Jorge Roeder – Bass An new name for me, Jorge Roeder is a Peruvian bass player and composer. He has performed and collaborated with many jazz artists including Gary Burton, Nels Cline, and John Zorn. As part of the Julian Lage Group, he received a 2010 Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Jazz Album, for Sounding Point. In 2020, Roeder…

Matt Brewer – Bass Born in Oklahoma City to a family of musicians, Brewer began as a 10-year-old prodigy, studying at the Interlochen Academy and later as part of the inaugural class at the Juilliard Jazz Program. He has recorded three albums as a leader for the Criss Cross label, including his 2019 trio album Ganymede,…

Richard Bona – Bass I missed this one completely when it came out but it found its way onto my Youtube feed somehow (a whole gig with the Mandekan Cubano band). It’s a great album and I have already done a couple off it but this tune appeared on my shuffling mp3 player and sounded…

Jay Anderson – Bass This looks a lot like the kind of head chart you would usually get on a gig. The bass part is repeated throughout with very little variation and there was not much with which to justify a ‘complete’ transcription.. This one is not too challenging to play once you get the…

Chris Squire – Bass One of my early heroes but I have never tried to play like him, even though I love the way his mind works. I am a big fan of Neo-Prog but the one thing about the genre that makes my s*** itch is the Squire soundalikes that infest the genre. Squire…

Steve Rodby – Bass I have loved this tune for so long that I was surprised that I had not done this transcription before. The tune is a collaboration between Pat Metheny and the groups then singer/multi-instrumentalist Pedro Anzar. The whole is so beautifully structured and the arrangement is absolutely inspired. Having listened to the…

Steve Rodby – Bass Potentially the most boring bass line in the history of modern music…. but it’s really not. It’s perfect. Rodby doing exactly what he does best. Not a note out of place, sitting perfectly in the arrangement/mix. One weird moment when he sounds like he is doing a double stop but I…

Jeff Berlin – Bass I started this one like a lamb to the slaughter – easy enough, I thought. And then, about two thirds of the way in, wham. Impossible to read and impossible to play (not really, but you get what I am saying). The tune ‘Melancho’ is the opening track from the 1987…

Jaco Pastorius – Bass I picked this album up during the Boer War, if I recall correctly, when I was a young man. It shows how much more Jaco was than a flash sideman with Weather Report. His vision was so profound and I often wonder, like Hendrix, Parker et al, what he would have…

Jaco Pastorius – Bass (and vocals) The Jaco Pastorius Big Band album, ‘Twins’ recorded in 1982 is one of those recordings where every second of the performance is bass heaven. It is a must listen recording for bass players and a wonderful introduction the Francis John Pastorius III, ‘the greatest bass player in the world’.…