Bass Player: John Mole

Another tune from the 1978 Gary Moore album, ‘Back On The Streets’. Prior to his untimely death, Moore was generally best known for his solo work in the Rock and Blues fields and for his stint with Irish Rockers Thin Lizzy. Moore did, however, have a brief career as a Jazz-Rock legend with drummer Jon Hiseman’s ‘Colosseum II’. Moore recorded three albums with the band including ‘Wardance’, ‘Electric Savage’ and ‘Strange New Flesh’. When he recorded his first solo album, Moore wanted to feature the full range of his abilities and, alongside the the blues ballad version of ‘Don’t Believe A Word’, the proto-metal ‘Fanatical Fascists’ and Moore’s biggest hit ‘Parisienne Walkways’, the album featured three tunes that would have sounded perfectly at home on a Colosseum recording. The tunes were ‘Song For Donna’, ‘What Would You Rather Bee Or A Wasp’ and the attached transcription, ‘Flight Of The Snow Moose’.

John Mole was the glue that held these tunes together. No known as a soloist, his meaty bass parts are nevertheless fleet of foot and there are unison passages where there are undoubtedly some admirable chops on show. In terms of reading, the chart is written in 6:8 which is a time signature that requires a different perspective from the reader.