Anthony Jackson – Bass

I have been spending a little time with my seven-string bass lately and trying to get my head around reading on an extended range bass. Where else would you go but to Anthony Jackson. I have not got into the Hiromi trio much because, whilst I find some of her stuff great, a lot of it is a bit cheesy and sounds like a watered down Michel Camilo trio but, to be fair, that is like not liking a banana because it isn’t an apple so I have been having a listen. There are a lot of heavy time signatures in her compositions and that can sometimes work incredibly well or be a bit contrived. I am also not entirely convinced that Jackson and Simon Phillips are sympathetic (try Jackson and Hernandez or Weckl, for instance). Nevertheless, there is some monster playing on these records so who the hell do I think I am with all my prejudices?

This is the complete Anthony Jackson bass part for the tune ‘Dreamer’ from the 2014 Hiromi Trio Project album ‘Alive’. There are some passages I am not entirely sure about (usually when Jackson goes down the the low B string) but this will get you thinking. The whole tune is in 7:8, 6:8, 3:4 and a couple of odd bars of 5:8 which plays havoc with the ties on Sibelius! Once you get the hang of that (1212123, 1212123), it eventually falls into place). Good luck.