The 10 GREATEST PROG BASS PLAYERS | Ranked 

Great to see Percy and especially Mick Karn on this list! A couple of unique players ... in my opinion two of the best ever!

Great to see Mick Karn getting recognition..the most creative and inventive player ever.

Yes! Mick Karn! Japan! Absolutely a prog band, and Tin Drum is a prog classic. Great choices, Andy. Chris was the giant (in every sense) of prog bass. Pure musicality.

Roundabout the quintessential prog rock bass song. I think we all remember the first time we heard that song was the rumbling galloping bass line.

Mike Rutherford. Listen to his bass playing on ' Trick of the tail' for instance , it's perfect.

I'd have these players in there: Ray Shulman - astonishing musical genius, what can't he do? Tom Fowler - iconic basswork with Uncle Frank, gorgeous tone Trey Gunn - brilliant with KC, eg. Construkction of Light Bill McCormack - 801, Quiet Sun and Phil Manzanera - not sure why people forget about him. Great sound, chops, groove and ideas.

One of the great talents of Tony Levin is his understanding of "negative space." Tony never felt like he had to play lots of notes, he just needed (& was able) to play the necessary notes.

Rutherford anyone ?

Great ranking. This is interesting with the fact that Chris Squire makes YES a rock band. No. 11. Greg Lake.

My top five in no particular order: John Wetton Greg Lake Chris Squire Tony Levin Mike Rutherford or Ray Shulman

Here's a list of my favorites, in no particular order: Chris Squire, Tony Levin, Percy Jones (is he prog or fusion?), John Wetton, Geddy Lee, Bill Laswell (he fits in almost all categories), Jeff Berlin, Hugh Hopper, Jeff Clyne, Ray Schulman

I'm so glad to see Percy Jones and Mick Karn on the list. IMHO they are two of the most original voices on the fretless bass that didn't surcome to the temptation to sound like Jaco. I also agree about Japan. I've thought of them as prog. I think a deep dive into the music and influence of Japan would make a good video.

I DON'T NECESSARILY DISAGREE WITH ANY OF YOUR CHOICES, BUT SINCE I'M A BASSIST MYSELF (FOR APX. 55 YRS.), I'M SADDENED YOU LEFT OUT THE ASTONISHING, AMAZING RAY SCHULMAN !!! I'VE SEEN MOST OF THE BASSISTS ON YOUR LIST (YEAH, EVEN HUGH HOPPER) AND LOVE THEM ALL BUT NEVER IN MY LIFE HAVE I SEEN A BASSIST LIKE SCHULMAN !!! AN INCREDIBLE MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST LIKE LEE & BRUCE, AN INCREDIBLE HARMONY SINGER LIKE CHRIS SQUIRE, SOMEONE WITH AN INDIVIDUAL STYLE AND A GREAT SHOWMAN WITH AN EQUALLY GREAT SENSE OF HUMOR (LIKE ALL IN GENTLE GIANT), THE ABILITY TO PLAY "SPACE" AS WELL AS "GUITAR" ON HIS BASS GUITAR (LIKE ANTHONY JACKSON), YEAH, I'M DISAPPOINTED, NOT IN YOUR SELECTIONS BUT THAT YOU LEFT RAY OUT !!! MAYBE THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN A TOP 15 OR TOP 20 !!!

You could also make a case for Macca.

My top 5 favorite bass players in no particular order: Ray Shulman, Tony Levin, Chris Squire, Glenn Cornick and Roger Waters.

So glad to hear the appreciation for my Fav Bass player who deserves the title of #1! ❤

Yeah Percy what a beast .thats cool you included Japan ! And Levin with that Chapman stick ! .Cool Squire !

Check out the relatively new band PAKT, featuring Percy Jones, along with Alex Skolnick, Kenny Grohowski and Tim Motzer. Incredible stuff!

