Bass Player: Paul Chambers Another one from Mr. P.C. From the 1958 LP from pianist Sonny Clark, this is Paul Chambers’s bass solo from the title track ‘Cool Struttin”. The band also features Art Farmer (trumpet), Jackie McLean (alto) and Philly Joe Jones on drums. The solo is brief but satisfying and is not overly…

Bass Player: John Patitucci From his 1995 solo album ‘Mistura Fina’, the tune ‘Long Story’ is a solo feature for double bass. Some interesting double stops and bluesy phrasing. A tough one to play cold but time spent with the transcription will give you an impressive party piece for life and something special to play…

Bass Player: Chuck Rainey Steely Dan started off as a band but songwriters Donald Fagan and Walter Becker quickly learned that they could get better results if they relied upon session musicians. The list of bass players they worked with throughout their existence was incredible but one of the mainstays was Chuck Rainey. As Walter…

Bass Player: Paul Chambers Miles Davis and Gil Evans recorded a number of iconic albums during their time together and Paul Chambers was the bass player on all of themn including ‘Sketches of Spain’, ‘Miles Ahead’, ‘Quite Nights’ and ‘Porgy And Bess’. This transcription is a brief sequence from ‘The Buzzard Song’ from ‘Porgy And…

Bass Player: Henri Texier From the CD ‘Suite Africane’, the tune ‘Soweto Sorrow’ features a trio of Texier, Louis Sclavis (bass clarinet) and Aldo Romano (drums). A beautiful and doleful melody is underpinned by the simplest of drum parts and the deep, warm sound of Texier’s bass. A relatively easy chart to read but a…

Bass Player: John Patitucci When Manhattan Transfer recorded their ‘Vocalese’ album in 1986, they based a number of arrangements of classic Jazz performances from the history of the music including this Clifford Brown tune, ‘Joy Spring’. The recording includes a number of tracks featuring the Count Basie Big Band as well as members of the…

Bass Player: Dave Holland From the 1998 album, ‘Points Of View’, this is a full transcription of the tune ‘Serenade’, a Steve Nelson tune which features his wonderful marimba playing. The transcription includes Holland’s exquisite solo; all space and tone rather than chops. As with all Holland recordings, no YouTube video is available so, if…

Bass Player: Scott LaFaro The piano trio remains something of a special type of ensemble in Jazz and there are a number of trios that are celebrated; Keith Jarrett, Brad Mehldau etc but the trio vehicle really expanded when pianist Bill Evans joined drummer Paul Motian and double bass virtuoso Scott LaFaro in a legendary…

Bass Player: Ken ‘Spider’ Sinneave Kim Mitchell was the brains behind Canadian rockers Max Webster. HIs solo albums continue with the ‘left field’ approach to Rock music with some incredibly challenging compositions and ‘out there’ lyrical content; think Zappa meets Rush. Featured on the album ‘Itch’, the tune ‘Lemon Wedge’ is based on an incredibly…

Bass Player: Paul Chambers Having written a biography on Paul Chambers and researched his extensive discography, it is always important to try to establish which sessions a tune was recorded on based on dates rather than the apparent ‘leader’ on any record, CD or download. ‘John Paul Jones’ has appeared on recordings reportedly led by…