Jimmy Smith remembered

[David Houck]

Lee Michaels' Do You Know What I Mean is a great tune!  We had that album when it came out.  
 
Stevie Wonder does indeed have lots of great keyboard bass lines, but I always figured that he recorded them separately; in other words, I'm guessing he laid down the bass track and then recorded his other keyboard tracks.  In fact, I'm thinking that some of Wonder's keyboard bass parts are two handed.  What I'm referring to, as a generalization, is keyboard players who are playing a bass line in their left hand while soloing with their right hand in a live situation.  And as much as I admire Steve Winwood (and I was a big fan of Spencer Davis, Traffic, and Blind Faith), I don't think Winwood's left hand is locking up and grooving with the drummer while his right hand is soloing the way a bass player would be locking up and grooving with the drummer while Winwood is soloing.  But that's just my opinion from watching the recent video on TV.  And I can certainly see where others would find that it works well.  I'm not a keyboard player and I could be completely wrong about this, but it seems to me that a keyboard player is more likely to lock his left hand in to what his right hand is doing rather than lock his left hand in to the kick drum.
 
(Message edited by davehouck on February 18, 2005)

[dadabass2001]

For another take on keyboard bass lines, listen to Chick Coreas Leprechaun or My Spanish Heart, a two disc LP from the post Romantic Warrior period. He does several styles and instruments, but on Love Castle, Night Streets and El Bozo, Chick does some very tasty and grooving lines (DUH!). Of course he also plays with Anthony Jackson (Nightsprite on Leprechaun), Steve Gadd, and Stanley on other tracks, so perhaps he wrote the parts (maybe even the drum parts). Chick is a master of blending tightly scripted sections with solo spaces and giving everyone that same consideration(expectations and rewards).
 
(steps down from the soapbox and shuffles away)
Mike

[David Houck]

I'm a big Chick Corea fan (I'm always trying to get Spain into the set list).  And I do have My Spanish Heart; in fact it is so special to me that I rarely play it just to keep it from getting too familiar.