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Duby's View - The quality of support |
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One of the greatest joys to me as a bassist lies in the fact that I have been lucky enough to enjoy other bassists (in the flesh or on record) many of whom continue to act as “true north” to my aspirations as a musician. I was indeed fortunate to see the great double bass maestro Dave Holland live in London some 5 years ago. Together with Eberhard Weber and Charlie Haden, Mr Holland remains to me a continuous source of inspiration, whose pursuit of excellence has enthralled me as a listener and admirer for close on thirty years. In this concert where he was joined by such legends of jazz as Herbie Hancock and Michael Brecker, Mr Holland (despite his phenomenal prowess as a soloist) kept it simple and swinging behind the others and gave them the quality of support coming from his remarkable experience and pedigree as a musician. Charlie Haden is another bassist whose approach in terms of thoughtfulness and concern for the music has always been a great inspiration to me. He plays a rare and unique Vuillaume bass from the 1800s strung with gut strings and manages to produce an instantly recognizable signature sound. His keen sense of time and melody forms the backbone of many a significant recording from the late 1950s on, including his vital early work with Ornette Coleman through later recordings with Carla Bley (Liberation Music Orchestra) and later Pat Metheny (“Under Missouri Skies”). I’d like to reserve my discussion of Eberhard Weber’s work for a later column or workshop as it’s to me a fairly large subject. My point here is one about inspiration. No musician wants to sound like a copy of any other, but there is a lot to be gained from a thorough examination of a given body of work from someone whom one admires. It’s well worth taking the time to absorb the life lessons that are embodied in a series of recordings as a kind of process of musical osmosis. |
