matthew wengerd|bassist

I love when someone has vision for a tired old song or two:

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I’m well aware of the excellent Rufus Reid interview videos at jazzdoublebass.com, but was not aware of last month’s article at allaboutjazz.com. Rufus is a giant among bass players. His book, “The Evolving Bassist” taught countless jazz bassists how to fulfill their role in an ensemble.

If you study consistently and are thorough, you should know when you are in control. All members in the group desire a positive, confident and consistent posture by the bassist. The desired musician has what everyone wants and needs to make the ensemble the best.

I’ve heard Rufus say it in person, and he repeats it here: The bassist has the power to destroy an otherwise excellent ensemble.

When one says they are a jazz bassist, it is assumed they know how to ‘swing’, can play the ‘blues and rhythm changes’, know numerous standards and jazz tunes, can play fast, can play in any key well, etc. Those attributes become crystal clear rather quickly if they are, in fact, under control. Your musical savvy is known immediately or not.

I’ve spent plenty of times fooling myself into thinking I possessed these qualities only to be called out for not having my “stuff” together. It’s humiliating and can be a real turning point is a musician’s career - it was in mine. I’m still working on getting it together and have appreciated direct help from Mr. Reid in doing so.

In the article, Reid outlines four important facets of effective jazz bass playing:

PULSE
SATISFY
CLARITY
RECALL

“The pulse is intangible to the touch but can be felt incredibly when executed properly.”

“When the bassist plays a song ‘a cappella’, one should be able to render the melody and harmony as suggested by the music. ”

“All bassists must be clear to one’s self before one can be truly clear to our listeners.”

“(It) is the player’s choice to respond or not, but actually hearing the event go by while you are doing what is expected of you is the important thing to establish a musical thread throughout the group.”

Please do youself a favor and read the whole article. In the meantime, I’ll include the www.jazzdoublebass.com videos here:

Several years ago, I was dropping my parents off for a cruise from Port Canaveral while a hurricane (I can never remember which one was which) was coming in on the West coast of Florida. They had perfectly calms seas while I went to sleep unsure that the roof would still be there in the morning.

Seeing this, I wouldn’t wish rough seas on anyone on a cruise. That looks plain-old scary.

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***offensive language ahead***

Loosely transcribed at AAJ:

”I don’t speak Italian, but I hope that somebody who speaks English tell those a**holes to shut off those f***ing cameras. Until you don’t do it, music won’t be at its best and you will have spent your money for nothing. I’m speaking to you, you, you, and you, and also you up there. If I see one single flash during the concert, I and Gary and Jack reserve to ourselves the right to stop playing and leave this goddamn city. It’s your privilege to be here, not mine”.

What is the performer’s relationship with the audience? Do musicians of a certain caliber possess the right to castigate their audience? Daniel Biro doesn’t think so and expressed his views here.

It’s amazing to think that audience members put up with this.

The following is probably one of my favorite jazz bass Youtube finds. It’s a nine-part feature of a Ray Brown masterclass with English students. It has a watermark in the top left corner, some credits at the end, and is dubbed in French. The cuts appear to consider only filesize, as no effort appears to be made to create cuts that fit the flow of the video.

All that said, there are so many jewels from Brown in this video. Even without the lecture portion, this video is an education in jazz bass. Brown’s wit and charm allow him to lay down the law with his charges while maintaining a light, friendly discourse.

Do yourself a favor and stop to watch them all right now:

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VII:

IIX:

IX:

There’s a discussion about it at Talkbass in this thread.

Jeff Berlin has a tendency to cause quite a stir. He has very strong, sometimes controversial opinions about music instruction and the learning process. He has written for Bass Player magazine and founded the Players School of Music.

This video is a hilarious testament to his musicianship. There are plenty of bass players who can’t sing the National Anthem and play it simultaneously. Ever fewer can shift the lyrics one syllable:

In high school, they all used to laugh at me because I dug this instrument. The theremin is one of my all time favorite sounds, coming in right behind that of my own instrument. www.clickforlessons.com had a link to this video on their blog. I now feel slightly vindicated:

Reneaud Garcia-Fons is a bassist every bassist should know. I was hipped to him by my very first double bass teacher (a classmate of mine who had barely studied the instrument himself) and, like my first exposure to Victor, Edgar, Jaco, I could not even be sure I knew what it was I was hearing.

Garcia-Fons’ technique stretches the concept of the double bass to its boundaries. His extensive use of his high C-string and extended techniques elicit unexpected timbres from what, for all intents and purposes, is a clumsy, cumbersome instrument. Renaud recently released a DVD (from which this video is culled) and it is worth the cost to obtain.

David Howells posted a review of the Arcoluz package at Amazon.com that reads as follows:

J. Hellborg, G. Willis, S. Clarke, D. Holland et al could not begin to dream where Renaud Garcia-Fons journeys on his 5 string double-bass. He is quite easily the greatest bass player of them all and this breath-taking CD (and DVD) is a living testament to his out of this world skills. His bowing technique alone is both bewildering and awesome. The sounds and speeds he gets in the higher register are like those of a maestro violinist and the arrangements are a joy. If you don’t believe me, buy this CD/DVD. The 85 minute DVD alone is worth the asking price (and more!). If you are a bass player, please ensure have a loved one close by to console you. If you want (need) to listen to Renaud in a larger group setting, get hold of a copy of Oriental Bass. Oh, and the guitarist and percussionist are also wonders to behold. PS: If you’re of the opinion that Jaco was the greatest bassist of all time, think again!

The modern American church does a poor job of conveying what Jesus taught and who he was. These videos, known to me as “the Jesus videos,” are a satirical look at the concept of Jesus that many people have today. It’s meant to be funny, feel free to laugh.