My Favorite Jazz-Rock Fusion Musicians from the "Classic Era": The Bass Players

These are my favorite Jazz-Rock Fusion bass players from 1966 through 1980 (In some semblance of order):

1. Anthony Jackson / Billy Paul, MFSB, Buddy Rich, The O'Jays, Funk Factory, Norman Connors, Roberta Flack, Chick Corea, Al Di Meola, Lalo Schifrin, Harvey Mason, Lee Ritenour, Joe Farrell, Michal Urbaniak, Steve Khan, Jun Fukamachi, David Spinozza, Earl Klugh, Eric Gale, Chaka Khan, Teo Macero, Steely Dan, Donald Fagen, Terumasa Hino, Sadao Watanabe, Grover Washington, Jr., Gato Barbieri, Masaru Imada, George Benson, Tania Maria, Peabo Bryson, Hiromi Uehara

2. Chuck Rainey / King Curtis, The Rascals, Hubert Laws, Yusef Lateef, Aretha Franklin, Gene Ammons, Larry Coryell, Roberta Flack, Quincy Jones, Gato Barbieri, The Voices Of East Harlem, Steely Dan

3. Carole Kaye (The Wrecking Crew)

4. James Jamerson / Motown's Funk Brothers
5. Eberhard Weber / Wolfgang Dauner, Gorge Gruntz, Michael Naurer Quartet, The Art Van Damme Quintet, Baden Powell, Volker Kriegel, Gary Burton, solo / ECM appearances
6. Ralphe Armstrong / Mahavishnu Orchestra (second incarnation), Jean-Luc Ponty, Michael Henderson
7. Jimmy Johnson / Allan Holdsworth, Billy Childs, Flim & The BBs
8. John Lee / Chris Hinze, Gerry Brown, Toto Blanke, Joachim Kühn, The Eleventh House, Zbigniew Seifert, Jasper van't Hof
9. Roy Babbington / Nucleus/Ian Carr/Chris Spedding, The Soft Machine
10. Stanley Clarke / Pharoah Sanders, Return To Forever, Norman Connors, Deodato, self, Al DiMeola

11. Percy Jones / Brian Eno, Nova, Brand X
12. Pee Wee Ford / Oneness Of Juju, Michal Urbaniak, Lonnie Liston Smith
13. Doug Rauch / Bunky and Jake, Carly Simon, Voices Of East Harlem, (San Francisco) Giants, Santana Caravanserai, Love Devotion Surrender, Welcome and Lotus, Azteca, Lenny White's Venusian Summer, and Billy Cobham's Life & Times.
14, Eddie Gomez / Bill Evans, Jeremy Steig, Bennie Wallace, Chick Corea
15. Dave Holland / Miles Davis, Karl Berger, Jack DeJohnette, Gateway, Colin Walcott, et al.
16. Jaco Pastorius / Pat Metheny, Joni Mitchell, Weather Report
17. Marcus Miller / Lonnie Liston Smith, Miles Davis
18. Paul Jackson / Eddie Fisher, Azteca, Herbie Hancock, The Head Hunters, self/solo, Santana
19. Alphonso Johnson / Weather Report, Billy Cobham, George Duke, solo
20. Ron Carter / Yusef Lateef, Eric Dolphy, Don Ellis, Gil Evans, Art Blakey, Coleman Hawkins, bass on Pieces of a Man, Believe It!

