@@BSJBaltimoreSportsJam Yeah dude. I guess she had other creative urges to meet and didnt wanna be framed in that style. I personally think her worse album is 4 stars, and all in between 4 and 5... Cookie and Bitter are almost in this level I really like em almost as much. And the Omnichord kicks arse but yeah..., nothing quite like those first 2 gems. Cheers
Her new stuff is other otherworldly as well. Been a fan for almost 3 decades. I put EVERY bass player I know onto her catalog. She's soooo underappreciated, not only as an artist, but as a songwriter as well. 👏 🙌 🎉
I think the live drummer for the album tour (and other tracks on the album) was (Oliver) Gene Lake.....son of saxophonist Oliver Lake. He was/is a MONSTER! Also played with Screaming Headless Torsos...among many others.
i loved and was telling folks about Me'shell Ndegeocello since before her first album came out.. i was hooked since the first video. i don't know how many times i've seen her perform.. but it was sooooo many (i would keep the tickets from the shows tucked in the covers of her CDs i had).. the first time i saw her was in a pack little club down around 14th street in NYC.. and her live performances were 10x as funky and jazzy as her albums.. just like Prince, the songs stretched out and just blessed you live. & you could tell her cult following loved being blessed by her. i'm glad i caught her when she still was a new born.. and i made it my business to stay in the audience and take notes whenever she came back to town..
Great video. Love it when you two get together and do content. Funkiest bassline? There are so many, but Sister Sledge - Thinking of You, by the late, great, Bernard Edwards is definitely up there.
The whole album is amazing!! When it was released I listened over and over using headphones for months to capture every single detail. Remembering that in that era ProTools and stuff was pretty limited, plug ins was rare, computer and other hardware was very expensive… it’s a true masterpiece. And this bass line wow!!!
Is there a N'degeocello class on SBL....or even an N'Degeocello interview there? If so, you might have a new subscriber here!! (although, for me the Jonathan Maron class was worth the price of admission also 🤔)
I'm so happy you did this! I fell in love with this album when it came out and used to play drums to it often for years. When I picked up the bass, this was the first thing I wanted to figure out how to play. Meshell is the best!
I'm so glad you are recognizing Me'shell! She is easily in my top 5 favs of all time! I think I listened to those first two albums a million and a half times. Her music is gut level funky soulful groove!
@@MG-vo7is yep. I know. Me and all my musician friends would listen and talk about that record endlessly. That and Pino on D’Angleo’s “Voodoo” I remember seeing her live in Toronto. Really, one of the best shows I’ve ever been to
Love this channel! I've been watch Scott for a while but Sharon has been a GREAT addition! Not only does she have chops but you gotta love her infectious energy!
That album (her 1st btw)!!! I was around 30 at that time. I heard that thing on the radio, and IMMEDIATELY ran to the next record shop to buy the CD... it´s still one of my most loved album. Me´Shell is a G.O.A.T. in many ways, songwriting, lyrics, BASS and philosophically. Her sources are so many, beginning in the 60s with Motown, 70s Funk, and her modern interpretation of blending all this... just mindbowingly gorgeous! And what you both said - godly Pocket!!! Thank you for bringing her to attention again!
I think your character dynamics work very well ; maybe not as effortlessly fluid as Ian-Scott but very enjoyable too. Sharon’s charisma can shine through interacting with Ian and the musical content and playing is top notch. This format has become immediately addictive 😊 Great work, keep it coming, keep it mellow!
Ian and Sharon - so good to watch you guys having so much fun, while at the same time delivering such a great lesson. The only thing missing for me is the harmonic analysis - what chords are happening on top of that bass line?
You guys are soooooo amazing... Definitely cheered up my evening.... God I love bass ... It's in my very soul. And this vid was class ... what a peach and you two made it so fun thanks for that❤
I love the track you featured, (and wasn’t hip to it.) An arguably funkier bass line would be yet another Me’shell track called “If that’s your boyfriend (he wasn’t last night).
Addicted to the channel. I used to have a squier p-bass special back in the day but have not touched a bass in years. Sam Rivers from Limp Bizkit made me want to play way back when... lately I have been feeling inspired to buy a bass and play again. Trying to decide between a 4 and 5 string bass... My main bass inspirations are Sam Rivers, Justin Chancellor, Dan Briggs, Mark Hoppus, Fat Mike, David Flynn (Chelsea Grin). THE DELIMA!!
I've loved this track for so long. Meshell rocks. Still waiting for 'Mind Up Tonight' by Melba Moore and 'Ready' Freddie Washington to get covered by you guys! SO FUNKY.
