Bass Player: Dill Katz

UK bass legend Dill Katz is one of the most experienced players on the scene today, having pioneered the use of the fretless bass in the mid-sixties. Yes, that is before Jaco. His work includes stints with Ian Carr’s “Nucleus”, Barbara Thompson’s band “Paraphernalia” and Afro/Jazz band “District Six”. 

The transcription is a tune written by Barbara Thompson for her daughter and opens with a delicious fretless melody. The whole tune is very accessible and an interesting read. The ‘big’ chorus at the end of each cycle of the sequence features a lot of octave playing with big notes held over previous big notes. The chorus effect Katz gets using this technique is, as they say in Bilbo’s native Wales, ‘lush’.