When we talk of jazz musicians,usually the trumpeters and saxophonists take away all the limelight. But whenit comes to creating music, each member in a jazz band has a role to play. The jazz bass artist lays down the foundation of the ensemble’s rhythmic sound. The bass instrument harmonically unified all the elements in a song together. When you listen to old-school swing musicradio, you can easily catch the baseline sounds of the double bassinstrument playing along a track. In this article, we take a look at some of the most well-known and renowned bass artists in jazz history.
Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus was a doublebassist, pianist, composer and bandleader. He is one of the most creativelyaccomplished and respected jazz bassists of all time. While being very proficient on the piano, he was an absolutely brilliant bass player. He played with some of the biggest names of jazz, such as Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Max Roach, Bud Powell, and many more. His outstanding bass skills can be heard on two of his finest albums– the 1953 Jazz at Massey Hall live album and the 1959 Columbia disc, Mingus Ah Um. Charles Mingus is also hailed as one of the greatest composers in jazz history. His compositions were fierce and energetic with a unique rhythm, often displaying multiple elements of swing, blues and collective improvisation. His compositions are still played today by contemporary musicians. He was a pioneering influence in jazz.
Paul Chambers
Paul Chambers is one of the topnames for the greatest bass players in jazz. He was a master at improvisationand was excellent timekeeping skills. He was also a truly brilliant soloist. Chambers worked majorly with Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Wynton Kelly. He was the anchor of Davis’s “first great quintet” and was a part of the 1959 landmark album, Kind of Blue. He also contributed to both of Coltrane’s Prestige recordings. Later on, he made several recordings with pianist Wynton Kelly anddrummer Jimmy Cobb in a trio setting. His name appears on over 100 albums as a sideman, and about a dozen more as a leader or co-leader. His promising career was cut short at the age of 33, when he died of tuberculosis.
Ray Brown
Ray Brown is one of the most influentialjazz bassists in history. He started playing at a young age on the piano, butlater decided to make the switch to double bass. Brown is most prominently known for his work with pianist Oscar Peterson's trio from 1951 to 1966. He was also briefly married to Ella Fitzgerald and performed with her for many years. He also played with many other jazz luminaries, including Dizzy Gillespie, Hank Jones, Art Tatum, Charlie Parker, Milt Jackson, Kenny Clarke, and more. Hejoined Oscar Peterson’s trio with drummer Ed Thigpen and they recorded exclusively for about 15 years.
Scott LaFaro
In spite of a relatively shortcareer, Scott LaFaro is considered to be one of the top bass players in jazz. Dyingat the very young age of 25, he professionally recorded and performed for only about 6 years only. But in that short time, he established himself as one of the greatest bassists. Hailing from New Jersey, he moved to Los Angeles where he worked with some of the most well-known artists like Chet Baker, Stan Kenton, Benny Goodman, Ornette Coleman, and Cal Tjader. After he returned to New York, he started playing with pianist Bill Evans and drummer Paul Motian. While playing in the trio, LaFaro found the creative freedom to play the double bass in a more upfront style, complimenting the improvised lines of Evans’ piano. This new style had a great impact on the role of the bass in jazz music. His most prominent recordings happened with the Bill Evans Trio.
Conclusion When you listen to swing music radio, you realize that the role of the jazz bassisthas evolved over the many years. From being a foundation instrument in the bandto garnering limelight in improvisational solos, the double bass has come along way.
