep… flats on a Precision. That's my setup. I just finished playing bass in the pit for a community theater production of Mary Poppins and even though the book was written for about 80% acoustic and 20% electric, I played it all on my P-Bass… right hand right at the base of the neck to get that acoustic-ish sound, and then directly over the pickup for the electric parts. Tone rolled off to about 7 the whole time.
Swing like there’s no tomorrow!!!! Love it! Learned a lot about the positioning on the electric to help get that even rounder sound. Awesome breakdown! Love the chapters included as well.
Great thank you this helps, I have a show on the 16th and I just bought a bass about a week ago and been kinda stressing to make sure I get the sound right without bringing too much attention. Wish me luck ha! 🙏🏼
Another great video, Paul. Of course I agree with most of this, but the reality is the double bass makes a very strong visual statement, especially among people who don't know much about jazz or music in general. For better or for worse, many people listen with their eyes. However I do believe a truly great musician can swing and sound great with whatever instrument they choose to play. Some of my favorite bass lines have been played by musicians who are not bass players per se.
Marcus Miller on the We want Miles lp . Some extended walking bass with Al Foster . I would bet you have heard this lp but if not it’s awesome. Hope you are doing great this week . Looking forward to the next video.
Oh this was one of your greatest topics. Yes they all are but sometimes you’re that much more passionate in your voice tone with an occasional flourish that’s perfect. Thanks so much.
I love your channel, your work and your whole aura……. I’m a semi pro drummer who has locked in with bass player friends for a long time…… all along kinda wishing I was in his shoes!! Thanks for all you do…. and who you are!!
What up Hometown! Just found your channel a few days ago. I like your versatility and deep knowledge of many types of music. I'm definitely learning a lot from you. So glad I found your channel.
Oh my gosh. I’m a DRUMMER and you sir are spot on in this video. In my youth I was a session drummer in LA and played with monster musicians. However, fast forward a few decades later and now I live in a smaller city, and BOOM, it’s hard to find a bass player whom you just described. Excellent advice that is so well communicated by you. I now can speak diplomatically to a couple of bass players. Thank you.
Paul...awesome info! Just throwing this out there...listening/watching Jaco over these past decades, it seemed like he lived over the Bridge with a bright tone when playing Walking Bass (e.g. "Rockin' 'n' Rhythm"). When he played up near the neck...that seemed to be when he was getting that classic Jaco-mwah vibe. As usual, I am probably wrong. ;-)
I think it's true that Jaco, when playing swing, rarely played a whole song or even 4 consecutive bars with a big fat "end of the fingerboard" tone. He seemed to sprinkle passages with a deep tone into his regular mid-rangy sound that "popped" more. "Wedding Waltz" on the 1986 "Standards Zone" piano trio record is about as close as Jaco got to playing like Bob Cranshaw or someone more traditional. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-BG0N0-Aiz2E.html (at least as close as I can find).
i just started watching your videos so far you have kept me entertained and i love your content as a bass player and a lover of music you absolutely be a great hang you seem to be a great cat and i would jam with you anytime thanks for the content im a big fan
A relatively unknown, yet iconic bass solo by a 22 year old Marcus Miller. The sophistication and command of jazz vernacular is mind blowing still to this day. I don’t know if folks know what a high level jazz musician he is in the straight-ahead realm. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-x15KTAazq_k.html
Hi Mister! Thank you very much for your videos. It is essential to pay attention to your advice so that my electric bass sounds better in the jazz ensemble in which I participate. I've been listening to the records you recommended and I can't find the bass player for McDuff's Honeydripper. Who is the bassplayer?
@@pdbass yess, I am subscribed now... I play jazz a lot, that's the most dominant style for me now. I feel like the lowest frequencies limit the punch and makes "small" the high octave notes. Sometimes I feel some "fight" between pickups config, bass EQ and amp EQ... I'll be tuned anyway.
Nice video presentation Paul! May I add Scott Lafaro to your list? I have never heard better pulsating walking bass lines coming from any bass player as exemplified in the following album- (not talking about his amazing solos, just the walking bass lines which accompany the piano): ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-_nc6e8U65ow.html
I can't hear a single note in the tone section... hardly better through the rest of the video. I'm all for warmth on electric bass but you want to be heard!
