The BEST bass solo of all time

[Paul Lindemans (palembic)]

Hoi Rami,
 
now you see how bad my memory is.
I'm also a huge fan of  Donato and Caron but didn't know they worked together.
I heard Alain on his 6-string fretless playing work of Bach ....WEW!
I'm going to go out and see if I can find that album of Caron and Donato here.
Paul

[Paul Lindemans (palembic)]

EUREKA!
 
No -i didn't found the soapbar in the badthub like Archimedes did some thousand years ago :-)
I found the name of the Spyro Gyra bassplayer: I think it was David Wofford.
Huh???
 
Paul

[Paul Lindemans (palembic)]

HOP, me again,
 
I first learned about Alain Caron on the Bass-talk CD's. Do you have them on the other side of the pond? It's published by a German Bass Addict, every CD is a collection of different players just bass-solo's on different instruments and different styles.
BTW: do you know the guy Kai Eckhardt? He's a solo-player too.
It's maybe not very appropriate on this site but I give you the web adress of a German brand of basses Hotwire: www.hotwire-bass.de.  
You have to stroll through it, not necessarly for the guitars but because there are a lot of top-european bass-players demonstrating on that brand-name and you can download the mp3's. Kai is there too!
The guitars are nice Jazz-bass styled guitars (think Sadowski with some exotic wood twist). However they have a nice gimmick the Double-bass, a standard electric in 4-5 or 6 string, fretted or unfretted with acoustic resonance chambers in the body. Sounds great.
 
Maybe an idea for our club Mica: some MP3's we can download were we can hear players play the Alembics we love. I bet you have some clients who really can make those guitars sing. Imagine: we add an audiophonic attractiveness to this site. Something like the Sirens.
 
HAHA...can you imagine: until now all these Alembicians were only with their nose glued to to the screen, from than there will be trapped with their ears glued to the speakers LOL!
 
Bye
 
Paul

[Reinier Ringelink (reinier)]

To Wayne (and ya'll out there of course)
 
This may be old news to you but I thought I'd throw it in anyway: being a huge Flim Johnson fan ever since I was struck 22 years ago by the 1980 Wayne Johnson trio recording Arrowhead, I have been holding on to a copy of Flim's 1986 Guitar Player interview (it also provides some evidence of Flim probably being one of the 1st players ever to come up with the idea of a multistring bass guitar with a low B). In that interview he apologises for possibly misleading the listener re. the Fish Magic piece: contrary to what the liner notes on Neon state, Fish Magic was recorded in 2 takes, so he did use overdubs, be it only one... Flim comments (modest as he reportedly is): I've had guys calling me out of the blue, asking about it (.....) I had to do 2 takes. I'm good, but not THAT good.  
 
Just so you don't break your brains or fingers over this one. Hope it helps
 
By the way, on the actual subject of this thread: the best bass solo ever is on the Arrowhead album I mentioned (I'll post the track's name tonite). All the stuff on this album is free publicity for Alembic, given the room Flim got in this trio and the sounds he managed to conjure out of his fretted and fretless 5-str SII)! RR

[Steve Wood (s_wood)]

You're all wrong.
 
The best bass solo of all time is Spinal Tap's Big Bottom.  
 

[Steve Wood (s_wood)]

You're all wrong.
 
The best bass solo of all time is Spinal Tap's Big Bottom.  
 

[Reinier Ringelink (reinier)]

For those of you who have finished listening to Spinal Tap's Big Bottom ;-), the Flim Johnson solo I referred to earlier today is in the 2nd song on the album, Sanctuary (interesting to find out how many of you know / have the album?)
 
And for Wayne, I should get my facts straight: the interview was in Guitar Player's issue of May 1989, but can also be found in a book, compiling interviews with / biographies of great bass players (I believe it's called something like The Bass Book,  showing a.o. a 4-str SI on the cover). RR

[James L. Martin (malthumb)]

My favorite how'd he do that? solo is Victor Wooten's A Show OF Hands, but the one I just get soaked up into for it's musical content as well as virtuoso technique is Stanley Clarke's My Greatest Hits from the I Wanna Play For You double album.  An 8 - 10 minute trip through some of Stanley's hottest licks.  Just him and the drummer.  Absolutely amazing.

[Jerome Edwards (jerome)]

Granted all these guys are great bass soloist. But personally to me clarity and speed go a long way .Stanley Clarke I think has the fastest left hand . Extremly fast yet here every note clear.Check out School Daysor Journey to ForeverStanley Clarke Chic Korea and Billy Cobham

[Rami Sourour (rami)]

I admire Stanley Clarke. I respect Stanley Clarke. And I recognize and appreciate his talent and his contribution both to music in general and to the evolution of the Bass.   With that said, I'm not a big fan of Stanley Clarke's solos.  I find that while fast, they're rather blurry and mostly filler around his slapping.  How much of his School Days solo can you actually play back in your mind when you pick up your bass?  Listen to Jaco or Alain Caron and you'll hear singing and expression through the bass.  They don't focus on speed, but rather on complementing the song without totally crushing the musicians around them.  The speed evolves on its own.  I've seen Stanley Clarke live  - and he had to have another bass player onstage with him to play the bass part of the music!   While a true talent and Virtuoso,  his style doesn't reflect what I (personally) admire and strive for in bass playing.

[omega_heart81 (omega_heart81)]

I'm a biggest CLarke's fan, but I must admit that Marcus Miller, Wooten and Mark King are just amazing too... however I think Stanley's attitude to play solo bass is easy to understand... now he's a musician and a music composer first than a bass player. I hope you all know what I mean...

[James L. Martin (malthumb)]

Rami,
 
I know what you mean about Stanley usually having a second bassist on stage when he does a lot of his solo work.  Normally this is the case when he's playing in a tenor tuning or with a piccolo bass.  Then he needs to have another bassist to hold down the low end while he plays the high end of the register.  Victor Wooten does the same thing when he plays an ADGC tuning.  Usually Anthony Wellington is playing the low groove.

[Jerome Edwards (jerome)]

You know after I got my Mark King Sig Deluxe 5 string 4 weeks ago it made me check him out , And boy was I amazed  Mark King is so funky he made the hair on the back of my neck stand up . So now I got another slap hero.........

[Jerome Edwards (jerome)]

I know what you mean .Anyone here listen to Sade',Her bassist totally locks with the drummer and play the exact patern for 4 or 5 minutes and he don't move around at all. As bassist we somtimes play too agressive.You know side by side I listened to a Mark King slap solo then I listened to Victor Wooten slap solo .Mark King had no mistakes but Victor had lots of rythmic mistakes and pauses.

[Rami Sourour (rami)]

Hi Jerome,
 
I like Sade's bassist alot too.  His name is Paul Denman.  I always loved the way he locked down the groove with the drummer too.  I admire a bass player who plays all the bass.  Can hold down a groove with the drummer or rip out a blistering  sixteen - thirty second -(or as in Jaco's case) sixty fourth note solo.  Let's not forget that Jaco did what he did and sounded the way he did with one of the most basic and oldest of all tools - a Fender Jazz.  He said once in an interview that what he enjoyed most was playing with the drummer.  I believe that the bass player's role is to be the liason between the drummer and the rest of the band.  Sort of translator of rhythm to melody.  I also liked Paul Denman's sound too.  I believe he played a Stingray exclusively.  He never did any type of solo, but he was always there.