Dave Holland – Bass One of the most remarkable thing about the great players (on all instruments) is how many of them continually reinvent themselves throughout their decades long careers. Everyone knows about the Miles Davis legends around the BeBop – Classic Quintets – Electric Miles sequence that suggested Miles was the progenitor of everything…

Unknown Session Guy (or Girl) – Bass Another one I heard on a one – off gig I did with Essex singer, Helen Abbey, one that I had not heard until I was in my late 50s. It’s an obscure Lennon and McCartney tune that the dynamic due wrote for Cilla Black in the 1960s.…

Bob Lang – Bass Yes, I know this has also been credited to at least three other bass players including John Paul Jones but, after 45 seconds of extensive research, I came to the conclusion that it was Lang. Please don’t fill my inbox with ‘no, it was….’ messages as I don’t really care. I…

Will Lee – Bass Another of the ever-striking Bob Mintzer Big Band charts, this one featuring the Will Lee bass part to ‘Truth Spoken Here’ from the 2015 live album, ‘Get Up’. This is an interesting chart and it does that simple thing that all the great players do which is to hold down a…

Reginald Veal – Bass I am really proud of this one but it comes with a health warning. This is my interpretation of the complete Reginald Veal bass performance of the Gershwin tune ‘Embraceable You’ recorded live at Dizzy’s Club in New York on December 27th 2013. The performance was captured on video so the…

Steve Coleman, Julian Priester and Kenny Wheeler This is a very short transcription of the three horn unison part in the closing 40 seconds or so of the tune ‘Celebration’ from the 1985 Dave Holland Quintet album, ‘Seeds Of Time’. I think this was my favourite quintet line-up in a string of favourites; Dave Holland,…

Kermit Driscoll – Bass I have always enjoyed Kermit Driscoll’s playing and had the pleasure of hearing him live when he appeared in the U.K. with the Frisell Trio playing the music to a three Buster Keaton films! I vividly remember how much his live sound sounded like his recorded sound. It still amazes me…

Jorge Roeder – Bass An new name for me, Jorge Roeder is a Peruvian bass player and composer. He has performed and collaborated with many jazz artists including Gary Burton, Nels Cline, and John Zorn. As part of the Julian Lage Group, he received a 2010 Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Jazz Album, for Sounding Point. In 2020, Roeder…

Matt Brewer – Bass Born in Oklahoma City to a family of musicians, Brewer began as a 10-year-old prodigy, studying at the Interlochen Academy and later as part of the inaugural class at the Juilliard Jazz Program. He has recorded three albums as a leader for the Criss Cross label, including his 2019 trio album Ganymede,…

Richard Bona – Bass I missed this one completely when it came out but it found its way onto my Youtube feed somehow (a whole gig with the Mandekan Cubano band). It’s a great album and I have already done a couple off it but this tune appeared on my shuffling mp3 player and sounded…