Thanks Andy, another great ranking video - keep them coming. 👍👍

Love your top two picks! I would argue for Mike Rutherford and.......that's right...Sir Paul McCartney!!!......who I believe laid the foundation

I think people would be remised if they didn't acknowledge Mike Rutherford contribution. Not a virtuoso but a solid bass player with incredible muscle memory for the extended epics they did. He lost a bit of edge when Hackett left and had to double up on guitars but just listening to "Genesis Live 73" and the pocket he has on "No Reply At All" from Abacab. I had to tip my hat. I bought a Wal bass because of Mick Karn, just an inventive beast. Cheers.

Kudos for putting Mick Karn on the list - I'm a big fan and been listening to Japan, JBK, Rain Tree Crow, Polytown - and all those guys other solo and group projects. Japan is the most underrated band I know, because even while adoring David Sylvian, many people diss Japan. Great channel!

Good List! I would add Pekka Pohjola, Jannick Top and Kengo Sakamoto!!

Percy Jones has always gotten short-changed by the American bass community. It's partly, imho, because he's a much more band-oriented player than his contemporaries, and less of a soloist. But, Percy did appear on a major release a good year before Jaco, and did all the technical things Jaco is famous for (but more of them).

As a Canadian, it was nice to see Geddy Lee on your list. But I was even more glad to see Hugh Hopper get a mention. My eyes lit up when you showed the CD cover for Soft Machine's 'Third' album. When I heard 'Volume Two' and 'Third as a 20-year-old in 1988, it'changed my life (musically, at least). I discovered your channel a couple of weeks ago and have been very interested in your knowledgeable musings on progressive rock and fusion. Between the two of those, I'd been anticipating, hopefully, an appearnace of SM or one of their albums on a list of yours, but I hadn't been served in that regard until this video. I had hoped that Mike Ratledge would make your Top 10 Prog Keyboardists list, but, alas, no! Anyway, thanks for doing what you're doiing.

Excellent choice with Richard Sinclair. One of the most important.

Michael Manring isn't very popular and plays in other genres like new age, but he is an absolute monster! Check out Thonk. Also, Stu Hamm could be on this list. His solo albums are proggy and he has cool lines and monster chops.

Im glad you got John Wetton there.🤘

My first experience of Percy Jones was seeing him live with Brand X on the Masques tour. He and Morris Pert did some ridiculous things playing off each other.

Great Video. Great humor along the video. Really laughed out loud. Great list. Bass is really the instrument that makes prog rock - rocky. I love that.

Interesting, but Mike Rutherford should have definitely been on this list!! Also, John Paul Jones was doing odd times, classical counterpoint,etc,etc........ everything prog bass players do but musically better.And if you but Percy Jones on there then Jeff Berlin should be there also..... played with Bruford and Yes.On the more obscure end, Doug Keyser's work on Watchtower's Control and Resistance is the best Prog Metal bass playing I have ever heard if you want to talk about underrated........

The things I like most about this channel: Andy never pretends to know more than he actually does, and he isn't trying to be perfect. The effect of this: authenticity in the age of plastic.

As a bass player I feel like I need to comment, but overall I like your list. Just my opinion of course… Les Claypool from Primus needs to be on the list simply for his creative playing. Geddy needs to be higher in the ranking, maybe second. I def see Percy as more of a Jazz Fusion player but good to see him mentioned. Jack Bruce is legend… Some fusion bassists like Jeff Berlin are big Bruce fans. John Deacon from Queen has some nice proggy lines. Most underrated player. Colin Edwin from Porcupine Tree should sneak in. Tony Levin is def underrated in the bass world.

I saw Mick Karn live a couple of times and I can tell you he was a master of his instrument. The ease with which he played was astonishing. Great work Andy

Great very listenable nerdy enough to keep rhe interest thanks Andy

As always, I go in line with your choices .... Chris Squire is a co inventor of Prog Rock, of the entire genre, ... and perfectly fits on nr.1, ... I was thinking of Paul McCartney as an inventor of modern bass playing and the Beatles did become a little proggy towards the end .. in a way ...

