Victor Wooten & Edgar Meyer Duet

On July 30, 1991, Victor Wooten joined Edgar Meyer and Ray Brown at the Bomhard Hall in Louisville, KY to film the PBS show Lonesome Pine Special.  The program was broadcast in November of '93. *

Here's Victor and Edgar defying science as they perform an acrobatic duet on one bass.

Duet #2 with Edgar on the upright and Victor on the electric bass guitar and silly hat, respectively.

Victor Wooten

Victor's a personal hero of mine.  I was a metal head in high school, until I saw this insane band (the Flecktones) on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" sometime in the 1998.  I couldn't find the exact date and don't remember which song they played.  Discovering the Flecktones really opened my eyes to new musical worlds: jazz, funk, improvisation, etc.  I became a certified Victa head.  I bought all his albums, 'Tones, solo, side projects, videos, books, anything with his name on it.  I've fallen off the boat in the last few years, but to say he's an influence is a criminal understatement.  I've had the pleasure of meeting him a couple times.  He's as approachable, humble, and nice as he is talented.

Me in my college days circa '99 and VW at the Georgia Theatre (Rebuild it!).

SMV - Live At Vitoria-Gasteiz Jazz Festival

This bootleg is posted on Progresivo Del Mundo.  Enjoy the Google translation (if you really like to jazz).  Download link after the jump.

Stanley Clarke has done everything from jazz to Return to Forever, Henderson, Getz or Silver to rock with Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood, rock through jazz with Jeff Beck and various movie soundtracks, like the rapper 'Boyz' N 'the Hood'.  The ultiinstrumentista Miller, meanwhile, has produced almost all their idols of soul and rhythm and blues, from Aretha Franklin to Tempations from Chaka Khan to Roberta Flack.  And, of course, his contribution to the final stage of Miles Davis.  Mike Stern, Chick Corea, Branford Marsalis, Dave Matthews, Bruce Hornsby, Prince and Gov't Mule are some of the musicians with whom he played, Victor Wooten, bassist known by many as next to Bela Fleck, but with much more to say.

Upright Bass Journal #2

Day 17.
I've been struggling with whether or not to get a teacher.  On one hand, between my books and Andrew Anderson's excellent videos, I have plenty of resources to get started.  On the other, after lurking on the talkbass forums, my concerns with going lonewolf are twofold.  Firstly, I might learn bad habits that would have to be corrected down the road.  The second is more serious.  Apparently bad form, technique, posture, etc. can potentially cause physical harm in the long-term. 

Jazz Sunday: Ray Brown Trio - Summertime

Francois Rabbath throws a bass out the window

This video I found over on doublebassblog is the saddest thing ever.  I've wanted a double bass for so very long, I can't imagine someone who's dedicated his life to pedagogy destroying one just for kicks instead of donating it to a student or school.  What a downer.

Slap Solo

This is the slap solo from the Dead Stick Landing song "Stillwater Frequency Project", with a coda tacked on.

Sneaky

I just discovered the classically trained UK bassist Sneaky.  He plays in the nu jazz/hip-hop outfit Fingathing.  Here he is laying down "Feel Like a King" off his solo album, dropping samples, and breaking out the bow, too.  Sick.

Cool Strings!

The frequency of the bass strings and high shutter speed of the camera lead to this surprising string-wobble footage.  There is no slowmo applied to the take.  Sound is original.  Video was filmed with a Canon 5D MarkII , Nikon 50mm lens on 1,8f.

stunning bass-string shot from urbanscreen on Vimeo.

Upright Bass Journal #1

Here's my new baby, a Florea Lupeni Pro 1/2.  Made of a solid carved Carpathian spruce top and laminated maple back and sides (fully-arched back), this bass includes an ebony fingerboard, nut, saddle, tailpiece and endpin.  I've had it all of 9 days now and love it.  Enormous thanks to Mom & Dad for the greatest gift ever!!!  Without further ado:

Jaco - The Chicken

Here's Jaco Pastorius getting funky on "The Chicken", from the end of his Modern Electric Bass video in a trio with John Scofield on guitar and Kenwood Dennard on the drums.  "The Chicken" was written by James Brown saxophonist Pee Wee Ellis.  This version is relaxed and loose, as the trio format allows the players to fill in spaces left by the others, and features solos from all 3 guys.  Missing is the huge "Soul Intro" Jaco incorporated into the song with his big bands.



Tabs and transcriptions can be found here and here.

Welcome

Thanks for visiting my blog!  I'm Greg, and this is my world of bass.  A little background is in order.  I've been playing the electric bass guitar for 17 years now, semi-professionally for about the last 10.  I've played live and recorded albums with various artists from Athens, GA including Mama Shug, Flat Broke & Busted, Patrick Connell Band (featuring world renowned violinist Dr. Andrej Kurti), Cyndi Harvell, drummer & beatboxer Bronkar Lee, and others.  I'm currently in the Atlanta band Dead Stick Landing.

(l to r): me, Skjold ProV5, Ibanez TR modified with EMGs and hipshot extender (my first bass), Yamaha classical, Fender Jazz fretless, Washburn Dreadnought, Ibanez acoustic.