Marcus Miller on "Night Rhythms"

Here is a little thumb stuff, which has been scarce on the blog, but when you have someone like Marcus Miller doing it, you can't really go wrong.

Below is the main groove from a Lee Ritenour tune called "Night Rhythms" written out.  I don't know of any videos that show Marcus actually playing the line as he recorded it, but there is a version with Melvin Lee Davis (another very scary thumb player) playing the same line, more or less.

Here is the original studio recording with Marcus on it.

And here is a full band version with Melvin adding an intro out front and then playing his take on the line.

There is a LOT of syncopation in this one, and a lot of anticipation. A lot of what makes the line stand out is what 16th notes are accented. Here is the line from the melody section:

bass lick tempo 100 4/4 | Cmin c16 c c c+ r8 r16 c16 f#- g bb8 eb-4 | Cmin c16 r c c+ r c f#- g~ g8 eb16 f eb4 | Abmin ab-16 r ab ab+ r8 r16 ab16 d- eb gb8 b-4 | Fmin f16 r f f+ r f f- f# Gmin g8 g~ g g

This thing is a 16th note work out, you really have to be able to put each one exactly where it goes or the line falls apart really fast. So practice it slow, and for even more licks, check out the variations both Marcus and Melvin add to the line when they play it, there are lots of great licks in there, on both versions.

Victor Wooten Dual Music Release

Looks like Mr. Wooten is going to drop a double album next month, one all instrumental and one with words/vocals. I am sure it will have the requisite amazing bass playing, but also just some great tunes and music as well. From the sample, it sounds quite eclectic.

A Bass Lesson with Oteil Burbridge

Otiel has some great things to say about music, not just scales and chords, but the bigger picture stuff that every musician has to deal with, things like fear, being self critical, practicing, and life as a musician. He seems like a pretty deep guy and he nails it as far as how the things that hold us back have nothing to do with not knowing a scale or chord, but we become our own enemies. Good stuff.

And oh yea, he sounds great on his six string. Otiel has his own band called the Peacemakers, and he also plays with The Allman Brothers.

R.I.P. Bob Babbit

Bob was a bass player at Motown who had to be the "other" bass player besides James Jamerson. No pressure or anything...geez. But no worries, Bob was a monster player who put his own stamp on a lot of classic Motown grooves. Here he is with Marvin Gaye, probably one of his most famous tracks.

R.I.P. Bob, and thanks for all the great music.

YouTube Backing Tracks

Here are the search results from the YouTubes with pages and pages of backing tracks, meaning tracks with no bass on them for us to play along with.

The styles vary from gospel to funk to blues to jazz so it is pretty good sampling of styles. And, lets face it, sometimes practicing bass without a band around sounds pretty empty. It makes practicing a lot more fun if you can hear what things sound like against chords and grooves.

And if you find one you like and want to keep it, check out http://keepvid.com/ (there are others like this too out there and plug-ins and browser extensions and stuff too). They will download any YouTube clip you want, and they have a little bookmarklet thingy that if you drag it to your browser bar, when you are on a YouTube page it figures out the video and downloads it for you. So you can harvest these things and play them on your 'puter whenever you want. Enjoy.

http://keepvid.com/

YouTube Bass Backing Track List

Stuart Zender (jamiroquai) REALLY likes Bananas

He likes them so much, he played bass to "The Banana Song" on TV show we definitely are not hip to over here in the colonies.

Kai Eckhardt Zeitgeist

Looks Like Kai Eckhardt has a new group that is playing out and it is funky, a little hip-hoppy and a little latin all rolled into one. Sounds nice.



If you are not hip to Kai, he is one of those under-the-radar guys, but is one of the best players around. He has played with McLaughlin and founded another band called Garaj Mahal that is almost constantly on tour. Check out what he can do with his thumb...

Bill Evans Trio - The Jazz Set 1972

The world was a different place in 1972. They had talk shows that took place in a bar, where the host wore sunglasses indoors and smoked during the entire show, all while wearing clothes that would get you banned from any course if you even tried to wear them golfing today. The v-neck sweater look died. For a reason.

But they also had people like Bill Evans, Eddie Gomez and Marty Morrel. Here they go through 4 tunes,  How My Heart Sings, Gloria's Step (!), Time Remembered and My Romance. There is enough hair on all these cats to cover a city block.