Jeff Berlin – Bass ‘Hi, I’m Jeff Berlin’. Ol’ Jeff is something of an enigma. An absolutely monster player but someone who has not really had the best gigs in terms of his profile. I think his approach to playing requires a certain strength of purpose or focus on the part of potential bandleaders or…

Percy Jones – Bass Those were the days! A funky thing in 11:8 written by drummer Narada Michael Walden (Mahavishnu Orchestra) – there are a couple of 4:4 bars and a 9:8 just to screw with your head. A tip for reading this; count 1234 and then, double time, 123. 1-2-3-4-123, 1-2-3-4-123. Absolutely impossible to…

Gary Willis – Bass This was a very important album for me and I wore the vinyl out trying to figure this stuff out but, in those days, it was like pushing water uphill. With the technology available now, I have a much better chance of getting it but this one has a sneaky little…

Robert Leslie Hurst III – Bass Hurst played guitar early in his career before concentrating on bass. He worked with Out Of The Blue in 1985 and also did work with musicians such as Tony Williams, Mulgrew Miller, Harry Connick Jr., Geri Allen, Russell Malone and Steve Coleman. From 1986 to 1991 Hurst played in Wynton…

Mike Rutherford – Bass Michael John Cloete Crawford Rutherford (born 2 October 1950) is an English guitarist, bassist and songwriter, best known as co-founder, lead guitarist and bassist of the rock band Genesis. He and keyboardist Tony Banks are the group’s two continuous members. Everyone has their favourite Genesis period but, for me, the artistry of Rutherford…

John Patitucci – Bass The final piece from the 1997 Dave Grusin album, ‘West Side Story, this is called ‘Something’s Coming’ (I don’t know what it is but it’s going to be great).

John Patitucci – Bass Another great swing based tune from the 1997 Dave Grusin album, ‘West Side Story’, this is a tune called ‘The Jet Song’. Essentially a blues, the harmony moves in semitones and there are some great unison passages to work on your reading chops. There are also a few sections where you…

John Patitucci – Bass Another in the ‘West Side Story’ project, this is the complete Patitucci bass part for the ballad ‘Somewhere; I love the root movement on this. It’s such a simple thing but there is nothing like a simple root note on the one. It’s the meat and potatoes of what we do.…

John Patitucci – Bass Another from the Dave Grusin ‘West Side Story’ recording, this is the complete John Patitucci performance on the tune ‘One Hand, One Heart’. Not too difficult to read as the tempo is quite slow but the harmony moves in strange directions so watch the accidentals.

John Patitucci – Bass This is a great fun chart to read. Mostly swinging quarter notes, there are some interesting unison passages and a great bass solo to keep you interested. The solo is written down an octave to give you a chance but there are a couple of open strings (D and G) in…