Totally agree with you Andy. So no point listing mine, you got it bang on for me. Maybe I could have squeezed in, Jonas Rheingold somewhere along the line.

Very good list Andy. Glad you added John Jowitt. Love his playing in I.Q. Honorable mentions: Greg Lake and Mike Rutherford.

Mike Rutherford is a highly underappreciated bassist in my opinion. The bass playing on Foxtrot alone is enough to earn him a spot on a list like this. Borderline prog, but you could make a decent argument for John Paul Jones, too! Anyway, I enjoy these videos! :)

Hi Andy!! thought you would include the one and only Ray Schulman in your list, what a surprise not to find him. All the best, always following your videos from Buenos Aires (Argentina) /Diego

I have watched a ton of these videos in the last week or so and have really enjoyed them. This is the first I've commented on cos I'm also a bass player... But it's not a bass related comment. I was very pleased to see Richard Sinclair feature on the list because I really enjoy his work, primarily, Hatfield and The North but also Camel and Caravan. What I'd like to say about him though is that I think he maybe doesn't get the credit he deserves for his singing. Next to Jon Anderson I'd say he probably has the purest, I think that's the word to describe it, voice in Prog/Rock/Jazz. Just a phenomenal singing voice.

Percy Jones is an astounding bass player. Every bit as good as Jaco

Excellent......luv that Mick Karn is up there........!!!!

Very surprised that I did'nt find Nick Beggs here! He is one of the greatest in my ears. Worked a lot with e.g. Steven Wilson.

A really excellent list from 1 to 9. I will have to listen to 10 now, to give him a chance.

I saw your Top 10 Progressive Albums, then Top 10 Progressive Drummers and then guitarist, and I hardily agree with most everything. But Let me say the inclusion of Francis Dunnery was a highlight and the way you have elevated my 2nd favorite group. UK. With Bill and Alan and John as you held up that Masterpiece. Fantastic. I had the great luck to see them in Philadelphia, WITH Alan and Bill, playing a few songs from the not yet recorded Danger Moey was a thrill. I can still hear Alan double the bass in Evrything She Needs. And then their was the blue spotlight reflecting from Eddie's Giolin back to the Audience. Perhaps my fondest concert memory. Of courese I was 16 yeasr old! I did see Terry Twice with them as well

As a prog fan, I am overjoyed to hear you welcome in Japan as prog.

Yes, I think John Wetton was very underrated as a bass player. Anyone who really listens to him can see he was a stellar bass player who never tooted his own horn about it.

I would also add Göran Lagerberg! (Who played with: Kebnekajse, Egba, Bo Hansson, Joakim Skogsberg and many more!)

Curious as to Greg Lake's standing here. I used to joke that he and John Wetton were twins from different mothers. Similar vocal character- similar careers- (even replaced each other in Crimson and Asia). Not to get morbid, but they even died of similar causes one month apart.

Plankton! You forgot Richard Sinclair was also in Camel and played a major part in developing their sound with Raindances and Summer lightening albums

A very good list! I am pleased (and surprised) to see Jack Bruce included here. Only, if Jack was considered, he would be No. 1 on my list. I would like to mention a few names I would put into my top 10 list: Sean Malone (Cynic, O.S.I., Gordian Knot), R.I.P., Joey Vera (Fates Warning, Chroma Key, O.S.I.), John Myung (Dream Theater) Pete Trewavas (Marillion, Transatlantic). Jack Bruce, Tony Levin, Chris Squire, John Wetton, Geddy Lee and Richard Sinclair (or Hugh Hopper) I would keep. :)

Chris Squire really deserves the first place! Percy Jones is my absolute favorite jazz-rock bass player (even slightly preceding Jaco) but indeed British jazz-rock is very proggy, so I agree to also put him on this list. By the same token, Gong's Hansford Rowe would fit the bill.

I would throw in the great Jannick Top.

Was thrilled to see Mick Karn so high! I only know him through his work with David Torn. He was amazing!

