Bass Player: Mike Rutherford A beautiful Tony Banks composition, ‘Evidence Of Autumn’ was originally released as the B-side to the single ‘Misunderstanding’. Some really interesting chord voicings in the introduction and the bass part is not particularly difficult but it is always interesting to hear how Rutherford orchestrates his bass parts and incorporates them within…

Bass Player: Bobby Sheehan Blues Traveler are a Rock band with a unique selling point in the form of singer/harmonica player/lyricist John Popper. As is often the case, however, stella frontmen can mask the strengths of the rest of the band and Bobby Sheehan suffered a little from that. His lines are certainly a little…

Bass Player: Jonas Hellborg An intriguing, if obscure, album, Jonas Hellborg’s ‘The Word’ features the Swedish bass player alongside drummer Tony Williams and the Soldier String Quartet. The transcription is of the opening track ‘Akasha’ which is only 54 seconds long. The pulse is very slow and has been interpreted as you see it here…

Bass Player (and composer): Jeff Berlin Jeff Berlin’s composition ‘Joe Frazier’ first appeared on the 1980 Bruford album ‘Gradually Going Tornado’. The main theme of the tune is a bass/piano unison head which places demands on the bass player that, in those days at least, were way out of the reach of the average bass…

Bass Player: John Patitucci When the Chick Corea Elektric Band’s eponymous debut was released in 1986 and brough the attention of the world to a new voice on the electric and double bass, Mr. John Patitucci. Patitucci blew everyone’s minds with his chops on the legendary ‘Go A Match’? but the tune that is transcribed…

Bass Player: Jeff Berlin Slight departure this time. The transcription is not the recorded/published version of ‘Joe Frazier Round Three’ but a transcription of the video Jeff posted on YouTube under the title ‘In The Studio With Jeff Berlin’. The section that has been transcribed starts 2:34 and features some great ‘out’ playing (where Jeff…

Bass Player: Anthony Jackson ‘Rhythmstick’ was a 1990 recording based around the genius of Dizzy Gillespie (he often carried a stick cover in metal bottle caps that he banged on the floort for counting purposes). The band is an ‘all-star’ line up that included people like Dizzy, Phil Woiods, Robben Ford, Airto and Flora Purim.…

Bass Player: John Giblin Another Brand X chart this one ‘And So To F’ from the 1979 album ‘Product’. It is a littel frustrating trying to trancribe Brand X charts as so much of Percy Jones’s bass playing is incredibly eclectic and unconventional. Fortunately, Giblin’s work is more conventional and his lines are a lot…

Bass Player: Steve Swallow This is a transcription of Steve Swallow’s beautiful solo over the Burt Bacharach tune ‘Alfie’ from the 2004 John Scofield Trio live CD ‘En Route’. It is a one chorus solo but it shows Swallow’s mastery of the concept of soloing in a Jazz context. You may have heard of the…

Bass Player: Doug Ferguson Doug Ferguson was the bass guitarist of the band Camel from September 20th 1971 to January 1977. Before he played with Camel, Doug played in a jazz orientated trio called The Brew, along with Camel members Andrew Latimer and Andy Ward. Doug Ferguson was the one who suggested Andy Ward should…