Steve Rodby – Bass

Steve Rodby has been the Pat Metheny Group’s bass player from 1982 until Lyle Mays death put and end to the band. He has worked with Metheny since then though and is likely to continue to do so until one of the falls off the perch. Rodby has played with a host of other people and has also produced or co-produced many of the recordings that Metheny has made, making him one of the most Grammy Award winning record producers and bassists in the history of the Awards (he has won 11 Grammys).

Rodby is one of these guys that musicians love has he finds his place in the ensemble and stays there, using his tone and note choices to make his presence felt rather than his chops. Don’t let that fool you, though. This man can play and there are many examples in the Metheny canon where Rodby has shown his mettle.

This is not one of them! Actually, this is a perfect example of Rodby’s musicality and tone. The chart is simple in terms of note recognition but the push and pull of the phrasing means that there are sections where it is impossible to count the bars and you have to just listen and ‘know’ the tune to hear when to play the next note. A very different kind of challenge.