5 Bass Albums That Changed my Life

Bass Players as Band Leaders Rule!

Here are 5 songs from albums by bass players who are recording artists and band leaders that changed my life in a huge way.

I want to offer you a look into the world of a handful of bass artists, all legends in their own right, who have specifically helped shape my music with theirs. Bass players who have it all. Melodic sensibility, harmonic richness, beauty in simplicity, and a leadership role from behind an electric or upright bass.

1. Hymn by Gary Willis from the No Sweat album (1997)

In the post-Jaco era of fretless bass, there are few voices as unique and inspiring as Gary Willis. This trio track with Dennis Chambers on drums and Scott Kinsey on piano is a beautiful example of how diverse the roll of the bass can be. From the emotive opening melody to the deep singing low notes of Gary’s comping behind Kinsey’s piano solo, this track alone taught me so much about range, and how to use simplicity with the entire neck of the bass.

2. What if I Forget Champagne from Stanley Clarke’s East River Drive (1993)

I think this might be some of Stanley’s most melodic playing, and definitely most beautiful writing from a melodic and harmonic standpoint. This track taught me so much about the way you orchestrate a piece of music and frame a soloist for the best possible outcome. Kenny Kirkland is the pianist, and I think I listened to this song 100’s of times before eventually transcribing Kenny’s solo, and then playing it for months on end. It’s not always the bass on a bass player’s album that is the most stand-out thing, and listening to this helped me become a band leader who thinks equally about the people I hire to make albums, and not just centering the music around the bass.

3. Quasimodo from John Patitucci’s One More Angel (1997)

The electric bass has a synergy with the tenor saxophone that I discovered very early on when it came to transcribing. I gravitated towards John Coltrane, Stan Getz, Dexter Gordon, Michael Brecker and eventually Chris Potter. You hear John and Chris phrasing together in this perfect marriage of range and and melody, something instantly recognizable within just a few notes. You know right away who is playing. I love that this song features both electric and upright, and that John isn’t afraid, in this very “jazz” setting with Paul Motian and Allan Pasqua, to overdub, to play an electric instrument, and to double the sax. The writing on this album is incredible, the playing speaks for itself, and it is just one of many moments of listening to John in my life that have had an impact so deep, I literally carry these sounds with me every day and use them to influence my playing and my writing on a very regular basis.

4. American Dreams from Charlie Haden’s American Dreams (2002)

   I was living in New York City when this album came out, and my head almost exploded when I saw the lineup. Michael Brecker, Brad Mehldau, Brian Blade, Charlie Haden AND strings?!?! As you can hear, it does not disappoint. The writing, the arranging, the interaction of the band, and the insane control over dynamics this ensemble has… All of this combines to be a huge learning point for me as a bass player band leader. I was struggling to come up with a concept for a debut album around the time this album was released, and was propelled into hugely productive periods of writing as a result of immersing myself in the music.

5. The Vision from Victor Wooten’s A Show of Hands (1996)

This was one of my earliest introductions to chords on the electric bass. It was like the next step from Portrait of Tracy, and closer to what I was going for with a fretted bass as opposed to Jaco’s fretless sound. The way the opening line ascends with a linear idea and then falls into a chord was a revelation to me as a 17 year old. I must have played that lick on every song of every gig I had for months on end after I heard it, and once I’d gotten over the literal lick, and understood the bigger concept that I could expand upon, it has remained with me for the past 30 years and comes out in my playing quite unexpectedly at times.

As with all the music I’ve shared with you today, I think “concept” is the word with the most importance. Whether it’s the form of a song, a chord shape, or an orchestration idea, it’s the concept behind whatever that thing is that is the longer lasting element when it comes to assimilating musical vocabulary.

Finding the thing I can adapt for myself rather than copying the exact phrase of an artist, has been one of the most important parts of my learning process for over 30 years, and maybe by listening to some of this music today you can start to hear things from a zoomed out perspective, and get way more out of the process for your own music.

More soon,

Janek

P.S. We do this very rarely, but this weekend there is a sale coming for the 4th of July holiday here in the US. Everything in my store will be discounted, and I’ll let you know more details in a few days!