Mick Hutton – Bass Classically trained on the piano, Hutton taught himself to play the bass, developing his own technique using three basic positions with the left hand coupled with three fingers on the right hand. He has been well known on the British jazz scene since 1980 and has toured extensively in Europe, Scandinavia,…

Reginald Veal – Bass Another cut from the 1993 masterpiece from the Wynton Marsalis Septet, ‘Citi Movement (Griot New York)’, this track always stood out to me but I hadn’t heard it for a while. As soon as I heard it again, I remembered the thrill of those first bass notes at the start of…

Will Lee – Bass Bob Mintzer’s Big Band charts are great for reading practice; they are clear, concise and have a internal logic that makes it relatively easy for the bass player who is reading the dots to put together a solid performance. This tune is the closing cut on the 2015 live album, ‘Get…

Unknown – Bass Can’t find the bass player on this one (it does help that most of the websites referencing this band are in Portuguese). A request from one of the forums, a simple tune from Samba Reggae legends Olodum. Very simple part for beginner readers. This one is all about the groove.

Geddy Lee – Bass It’s been an age since I posted some Geddy but I have just finished his biography ‘My ‘Effin Life’ and it sent me to the records (many of which I bought as they were released). This was certainly one that I bought the day it came out although it didn’t really…

Sam Jones – Bass Sam Jones was born in Jacksonville, Florida, United States,[to a musical family. His father played piano and drums and his aunt played organ in church. In 1955, he moved to New York City and began his recording career with Tiny Bradshaw, before working with Bill Evans, Bobby Timmons, Les Jazz Modes, Kenny Dorham, Illinois Jacquet, Freddie Hubbard, Dizzy Gillespie (1958–59), and Thelonious Monk. He…

Luiz De Oliveira da Costa Maia – Bass I was asked to put this one together by a gentleman on one of the Facebook transcription forums. He was commenting on the presence of Brazilian tunes on this website. I am a massive fan of Brazilian stuff, having played a lot with a Brazilian singer/guitarist/composer who…

Carlos Henriquez – Bass I was not watching the Marsalis bands for a while as he kind of lost me when he started getting all ‘traddy’ before I was ready to let go of the really Modern stuff he had been playing up until the 90s but I have been rediscovering his more recent recordings…

Reginald Veal – Bass Fairly traditional fare, this time. There are a couple of Marsalis Christmas albums and this is from the 2009 album, ‘Christmas Jazz Jam’. It’s a classic ‘N’warlins’ feel, rooted in the Blues and there aren’t any bear traps in this one. This is just the kind of reading practice I wanted…

Reginald Veal – Bass I am sorry. I just can’t help myself. I have just got hold of a new double bass after four years without one and am enjoying the simple majesty of the instrument doing what it does best; swing. The simple beauty of the instrument’s tone, even in my clumsy hands does…