Marc Johnson – Bass I have been a fan of Marc Johnson since I bought his ‘Bass Desires’ album the year it came out in1986. It is still one of my favourite records and has been subjected to repeat listening for nearly 40 years but the bass parts have always been difficult to pick out…

Charlie Haden – Bass Another ballad featuring Haden, this one from the 2001 Michael Brecker album, ‘Nearness Of You – The Ballad Book’. The tune features it’s composer, James Taylor, on vocals and the band is Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny and Jack DeJohnette but there are no unnecessary chops on display here – these guys…

Charlie Haden – Bass One of the most musical players in the Jazz canon, Haden was one of those guys who played with everyone. One of the people he hardly played with (I can only find two tracks) was Al DiMeola and, given the nature of most of DiMeola’s music, that is probably not surprising…

Danny Sapko – Behs Well, you can’t really ignore him, can you. Legend!

Anthony Jackson – Bass From the 1994 Michel Camilo Big Band recording, this is AJ’s bass part to the opening tune ‘One More Once’, which was also the title of the album itself. A basic 12-bar with a kind of Rock ‘n’ Roll feel, there are some tasty Jackson fills in there (written, I reckon,…

Dave Holland – Bass I have spent a long time listening to and transcribing Dave Holland’s bass parts and solos and he has long been one of those players who I can recognise pretty much instantly. This part and solo is so characteristic of his playing. The composition, by guitarist Kevin Eubanks, is the perfect…

Arthur Maia – Bass Arthur Maia (9 April 1962 – 15 December 2018) was a Brazilian composer and musician. Maia played with musicians such as Djavan, Gilberto Gil, Marisa Monte, Lulu Santos and Ney Matogrosso. His compositions usually present a fusion of Jazz, Funk, Swing and Reggae. When I got into Brazilian music, he was everywhere…

Robbie Shakespeare – Bass Robert Warren Dale Shakespeare (27 September 1953 – 8 December 2021) was a Jamaican bass guitarist and record producer, best known as half of the Reggae rhythm section and production duo Sly and Robbie, with drummer Sly Dunbar. Regarded as one of the most influential reggae bassists, Shakespeare was also known for his…

Matt Penman – Bass Originally from New Zealand, Matt Penman moved to the U.S in 1994 to attend Berklee College of Music, and in 1995 to New York, where he maintains an international performing, recording and teaching schedule as one of jazz music’s most in-demand bassists. He is an established member of the SFJazz Collective,…

Tim Esau – Bass Something from another of those wonderful Neo-Prog bands from the 1980s that are still going, this is the Tim Esau bass part top the tune ‘1312 Overture’ from the 2014 IQ album, ‘The Road Of Bones’. It isn’t in 13:12 but there alternating 6:8 and 7:8 bars which comes to 13:8…