- Note: This one really slipped under the radar in terms of edits. For those who read this article shortly after it dropped last week, I apologize. This piece was not ready to drop. It has since had a more thorough read-through and obvious mistakes have been changed and corrected. I apologize for the errors.
- Geddy Lee…
- Jack Bruce…
- Steve harris…
- Cliff Burton…
- James Jamerson…I can go on and on listing off names of bass players who helped shape the face of the instrument and effectively make it possible for people to say I play bass and damnit I’m proud! We each have own own heroes of the instrument, the ones that first inspired us to play, to put in the extra hours of practice and to dream big as a kid about the chance to play for an amphitheater of screaming fans.
Theres a list of about 15-20 bass players, some that were mentioned above, that I like to think of as the “sacred cows” of bass guitar: they can only do right and to criticize or speak poorly of them is sacrilege. These are the players that have been so scrutinized, analyzed, adored, loved, hated at times but oh so relatable. And rightfully so – they shaped entire generations of players and continue to inspire even to this day.
But amidst the fevered fan debates of what Geddy Lee’s top 10 licks were, how Flea isn’t as exciting to hear anymore, what Jamerson would have been like of he were alive today, the thought always enters my head when i read these debates: are there new sacred cows? Is there room for new players out there? Are there even new players out there that are at the level that these players mentioned above are at?
I was born at the very early part of the 1990s and didn’t become musically conscious of my tastes until the early 2000, so i never grew up seeing so many of these figures come up in their prime. I never got to see Moving Pictures drop, or the Freaky Styley tour, or see Les Claypool play my name is mud for the first time at a seminal 90s concert festival like Lollapalooza or Cochella. Frankly, my development as a bass player came from looking BACKWARDS at the successes of these players and the enormous bodies of work they had put out in their prime.
Not that this is a bad thing – far from it – but my question still lingers: are newer bassists out there worth paying attention to? Or did talent seem to peter out after the 1990s with players like Flea, Les Claypool, Billy Gould from Faith no More and others?
Maybe its a generational thing. The time i had without the internet is negligible in my lifetime. My musically conscious time ran congruent with the internet becoming more than a privilege for computer scientists, businesses and doctors. The internet opened up the world and gave me more of an opportunity to explore and find some great new talent to learn from. I felt like the sacred cows had given me a great foundation, but it was time to expand my palette and learn from others.
I wrote a post a while back about, in my opinion, a handful of modern bass players better representing a younger generation – and doing some phenomenal work in the process. The people on this list excludes solo bass players and prominent jazz figures like Richard Bona and Matt Garrison and focuses on those that are in bands or ensembles. Bassists who had something really special and impeccable about their playing, sound and technique that a comment needed to be made.
That post is what I’m talking about. Finding those new sacred cows of the instrument- breaking outside of the box of glorifying the ground these 15 exceptional players walk on and the body of work they did for moment to walk out and discover something new that is going on right under our noses.
At this point I can feel the reader getting hostile. They have pokes around, they have found new artists to learn from. they’re done circling around these layers and beating the same dead horse of how great their work is, how classic their bass playing and answering the timeless question: who would win in a bass battle – Cliff or Steve, what is the best Geddy Lee bass line, was Flea better in the early or late 1990s and other trivial questions.
Call it fandom, admiration or whatever you may, but as a member of a younger generation who shares an unwavering appreciation for these classic players that have shaped my playing as well as the play of millions of other aspiring bassists, the excessive, blinding praise needs to be throttled back. Fandom is perfectly fine in any capacity, but when the conversation doesn’t seem to go anywhere among the community of bassists at large, then it could be argued there’s a problem in place.
Talkbass is the most glaring representation of what could be argued as a generational gap from older players that grew up before Internet and saw many of these acts before they were big, get big and can see them in a full spectrum. Loving your favorite bassist is one thing and feeling a personal connection to their work is completely valid, but as a younger player looking in: enough is enough.
I’m aware the tone (no pun intended) might have taken a slightly rant-y approach towards the end, but I assure you the reader this was not intended. This has been a thought in my head for a long time now, and it is only recently that i feel like I’ve been able to articulate it this completely.
The bottom line of this entire post could be summed up int his short blurb:
It’s fine to love your idols, but its time to make the effort to expand the palette. Jaco was not the end all be all of bass. There will be (and have been) great bassists after him but we often miss these players because were so focused on such a narrow sliver of excellence. Yea these players set the tone of bas laying, but there are players out there doing great things that deserve some praise as well. Heck – I interviewed some of them here and here.
So get out – use the internet to its full capacity. Lets discover some new sacred cows!
[chimpy_lite_form]
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