Bass Player: Mark Hawkins Uk Prog rockers, Solstice, released their ‘Silent Dance’ album in 1984, right when Prog was pretty much as uncool as you could possibly get! Despite it’s critical unpopularity, there was a New Wave of British Prog around at the time and bands like Twelfth Night, Pallas, IQ, Pendragon and Solstice could…

Bass Player: Darryl Jones Darrryl Jones has an enviable pedigree and has performed with, amongst others, John Scofield, Miles Davis, Steps Ahead and Sting. Since 1993, Jones has been the bass player who has held everything down for The Rolling Stones. ‘The Munch’ is a very grounded player known for his groove rather than any…

Bass Player: Sting Known primarily for his role as frontman for post-Punk icons The Police, it is not widely known that, prior to his forming the band, Gordon Sumner was a double bass playing Jazzer. When The Police started to flounder, Sting put together a band featuring a selection of US Jazz players including Branford…

Bass Player: Jaco Pastorius The 1976 Joni Mitchell album ‘Hejira’ appeared at around the same time as the eponymous ‘Jaco’ LP and, given the nature of Mitchell’s audience when viewed against Jaco’s own, most people heard Jaco’s contributions to this album long before they heard his solo albums. The impact cannot be overstated and, for…

Bass Player: Jimmy Johnson Jimmy Johnson has a long career dating back to the 1970s which includes time spent with the Wayne Johnson Trio, James Taylor, Allan Holdsworth, Billy Childs and a host of other celebrated artists. One of the projects he was associated with was a band that featured Flim with two other musicians,…

Bass Player: Steve Rodby Massively under-rated, Steve Rodby played bass for the Pat Metheny Group for 23 years and produced many if not most if the band’s most successful albums. His bass playing is absolutely perfect for the Metheny ensemnble and Rodby has this knack of playing exactly the right part, no more and no…

Bass Player: Dylan Wilson Dylan Wilson has worked as a full time freelance bass player based in the Los Angeles area, and performing all around the globe, since the year 2000. He balances a wide breath of styles on both the upright and electric basses, is a top call for sessions and is regarded as…

Bass Player: No-one – it’s unplayable This piece is unquestionably the hardest piece of music I have ever tried (and failed) to perform. It is a solo bass piece written, ironically, by a Welsh pianist (and my first theory teacher) Joe Stuessy (from a small village called Nanty Fychlan, north of Cardiff). Joe was an…

Bass Player: John Giblin While best known as a London studio musician, recording film scores and contemporary music, Giblin has also performed live, and recorded with Peter Gabriel, John Martyn, Elkie Brooks, Annie Lennox, Phil Collins, pop-rock group Simple Minds and has been closely associated with artists, ranging from Kate Bush, David Sylvian, and Jon Anderson…

Bass Player: Jeff Andrews A highly underrated player, Jeff Andrews has performed with many of the greatest Jazz, Jazz-Rock and Fusion artists of his generation including Mike Stern, Michael Brecker and Steve Smith’s Vital Information. His soloing is comparable to many of the greatest legends of the instrument but his groove playing is second to…