Bass Player: Jimmy Haslip

Set up in 1977 as a band for a recording session with guitarist Robben Ford, The Yellowjackets have been in existence for over 40 years. Their fusion based ensemble sound has evolved as has the bands membership but the bass player most commonly associated with the band was JImmy Haslip who remained in the ‘Jackets’ bass chair from 1977 to 2012.

The transcriuption, ‘Sonja’s Sanfona’ appeared on the band’s fourth album, ‘Shades’ which was released in 1986. It features a bass/sax unison melody for much of the tune which takes the bass somewhere unusual. For those who are looking at the photograph and are thinking that there is something wrong, Haslip plays his six string basses left-handed and upside down so the low E is on the bottom of the neck and not the top as is usually the case. If it was good enough for Hendrix…..