[Dixielandjazz] Good tuba/double bass/electric base

Tue, 23 Jul 2002 03:31:01 EDT

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Listmates,

Not all that long ago, someone on the list inquired about Dan Zeilinger (NOT: 
Zielinger), that "very good tuba player". Let me tell you a little story:
Maybe five or six years ago, Dan performed with a group at one of the monthly 
meetings of the Arizona Classic Jazz Society. With apologies to the band 
members whose names I cannot recall, the band included George Probert and Jim 
Mayhack as well as Dan. At the end of the gig I approached Dan to compliment 
him on his tuba playing. Now, the last thing on my mind is to represent 
myself as the judge and jury on the quality of tuba players, but what was so 
appealing to me was that Dan played the tuba like a bass. Not the staccato 
pop-pop but rather sustained quarter notes as you would expect from good 
doghouse players. I mentioned Phil Stephens during that conversation.

Unelegant segue: When I was 17 (40 + years ago), I lent my copy of "Coast 
Concert" to my trombone teacher (first trombone chair, The Hague 
Philharmonic). When he returned to record to me his comments were: "That tuba 
player is incredible". No comments about Hackett or anyone else!

Another unelegant segue: Electric vs. acoustic (with or without 
amplification) bass.
Admittedly, since we are all more or less products of first impressions, I 
have a propensity to prefer rhythm sections consisting of piano, double bass, 
guitar and drums. Four-to-the bar in other words. I have the distinct 
pleasure of having the opportunity to sit in occasionally with listmate Joe 
Hopkins' quartet who has secured two steady gigs here in the Phoenix area 
within the last couple of weeks. Gary Church usually plays either guitar or 
piano but when I play piano he switches to trumpet. And if another piano 
player shows up (usually better than I, rats) I play trombone. Two weeks ago 
we had an 8-piece band going, prompting Joe to announce that "the rest of the 
band will show up later". Here is the thing: Danny Shannon plays a Fender 
bass in the quartet. Danny is a wonderful musician who knows every tune in 
whatever key. And he swings. I'll admit that, for awhile, I had some qualms 
about the "appearance" of  a Fender bass in an OKOM band. It just didn't seem 
to "belong". Perhaps that is still the trauma of the sixties when it seemed 
that the Beatles et al. threatened to put us out of business. Meanwhile, I am 
having a lot of fun playing with an excellent Fender bass player. If there is 
anything that I still have to reconcile is the fact that, technically, you 
can do more things on a Fender than on a double base: on an acoustic bass, 
you hear quarter, eighth, and occasionnally triole notes. On a Fender you can 
do 16th. That is something you did not hear on the classic OKOM recordings 
from the past.

Thank for indulging me,

Rob van der Plas
Scottsdale, AZ 

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<HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><FONT  SIZE=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" FACE="Arial" LANG="0">Listmates,<BR>
<BR>
Not all that long ago, someone on the list inquired about Dan Zeilinger (NOT: Zielinger), that "very good tuba player". Let me tell you a little story:<BR>
Maybe five or six years ago, Dan performed with a group at one of the monthly meetings of the Arizona Classic Jazz Society. With apologies to the band members whose names I cannot recall, the band included George Probert and Jim Mayhack as well as Dan. At the end of the gig I approached Dan to compliment him on his tuba playing. Now, the last thing on my mind is to represent myself as the judge and jury on the quality of tuba players, but what was so appealing to me was that Dan played the tuba like a bass. Not the staccato pop-pop but rather sustained quarter notes as you would expect from good doghouse players. I mentioned Phil Stephens during that conversation.<BR>
<BR>
Unelegant segue: When I was 17 (40 + years ago), I lent my copy of "Coast Concert" to my trombone teacher (first trombone chair, The Hague Philharmonic). When he returned to record to me his comments were: "That tuba player is incredible". No comments about Hackett or anyone else!<BR>
<BR>
Another unelegant segue: Electric vs. acoustic (with or without amplification) bass.<BR>
Admittedly, since we are all more or less products of first impressions, I have a propensity to prefer rhythm sections consisting of piano, double bass, guitar and drums. Four-to-the bar in other words. I have the distinct pleasure of having the opportunity to sit in occasionally with listmate Joe Hopkins' quartet who has secured two steady gigs here in the Phoenix area within the last couple of weeks. Gary Church usually plays either guitar or piano but when I play piano he switches to trumpet. And if another piano player shows up (usually better than I, rats) I play trombone. Two weeks ago we had an 8-piece band going, prompting Joe to announce that "the rest of the band will show up later". Here is the thing: Danny Shannon plays a Fender bass in the quartet. Danny is a wonderful musician who knows every tune in whatever key. And he swings. I'll admit that, for awhile, I had some qualms about the "appearance" of&nbsp; a Fender bass in an OKOM band. It just didn't seem to "belong". Perhaps that is still the trauma of the sixties when it seemed that the Beatles et al. threatened to put us out of business. Meanwhile, I am having a lot of fun playing with an excellent Fender bass player. If there is anything that I still have to reconcile is the fact that, technically, you can do more things on a Fender than on a double base: on an acoustic bass, you hear quarter, eighth, and occasionnally triole notes. On a Fender you can do 16th. That is something you did not hear on the classic OKOM recordings from the past.<BR>
<BR>
Thank for indulging me,<BR>
<BR>
Rob van der Plas<BR>
Scottsdale, AZ <BR>
<BR>
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