Double Bass Show me a better arco solo in a jazz record. I bet you you can't.

#13
I'm not a DB player, but I imagine that the great players who have superb arco intonation would struggle to listen to parts of the Kamasi piece.

There are a lot of great Paul Chambers arco examples that people may come along and refer to.

I'll add a piece from the late great bassist Terry Plumeri, who probably played more arco than pizz. I was lucky to live close to the DC area when he was at the height of his presence there in the 70's. His group Evolution was a quartet: two basses, piano and drums. He hired an electric bassist to hold down the bottom while he bowed over the top. He was the lead instrument in that group.

The hornlike line you hear right from the start is his arco bass. And as you can hear later in the tune, he could also crank out a serious walking line. You have to make some allowances for the technology of the time period. Upright pickups and amplification were in their infancy at the time, which is reflected in some of the timbral quality, such as the lack of definition when he's walking.

Keep in mind that he's multi-tracking his arco bass to get the bee swarm sound, sometimes keeping the intonation tight and sometimes purposely letting one of the tracks drift a bit out of tune. And he's sharing the head with Rhodes and guitar.

 
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#14
Low Main said:
I'm not a DB player, but I imagine that the great players who have superb arco intonation would struggle to listen to parts of the Kamasi piece.

There are a lot of great Paul Chambers arco examples that people may come along and refer to.

I'll add a piece from the late great bassist Terry Plumeri, who probably played more arco than pizz. I was lucky to live close to the DC area when he was at the height of his presence there in the 70's. His group Evolution was a quartet: two basses, piano and drums. He hired an electric bassist to hold down the bottom while he bowed over the top. He was the lead instrument in that group.

The hornlike line you hear right from the start is his arco bass. And as you can hear later in the tune, he could also crank out a serious walking line. You have to make some allowances for the technology of the time period. Upright pickups and amplification were in their infancy at the time, which is reflected in some of the timbral quality, such as the lack of definition when he's walking.

Keep in mind that he's multi-tracking his arco bass to get the bee swarm sound, sometimes keeping the intonation tight and sometimes purposely letting one of the tracks drift a bit out of tune. And he's sharing the head with Rhodes and guitar.

Click to expand...

Did you get to hear him with Roberta Flack?

I love that he did the fusion thing but love this trio.



My personal favorite for how relentlessly over the top and swinging it is.
 
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#19
As an electric bass player, I have long been in awe of double bassists playing arco. When I tried it, long ago, I discovered that errors of intonation are magnified 1000X with the bow. I do play fretless now but I get away with murder intonation-wise.

I had the privilege of working with Scott Pingel for the last several years. He is Principal Bass for the San Francisco Symphony and a great guy. This piece is not jazz, but it is one of the most dramatic arco bass solos I’ve ever heard. I hope you enjoy it!

 
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