The Jazz Bass Book: Technique and Tradition

by John Goldsby

Book Overview

More than a player's manual, this book portrays jazz bass as a vital element of 20th century American music. Citing examples from key recordings in the jazz canon, the book defines the essence of the musical contributions made by more than 70 important jazz bassists, including Ray Brown, Eddie Gomez, Charles Mingus, Milt Hinton and many others. Bassists get expert guidance on mastering proper technique, practice methods and improvisation, plus new...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0879307161
• ISBN13: 9780879307165
• Release Date: September 2002
• Publisher: Backbeat Books
• Length: 242 Pages
• Weight: 1.58 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 8.4" x 10.8"

Customer Reviews

I found this the best book for a new player....

If you are starting out playing jazz on the double bass and a need broad perspective, history and instruction, this is a book you must have.

Jazz Bass Style andHistory

This is a GREAT book. John Goldsby should be thanked and complimented for his research and his understanding of the role of the bass polayer in jazz. I now have all my students buy this book and anyone interested in the history of jazz should have this nook in their library. At the end of the book, Mr. Goldsby has a sectioon titled "Concepts". Every musician, young and old, should read this part of the book. This section reminded me of why I became a bass player/musician in the first place.

A must-have for the jazz bassist at any level

I'll make this short and sweet... if you want a well-lead, chronological walk through the history of jazz bassists, complete with tons of musical examples, phenomenal sound clips, and enough recording references to keep you busy listening and copying grooves until rapture, this is the book for you. Buy it!

The Best Jazz Bass Compendium, Period!

OK, if your're like me (HighSierraBassPlayer), you're desparately seeking books, DVD's and cd's with tons of blues and jazz progressions. The material out there is really pretty thin (or maybe I'm just never satisfied like my chronic case of G.A.S. (gear acquisition syndrome). John Goldby's Jazz Bass Handbook is the best source for jazz theory and an excellent resource for the history of jazz as well. After all, most of the songs we practice and perform on today have their beginnings in jazz and blues from the founding fathers. I have gained so much respect and awe for these pioneers of jazz and the blues, and this book is by far the best jazz compendium on the musical market today. I hope someone produces a blues compendium as concise and full of examples as this book does. The CD is also excellent, although I wish it carried all the examples in the book. But that make me work even harder to, as one of the forefathers of jazz offers in the book, "to imitate, assimilate, and innovate." That pretty much describes how bass players like me strive to be better, and this text works perfect. A higest must have from HighSierraBassPlayer!

great for learning bass history as well as the bass

The format of self-contained essays makes the book great for browsing. Someone just getting to know the jazz bass will be hearing a lot of names listed as important bass players (and seeing their names on liner notes), and you can find a nice summary of the context and contribution of each of these guys in this book. The parts in the book about actually playing make it a good companion to a more methodical bass method book, with transcriptions of great players' solos as well as more exercise-oriented pieces developed by Goldsby to help your technique.