Hello everyone! Apologies for there being no blog post last week but I'm back with another, this week looking at 10 of the greatest bass players of all time! For those of you that don't know, I don't just play and teach guitar but also bass! Bass was actually the first instrument I ever learned to play, shortly before I also picked up guitar, since then I have been very passionate about both instruments! So, in this blog I wanted to share some love for those who bring the low end, and do so very very well! Much like my previous posts, these players are included for a few reasons, from straight up skill to contributions to bass playing and music as a whole! So, without further ado and in no particular order, here are who I feel are 10 of the greatest bass players of all time!
Victor Wooten
Lets start with one of the most highly acclaimed bassists going! Victor Wooten is a Jazz and Funk bassist who has performed for decades with several groups and artists including: Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, Tommy Emmanuel and Cory Wong. He has won 5 Grammys, published two books and has been held in high esteem as a bass teacher via lessons and clinics. Wooten is best know for his use of chords, percussive playing and playing bass as it's own solo instrument, playing separate moving parts within one performance! Wooten is an absolute legend in bass guitar circles and it's not hard to see why!
John Deacon
Many will know John Deacon for his time as Queen's bass player and one of the four song writers that contributed to the band's incredible back catalogue of songs! These days at least, Deacon seems very under-rated as a bass player, possibly due to the simplistic nature of his best know bass lines from Another One Bites The Dust and Under Pressure, despite the fact that he was providing an essential hook for both songs, and in turn providing exactly what the song's needed. It doesn't take much digging to find how impressive his playing gets, with his bass solo on Dragon Attack or his beautiful counter melodies on Sail Away Sweet Sister, he has a lot more going on in his playing than many may think!
Les Claypool
Time for the eccentric musicians to ever grace the stage, Primus' own Les Claypool. Not everyone's taste musically due to his unusual singing style and even more unusual lyrics, it is undeniable that Les has done more for pushing bass playing as an art form than many other players. Notable techniques that he frequently incorporates include, percussive strumming, flamenco-esque strumming patterns, slap bass, two handed tapping and playing bass chords, interchanging between all of them within one line most of the time! One of his best known performances is Primus' song Jerry Was A Race Car Driver, in which he plays a six string fretless bass, while tapping, it boggles the mind how comfortable he must be with his instruments to perform that task so accurately!
Anna Sentina
Anna Sentina is the youngest and most recent rising start in this blog, best known as a performing bass covers on YouTube with great precision, as well as being a hired session musician for countless projects. What really stands out to me about Sentina's career is, as far as I can remember anyway, she was one of the first major musician YouTuber to gain notoriety and a strong following back when this was not really a thing at the beginning of the 2010s. This might not sound like a big deal to some, but YouTube has become one of the best places for musicians to make a name for themselves and Anna has been on top of that from the start, being a pioneer in a role that countless musicians desire nowadays.
James Jamerson
Now, we are in the presence of Motown royalty! For those unfamiliar James Jamerson was a prolific session bassist best known for his work in Motown. He performed with the like of Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Jackson Five, The Temptations, Diana Ross, The Supremes and The Funk Brothers to name but a few! This man brought the groove to some of the most danceable and timeless tracks in music history, with some of his discography including Ain't No Mountain High Enough by Marvin Gaye &Tammy Terrell, I Was Made To Love Her by Stevie Wonder and I Heard It Through The Grapevine, also by Marvin Gaye. Seriously, have a look at this man's back catalogue, you're mind will be blown!
Evan Brewer
Evan Brewer is best known in the metal scene, playing and working with bands such as The Faceless, Entheos, Animosity and most recently Fallujah. To all my non-metalhead friends out there, these are some of the most technically demanding metal bands of the past 20 years and he has worked with and recorded with all of them! Where Brewer stands out to me the most though is as a solo artist, previously releasing two solo albums the contain a great deal of musical dexterity, with techniques such as double hand tapping, double thumbing and slap bass all at high tempos! I have a great deal of admiration for Brewer's playing, so much so that I played his song Currency as part of my honours degree year recital and that was a challenge and a half!
John Myung
Let's keep it metal for this next one! Next up we have John Myung, best known for the bassist and a founding member of progressive metal titans Dream Theatre! Often not seen without his MusicMan Bongo 5 string bass, Myung is king of odd and unusual timing while keeping a strong and reliable foundation present in each and every song. He is best know for his rapid finger picking while incorporating techniques such as slap, tapping and harmonics. It is no wonder John Myung has reached the level of technical ability he has when you consider the fact that since his teens he has practiced 6 hours a day every day, that is dedication! Producer Kevin Shirley and keyboardist Derek Sherinian, have been noted saying that Myung is the only musician they know who "warms down" after a show.
Marcus Miller
Be careful around this legend, I am pretty sure he could break someone's neck with his slap bass thumb! Jokes aside, Marcus Miller is a multi-instrumentalist who works across many genres but is best know for playing bass on jazz and jazz fusion albums. Much like James Jamerson, Miller is also a session musician and band leader with credits on albums by artists such as; Miles Davis, Aretha Franklin and Grover Washington Jr.!
Aside from working with these great artists as a "side man" he has also lead 13 of his own solo albums too! His ferocious and rapid slap bass technique is of course what stand out the most to me and absolutely blew me away the first time I heard it!
Jaco Pastorius
Now, this man had to be on here, often referred to as the Hendrix of bass, but really is an icon all of his own, Jaco Pastorius was a rock star of the jazz and jazz fusion world, pushing the genre in new directions with his solo albums as well as in his work with jazz fusion band Weather Report. He had a sound totally his own, partially thanks to his iconic Bass of Doom, a Fender jazz bass that he removed the frets of by himself before coating the neck with epoxy resin to make it a fretless bass! Aside from a totally unique tone, his playing was blisteringly technical while being laced with catchy ear candy, from the harmonic beauty of Portrait of Tracy to intense speed of Teen Town, Pastorius achieved a remarkable amount in his 21 year career! Using many techniques over the years such as slap, harmonics and false harmonics alongside his incredibly dexterous finger picking, but with this said, he is equally beloved for his skills as a composer and song writer. A true legend for the ages!
Michael Manring
Last but by no means least, we have one of my personal all time favourites, Michael Manring! Manring is a experimental artist that doesn't lean in to any particular genre, often being referred to as a new age artist but is often associated with jazz fusion due to the genre's boundary pushing nature. The most striking part of Marning's playing, in my opinion at least, is the way in which he approaches the bass as a solo instrument, playing countless pieces with nothing but his bass with effects to create brilliant soundscapes. Moving beyond traditional playing, Michael Manring now frequently play with his Zon bass, a custom instrument that has levers on it's head stock which allows for pitch perfect re-tuning and de-tuning of the string to specific notes which he often uses regularly mid song to create ear catching tonal shifts. Couple this with that fact that his Zon bass is also fretless, one can only imagine how comfortable this man is with his instrument to play with such a virtuosic control despite it being such an unorthodox bass guitar.
And there we have it! 10 of who I feel are the greatest bass players of all time! From players of groove laden classics to modern virtuosos pushing the limits! Some honourable mentions include; Geddy Lee, Steve Harris, Paul McCartney, Cliff Burton, Flea, Carol Kaye, Lemmy, Geezer Butler and Thundercat to name but a few of the countless brilliant bringers of low end out there! I hope you have enjoyed this weeks blog post! Who are your favourite bassists? Are they on this list? If not, who are they? Let me know, I would love to hear what you think! In the meantime, play loud, stay safe and I will see you all soon!
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