I bought the cd when it came out. The basic groove is not that complicated, but it is as funkiest as it gets. And then the change is orchestral in sound. As Miles said, "It's not the notes you play, it's the notes you don't play." It warms my heart to see that others appreciated her sound as much as me.
Part of what makes this tune while listening to the album is the intro track “the womb”. It’s short but powerful and absolutely ripped my head off the first time I heard it. And just when you think you’re dying of funk, she comes in with that vocal and the groove of “the way”. Changed my life.
Thanks for putting a spotlight on this, guys. This track changed my life when it came out in 96. In an age of musicianship when excellence can sometimes feel like a sport, focusing on Meshell's brilliance demonstrates that you don't need fireworks, just impeccable taste and pocket. 🙏 This track gives me goosebumps and a stank face to this day.
This is my favorite Meshell lp. From the moment I first heard it, I've felt a strong Bootsy thread running through the groove. If Bootsy was playing on this song---THESE are the very notes he would select (in my opinion).
When I was first learning bass in high school, I was stuck between trying to be Charles Mingus and Les Claypool. Then I had a chance to see Meshell live in concert and decide I wanted to be her instead. Still haven't gotten there after all these years, but I keep trying.
The funkiest bassline of all time is ever changing as are my moods, and at this moment, my mood says *"Hollywood Squares" by Bootsy.* But the list is endless. I'm also gonna add: "Forget Me Nots" - Patrice Rushen, "Candy" - Cameo, "Strawberry Letter 23" - The Bros. Johnson, "Fine China" - Chris Brown, "Livin' It Up" - Level 42, "Lady Cab Driver" - Prince, "For the Love of Money" - The O'Jays Honorable mentions for a few classic synth bass lines: "Funkin' for Jamaica - Tom Brown, "Flashlight - Parliament, "Boogie on Reggae Woman" - Stevie "Ain't Nobody" - Chaka/Rufus I could *literally* write a book, but I'll leave it there for now.
Meshell N'degeocello is the bass player that taught me how to play funky! She is my favorite and always will be. Check out the song GOD FEAR MONEY from the "Cookie: The Anthropological Mixtape" album, it is sooooo funky as well! Thanks for a great video and you guys are fantastic! Oh and I've always played this line like you Sharon, so it's legit 😉
I feel Paul Jackson is mentioned way too sparingly here on SBL. Spank-a-lee for starters, or the whole Thrust album for that matter is up there in my book at least:)
Damn you are so right! Paul Jackson is criminally underrated and deserves a hell of a lot more attention. Simply one of the funkiest, most inventive bass players ever. Palm Grease from Thrust is another good one.
Thank you for introducing me to her. I don't know how I've never heard of her before. Down the rabbit hole I go. My funkiest bass line up until now has been the bass line in Charles Wright's Express Yourself
One of her greatest skills is how she varies note length. Ghosts down to semi-breves. Check out Steppin' to the Projects for that tension/release contrast. Magical.
This track has been in my favourite workshop playlist for years AND also in my drum play along playlist, so I’m digging it from bass and drums perspectives particularly. But also…..those horns! ❤
You have to check out the bass player that backed MeShell on the live Sessions at 54th. David Dyson has to be one of funkiest bass players in the DMV area. thanks
THE GREAT David Dyson from the DMV area! Criminally underrated. Saw him play in a club in Baltimore, MD when I was 18 years old in 1989.....my "bass life" was transformed...
Me'shell is just great. Since when the "Plantation Lullabies" album hit us in '93, which a bass player friend of mine has showed me when it came out, I've been and am still a big fan of hers. Got 15 or so albums on the shelf and often in the player, seen many of her gigs, copied a couple of her bass lines. (Although naturally, I play bass and sing nowhere near as good as she does). One particular thing I like very much about Me'shell's music is, that it has evolved in many ways during the last 30+ years, no two albums sound the same, she does not copy herself. She is just a lifetime provider of great musical ideas, well executed. Thank you Sharon and Ian for bringing this masterpiece on SBL
Love this -- Meshell!! and your enthusiasm for digging into the line! As for the funky challenge (while not a "classically funky" line) -- I would love to see y'all dig into Egocentric Molecules - by Jean-Luc Ponty -- the "entrance" around 00:30 and then the groove/jam leading to a break around the 1:50 mark and bass solo section -- Bass Guitar: Ralphe Armstrong
The tune before this is better to pull apart .......I dare you to press back and decide if you should have listened to that whole album, and her other recordings are even more worth listening to, props for shouting her, she's a beautiful musican and that song is wonderful and one of my favourites
A mention should go to David Gamson, who co-produced this record. His fingerprint is all over this. His work with Scritti Politti is stellar, as well as a monster record he did for Tony Le Mans. 👍🏾👍🏾 Great stuff you guys.