Great list, with my only gripe that Ged should be No 2 after Squire.

good list. I agree about Japan, I have always referred to Post-punk as Post-prog, it makes more sense to me.

Mike Rutherford should be on this list....he's certainly on mine.

Hugh Hopper on SoftbMachine 4 Virtually masterpiece

Excellent video Andy. Your number 10, I have just purchased a Frost album, mainly to check out your musical credentials and I'm looking forward now to listening to the bass. Richard Sinclair, great shout, when he joined Camel, he bought a more fluid jazz feel to replace Doug Ferguson's rooted rock style, I really like Rain Dances, it would be in my top five Camel albums. Chris Squire had to be number one, and just look at who you have put as number one in your various top tens: Bass: Chris Squire, drums: Bill Bruford and Guitar: Steve Howe, this proves what a genius and talented band Yes were , ( and I'm sure vocalists would be Jon Anderson).

If Mick Karn can be called a prog bassist then so can Jean-Jacques Burnel who had a very distinctive style - growling rock with a dash of deep pulsating dub.

I think Soft Machine is actually more of a jazz-fusion band than a prog rock band. They started as psychedelic but definitely became a lot more jazz-influenced.

Loving both prog rock and new wave, Mick Karn and Chris Squire are my favourite bass players - and I share Chris's birthday, too!

Hi Andy, Great list. Totally agree about Mick Karn! He never gets the accolades he deserves. Another overlooked prog bassist is Mike Sary from the band French TV. Cheers!

Squire is the compositional master of the bass. Just for one example hear how he controls the energy of South Side of the Sky, from yearning counterpoint to near metal, he made it prog, like you said. Recently returned from a deep dive in the Gates of Delirium and Squire was at an amazing bass compositional peak there. Again, the energy of that epic modulates through his concept. Listen again if you haven't in a while...

When i was little, I remember seeing a live concert video of Yes and thinking I had never seen anyone on that level, also seeing Widespread Panic, was an Oh shit moment.

Great list!

I'm in the camp of The Who being Prog curious. I agree with you on Quadrophenia and Tommy fullheartedly.

I like your style Andy and when I get bored, I usually end up watching one of your "10 Greatest" videos because I find them so entertaining. Glad you included Richard Sinclair because his bass is so lyrical and melodic. I love the whimsicality of Caravan and my favourite album is "If I could do it all over again..." which is also quite jazzy. Wasn't sure if would include Jack Bruce but Tales of Brave Ulysses is definitely prog. Good list and Chris Squire will always be number 1.

Sad to not see Jon Camp from Renaissance on this list. Such an underrated band with incredible musicianship.

This is probably the best top 10 prog bass list I've seen. Assume to see so many great players high up on the list that don't make the cut or are lower down on most of the other lists on RU-vid.

Japan is fantastic! Karn on " In Vogue"! What a bass line!

Good to see Wetton in there. He never seems to get enough credit as a bass player. Love Caravan, especially when the two Sinclairs were in the band. It's too bad Richard Sinclair's time in Camel wasn't longer. Percy Jones is a master. Oddly enough, he seemed to drop off the radar during the 80's and 90's (aside from the occasional Brand X reunion). Another vote for Jeff Berlin (ok, maybe more fusion than prog). Having said that, he too seemed to adopt a lower profile post-Bruford (and, I believe, post ABWH). I'm sure both these guys were working, but I sure didn't see it (but, then again, maybe that's on me).

It would have been worth mentioning Jonas Reingold if the personal list was longer.

Not even a peep about Greg Lake. Gotta admire your consistency. Great list!

MICK KHAN - TIN DRUM - Fantastic. Always thought of Japan as Art Rock .. but Proggy they are .. too.

It's a bit hard to argue with most of those choices, especially Mick Karn. But where is Lee Jackson; most people probably don't like his singing voice, but his bass playing is so prog it's off the charts. It's no accident that Yes played many gigs with The Nice, and you can hear some of Lee's stylings in Chris Squires playing and tone.

percy jones is something else!

