acoustic bassists
 

I love the rich sound of the bass in jazz music. I am looking for suggestions of great jazz bassists to look for. Anyone out there know of musicians I should check out?

Rather than assault you with an exhaustive list of great acoustic jazz bassists, which would be very long indeed, I'm going to suggest that you start with two albums that offer the sound you dig. Both are under the leadership of the great pianist Bill Evans, but prominently feature remarkable acoustic bass work:

Bill Evans - [i]Sunday at the Village Vanguard[/i] - showcasing the late, great bassist Scot LaFaro

Bill Evans and Eddie Gomez - [i]Intuition[/i] - an album of piano/bass duets; Gomez is one of the very great acoustic bass players in jazz.

Almost anything with Paul Chambers, Charles Mingus, Ray Brown or Buster Williams, for starters!

Hello deem.

One I would recommend is [B]Star[/B] on ECM label by Miroslav Vitous, Jan Garbarek and Peter Erskine.

The trio format exposes Vitous' bass vividly (as does the sound recording) and all of the compositions are bouyant and played with virtousity and feeling. You also have the bonus of hearing one of the most direct and appealing drummers in the genre (Erskine) and Garbarek playing his backside off on what many thought was his last 'jazz' album for many years.

Hope you enjoy.

cheers, tonym

AND, of course, as Valerie mentioned, Paul Chambers on [B]Kind of Blue[/B] . Easy to forget that this guy makes this album in many ways, those ostinati and that thick, rich tone.
Briliant.

Perhaps lesser known, but very much a giant in "bass-land" would be Andy Simpkins. Andy was 1/3 of The Three Sounds. Andy can be found as a sideman on many recordings. His CD, "Comin' At Ya" is still available. A wonderful example of Andy's playing can be found on Sarah Vaughan's recording, "Crazy and Mixed Up." His solo on the tune, In Love In Vain, is an all time favorite of mine.

Marla

Be sure to check out Oscar Pettiford, one of the first of the modern jazz bassists and a monster musician. His Bethlehem album, variously titles "Oscar Pettiford" "The Finest" or "Another One" (all the same album in various guises) is one of my favorites, with a fine recording of one of his signature tunes "Bohemia After Dark". "Deep Passion" now out of print I think, is another excellent starting place.

For the sake of perspective, and some fine bass playing, go back to the father of the modern bass. Listen to Jimmy Blanton with the 1940 Duke Ellington Orchestra. Among several fine sides, such as "Jack the Bear", Duke, with Blanton, cut four piano-bass duets for RCA that are musts for anyone interested in Jazz bass.

[quote]Almost anything with Paul Chambers, Charles Mingus, Ray Brown or Buster Williams, for starters![/quote]

Charlie Haden is a living legend. Check him out on Ornette Coleman's The Shape of Jazz to Come and Change of the Century. Ditto Ron Carter. Check him out on Miles Davis's E.S.P. or Miles Smiles, McCoy Tyner's The Real McCoy, and Herbie Hancock's Empyrean Isles.

I second (or third!) the recommendations for Paul Chambers, but beware when he switches to arco (bowed) playing. He has one of the worst string tones I've ever heard; it often makes me cringe.

Here are a few albums where the acoustic bass is very prominent, interesting, and well recorded:

David Izenzon on Ornette Coleman's At the "Golden Circle" Stockholm, vols. 1 and 2

Reid Anderson on The Bad Plus's These are the Vistas

Kjell Jansson on the Mount Everest Trio's Waves from Albert Ayler

Ronnie Boykins on Sun Ra's Visits Planet Earth/Interstellar Low Ways (double album on Evidence)

Robert Hurst Presents Robert Hurst

Peter Kowald and Buschi Niebergall on Peter Brötzmann's Machine Gun

Art Davis and Reggie Workman on John Coltrane's Ole Coltrane.

From this side of the pond you definitely should check out the great Dane; Niels Henning Ørsted Pedersen, and also Renaud Garcia Fons who plays both pizzicato and arco like a dream.

Here's a list of some of my favorite bassplayers (some have been mentioned):

Dave Holland
Christian McBride
Paul Chambers (Mr. PC)
Charles Mingus
Larry Grenadier
Avishai Cohen
Ray Brown
Ron Carter
Reginald Veil
Charlie Hayden
Jimmy Garrison
Gary Peacock
Oscar Pettiford
Niels Henning Ørsted Pedersen
John Clayton
John Patitucci
Marc Johnson
Lonnie Plaxico
Hein Van de Geyn
Philippe Aerts
Stanley Clarcke
Scott La Faro
Reggie Workman
Steve Davis
Scott Colley
Eddie Gomez

Enjoy
:D

KN

William Parker.
He has the added advantage of being alive and (very) active !

A wonderful bassist probably unknown beyond the UK yet heard by everyone in the UK who has been to more than a few jazz concerts.

Dave Green!

Same era as Dave Holland but Green stayed home. Plays in every style from accompanying singers, those mainstream Zephyr recordings right through to more abstract music. His most recent recording - Time Will Tell - is a marvellous sax/bass/drums disc at the more adventurous end of the music.

Roy Babbington is another marvellous player.

And then there's Barry Guy - not just a great player but a marvellous composer and setter-up-of-interesting-interactions. The London Jazz Composer Orchestra recordings are one of my current enthusiasms.

Another marvellous 'free' bass player from these isles - Paul Rogers. Hear him with Keith Tippett in Mujician.

all top men Bev, what was the name of the guy who used to play in Ronnie Scotts band (Mathewson?) he was excellent too.

Ron Mathewson. Marvellous acoustic and electric bass player. Sadly disappeared from the scene, I believe through ill health.

Ronnie Scott's 'Serious Gold' - the most criminally MIA record of all to my mind - has him in stunning form.