21. Buster Williams / Gene Ammons & Sonny Stitt, Sarah Vaughan, Roy Ayers, The Jazz Crusaders, Herbie Hancock, Harold Mabern, Dexter Gordon, Joe Farrell, McCoy Tyner 
22. Miroslav Vitous / solo, Weather Report
23. Randy Tico / Matrix, Flora Purim & Airto Moreira
24. Louis Johnson / Billy Preston, Herbie Hancock (Man-Child), Quincy Jones, The Brothers Johnson, Earl Klugh, Harvey Mason. Gabor Szabo, Bob James
25. Jeff Berlin / Patrick Moraz, Ray Barretto, Bruford, Alan Holdsworth
26. Al Anderson / Lonnie Liston Smith 
27. Ladislav Lučenič / Fermáta
28. Tom Fowler / Jean-Luc Ponty
29. Norbert Dömling / Toto Blanke's Electric Circus
30. Gilles Douieb / Chute Libre

31. Tetsuo Sakurai / Casiopea
32. Steve Swallow / Gary Burton 
33. Michael Visceglia / Hermann Szobel
34. Anton Jaro / Fermáta
35. Rick Laird / Mahavishnu Orchestra
36. Patrick Djivas / Area
37. Will Lee / Bob James
38. François Grillot / Édition Spéciale
39. Jean Grevet / Cortex
40. Mike Howlett / Gong

41. Hansford Rowe / Pierre Moerlen's Gong
42. Basil Ferrington / Michal Urbaniak
43. Pawel Jarzebski / Michal Urbaniak
44. Randy Jackson / Eddie Henderson

Also considered:
- Gary Peacock / Miles Davis, 
- Tony Levin / John Lennon, Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel, King Crimson 
- Michael Henderson / Miles Davis

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Miles Davis' Second Great Quintet

Image
In 1963 Miles began a search for a new group of young musicians to work with (he always received quite a boost in inspiration with the new ideas the young bloods would bring in.) 22-year old Herbie Hancock was a shoe-in due to his rocket rise to fame with the 1962 monster hit, "Watermelon Man" from his debut album, Takin' Off .  25-year old Ron Carter had been making a mark while gigging during his formal training from the Eastman School of Music (graduating in 1959) and the Manhattan School of Music (1961). 17-year old drumming phenom Anthony "Tony" Williams III was a lesser known quantity, thus his use on only half the tracks on Seven Steps to Heaven.  Miles first attempt also tested out drummer Frank Butler, tenor saxophonist George Coleman, and multi-instrumental phenom, Victor Feldman (then 29-years old). This is the quintet that toured extensively in 1963, covering many of Davis' classic tunes with a fresh, new, highly kinetic approach. It is also the ...
Read more

Miroslav Vitous

Image
Czechoslovakian-born bassist Miroslav Vitous was a child prodigy who's scholarship to the famed Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA spawned a very successful career in music that became firmly-based in the United States. Despite early appearances and collaborations with noted musicians in his home country in his teen years, it was the connections made through Berklee (with country-mate Jan Hammer) and New York-based mentor Herbie Mann that paved the way for Miroslav's explosion onto the jazz and jazz-rock fusion music scene. Before his 24th birthday he had secured prominent roles on albums (and gigs with) Herbie Mann, Roy Ayers, Steve Marcus, Sonny Sharrock, Jack DeJohnette, Chick Corea, Larry Coryell, and Wayne Shorter as well as played with the likes of Herbie Hancock, John McLaughlin, Billy Cobham, Joe Zawinul, and Sadao Watanabe.      After four albums with Herbie Mann, the influential bandleader rewarded the bass phenom with an album of his own on his brand new fl...
Read more

Herbie Hancock

Image
Herbie Hancock is without a doubt one music's most intrepid pioneers. He had a very  significant role in expanding the boundaries of Jazz, Jazz-Rock Fusion, and music in general. His name is deserving of being mentioned among the greatest artists in music like Beethoven, Brahms, Debussy, Shostakovich, Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, and Michael Jackson. Without Herbie leading the way (and, to a great degree, also Tony Williams), there would have been no "Second Great Quintet." Without Herbie (and  Joe Zawinul, John McLaughlin, and Chick Corea), I do not believe that the  breakout of that which would become called "Jazz-Rock Fusion"  would have been as successful and certainly not as popular. (Pressures from inside the staunch old-school mainstream of jazz would have squelched it as they did with other avant-garde modalities like "free jazz.") Herbie was popular! He sold albums! (Herbie has four of the biggest selling jazz al...
Read more