Mont Campbell is one of my favs

Tin Drum is SUPERB .. I am with you all the way ..

Love the list great too see Percy and Mick get recognition. Interesting that no mention of John Myung of Dream Theater

I'll give a big thumbs up for Mick Karn (and _"Tin Drum",_ for that matter). 👍 👍 👍 And I certainly agree with having Chris Squire and Tony Levin in the top spots.

My 11 like in football.. in no order; Mike Rutherford, Chris Squire, Percy Jones, Mick Karn, Fernando Saunders, Doug Rauch, Patrick O'Hearn, John Wetton, Scott Thunes, Jack Bruce, Kasim Sulton

Oh, Andy, what have you done? Don't come begging for sympathy or understanding once Ray Shulman starts haunting you! You'll see: Things mysteriously not where you last left them; or disappearing altogether. His bass lines audible from a corner in the room whenever you are left alone in the house. The only way to remedy this is to make a 'Top Ten Prog Multi-instrumentalists of All Time' list and rate him right at the top, just above Ian McDonald. Otherwise, your life might turn into a musical Wuthering Heights with no one to blame but yourself! Cheers, matey. The list is great all the same although the order somewhat disputable.

Patrick Djivas of PFM deserves to be on this list. The dude is awesome.

Wetton's playing on "Viva! Roxy Music" was great!

I will mention one great bass player not mentioned in the list or comments and then I'll shut up: Phillippe Bussonnet of Magma is an absolute monster, especially live. His work, for example, for the recording Mythes Et Legendes, Vol. 3 on the songs Hhaï and Zombies is amazing.

Once again I believe you've hit the list and no arguments I kind of wish you would readdress or relook don't know that you've ever addressed this man but as a great innovative creative bass player I would have loved them have heard the name John Paul Jones mentioned honorably the man is greatly unspoken of and yet I don't believe Zeppelin would have been Zeppelin without him I feel like he's the rock they stood on

I gotta take Geddy Lee, sing , keyboards, pedals , and a master bassist

Oooo ….the first time I’ve found one of your vids that I couldn’t get pretty much 100% behind. I’m primarily a bass player, and it feels like you’ve committed that predictable fallacy that you, oddly recognise across other examples. Having yourself pushed up in the mix, and being busy using blues boxes and other predictable shapes doesn’t necessarily put you at the apex of Prog bass players,(does it ???), but I also recognise that it shouldn’t exclude you,(Paul McCartney hasn’t been , …. and shouldn’t be excluded), but it does seem it will give you unwarranted kudos. Rutherford has experimented with harmony, melody and rhythm in ways that many don’t touch. For me he’s No.1. Happy to get into detail with anyone up for it. (Equally happy to be persuaded otherwise… it’s all music, and all good).

Chris Squire. Absolutely.

I always thought Neil Murray played bass in National Health. Maybe I'm mistaken.

I've heard the bass player is the most important member of the band. I think that's true. Best prog bass player? -- Whoever's playing for King Crimson.

This is a great list. John Jowitt is criminally underrated. I’d add Pete Trewavas as honourable mention

Good educational entertainment. Like always.Thumbs up. Secret word for tonight is; Alex Dmochowski

I completely agree with #1 and am very happy to see Mick Karn get more notoriety. Here are some honorable mentions, Pete Trewavas and "Bootsy" Collins.

Good vid thanks though I am not a Yes lover. Listen to Ray Shulman's bass on Gentle Giant's "Advent of Panurge" - my number one.

Aaaaah the LP covers.

Chris Squire is special in so many ways. His counterpoint, his voice leading, his melodicism, his virtuosity, his originality. But he is a lousy soloist! (And he did a feature solo every concert). His genius is in the parts he created. Percy Jones is more Fusion than Prog but a great player. Tony Levin is terrific but doesn't have a "style" per se. Wetton is a good rock bassist who can cut the intricate parts, as was the case with Greg Lake, but Lake was also a great acoustic guitarist.

" I'm not a bass player,.. I'm a bass guitarist. " j.entwistle