[Dixielandjazz] Good tuba/double bass/electric bass

[Patrick Cooke]

Rob van der Plas wrote:

>>> technically, you can do more things on a Fender than on a double base:
on an acoustic bass, you hear quarter, eighth, and occasionally triole
notes. On a Fender you can do 16th. That is something you did not hear on
the classic OKOM recordings from the past.<<<

True...the only thing you can't do on a Fender is bow it.  Take away the
requirement for bowing, and you can build an instrument with more pizzicato
facility.  The curved bridge and fingerboard make the acoustic more
cumbersome to pluck, especially on the bottom string, because you have to
actually change the position of your hand to pluck it.
        As for the OKOM recordings of the past, most of them were made
before amplifiers were even available.   In order to be heard at all, a bass
player had to have his strings set about 1/2 inch from the fingerboard so he
could really pull hard on them and avoid the string slapping back on the
fingerboard.  Needless to say, facility was severely limited.  Amplifiers
came into use around the end of the big-band swing era, when a bass player
had to cut through 6 or 7 brass, plus a well equipped drummer. . The
amplifier made it possible to lower the strings, and play, instead of
fighting the instrument.
         If you want to hear facility on acoustic bass, listen  to some of
the recordings of Neils Henning Orsted Pederson.  He made a lot of
recordings with Oscar Peterson.  He has more facility on acoustic bass than
any one I have ever heard on ANY kind of bass.
       Pat Cooke

----- Original Message -----
From: <Schnabbels@aol.com>
To: <dixielandjazz@ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Tuesday, July 23, 2002 2:31 AM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Good tuba/double bass/electric base


> 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
>
>