Eric Revis – Bass I saw this quartet at Ronnie Scotts in the early 2000s and what a roast. Nevertheless, there are so many examples in the band’s discography of exquisite ballad playing and there is so much to credit them for in their ‘slow grooves’. This tune is called ‘The Ruby And The Pearl’…

Jaco Pastorius – Bass I first heard this tune on the Jaco Pastorius ‘Modern Electric Bass’ video and looked at it at the time. I got the gist of it reasonably quickly and have played it a thousand times at gigs and jam sessions as a younger player but I consciously left it alone for…

Aston “Family Man” Barrett – Bass Aston Francis Barrett, (22 November 1946 – 3 February 2024), often called “Family Man” or “Fams” for short, was a Jamaican musician. He was best known as the bass-guitar bandleader of Bob Marley and The Wailers, as well as co-producer of the albums, and the man in charge of the overall…

Kiyoshi Kitagawa – Bass Kiyoshi Kitagawa (born December 5, 1958, in Osaka) is a Japanese-American jazz double-bassist. Kitagawa first played bass guitar, and was in a rock band as a high school student. He switched to double bass while a student at Kansei Gakuin Daigaku, and played in the 1980s with Sadayasu Fuji and Takashi Furuya. In October 1988, he immigrated to the…

Ron Carter – Bass Every time I try a Ron Carter part, I remember why I hardly every try Ron Carter parts. His intonation and phrasing are so idiosyncratic, I am never sure what is going on for more than a couple of bars at a time. This one starts with what my ears is…

Dave Holland – Bass Dave Holland has recorded this tune at least twice that I am aware of. I believe the original version was the one that appeared on the ‘Extensions’ album from 1989 (was it really that long ago – the album still sounds fresh today) whilst the later version appeared on the 2008…

Phil Lynott – Bass I vividly remember seeing Gary Moore ‘and Friends’ on The Old Grey Whistle Test performing ‘Back On The Streets’ and ‘Parisienne Walkways’ (both from the 1978 album, ‘Back On The Streets’) and loving every second of it (I would have been around 15 at the time). BOTS was probably one of…

Dave Holland – Bass I think this trio recorded three albums for ECM, the first in 1975 and the second two in 1985 (the two later albums were recorded at the same time even though they were released separately). The ‘Homecoming’ album (the blue one) was the more composed whilst the ‘In The Moment’ album…

Jorge Roeder – Bass A folksy little tune from Jorge Roeder’s 2020 solo bass album, El Suelo Meo’, this is the complete transcription of the Manuel Alejandro tune ‘Chabuca Limeña’ (I have no idea what it means and Google Translate doesn’t help). It’s not nearly as hard to play as it first sounds and the…

Aaron Bell – Bass Another from what is probably my favourite Ellington album, ‘And His Mother Called Him Bill’. The 1968 album is a recording made in tribute to the recently deceased Billy Strayhorn who has worked with Ellington for years. Strayhorn died of esophageal cancer in May, 1967, and Ellington was said to be…