Latest articles by Chris Jisi
How a pre-fame Stanley Clarke helped define an Aretha Franklin classic
Clarke's early session career offered tantalizing glimpses of his technical prowess and innovations, and hints of how he would transform the low-end landscape with Return To Forever and his own solo albums
How Oteil Burbridge set about replacing Phil Lesh to become Dead & Company’s new singing bass hero
Burbridge played with The Allman Brothers and Tedeschi Trucks Band before joining Dead & Company alongside guitarist John Mayer
The lead single from Van Halen’s 1991 album with Sammy Hagar combines a thunderous bassline with a revved-up power drill
Michael Anthony’s 16th-note bass grooves remained as much a part of the “Van Hagar” sound as Eddie Van Halen’s guitar pyrotechnics
When Anthony Jackson came up with the idea for a six-string bass, he struggled to find anyone to build it
Along with Leo Fender, the late Anthony Jackson became one of the most important figures in the history of the electric bass
Robert Wilson had his step-out performance on this Gap Band classic, which features two bass parts, both cut on a flatwound-strung P-Bass
The main riff is likely familiar to many via Victor Wooten’s song Bass Tribute
How Geezer Butler went from playing bass on a guitar to the ominous riff that defined one of Black Sabbath’s darkest moments
Geezer Butler’s iconic bassline announces this tune from the classic 1970 LP Paranoid
How Tony Visconti rethought rock bass for David Bowie’s The Man Who Sold the World
The legendary producer revisits his ground-shaking bass work on Bowie’s 1970 breakthrough album
Bassist Mick Grøndahl looks back on his time with Jeff Buckley, and the song that took 19 takes to perfect
Produced by Slayer and Nirvana collaborator Andy Wallace, Last Goodbye was the most cinematic track from Buckley’s only studio album
How Hugh McDonald became Bon Jovi’s uncredited recording bassist
Hugh McDonald was at New York’s Power Station when he was asked to lay down a bass part for the band’s 1986 working-class anthem
How Tommy Shannon broke a 7-year cycle of jail and halfway houses to record his most famous bassline with Stevie Ray Vaughan
Shannon played an Olympic White 1962 Jazz Bass tuned down a half-step to match Vaughan's Eb tuning
Why The Lemon Song is John Paul Jones’ finest moment in Led Zeppelin
The third cut from 1969's Led Zeppelin II is considered the peak of John Paul Jones’ melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic brilliance
How an unassuming bassist carved out a spot in music history on Derek & the Dominos’ Layla
Recorded at Miami’s Criteria Studios on September 9, 1970, Carl Radle helped ground the mega-hit beneath the immortal pairing of Eric Clapton and Duane Allman
How Larry Graham's hand-picked replacement supercharged this 1973 hit for Sly & The Family Stone
On Graham’s recommendation, Rustee Allen arrived at the Record Plant in California to overdub his iconic If You Want Me to Stay bassline
Was Paul McCartney singing while he recorded this bass track? There are audible cues in the final mix
Legendary session bassist and member of the Fab Faux Will Lee takes a closer look at Abbey Road classic Oh! Darling, and unpacks Macca's genius approach to reimagining a doo-wop bassline
Though Pete Quaife gets credit for jumpstarting the Kinks bass chair, John Dalton and Jim Rodford pushed the band forward on many of their classic albums
From the powerful bass tone on You Really Got Me to 1979’s Low Budget, smart low-end was a key ingredient of the Kinks sound
Having earned lofty status in bass-hero circles, Marcus Miller lent his vocal chops to Hadrien Feraud’s take on Chick Corea’s India Town
Hadrien Feraud offers a track-by-track guide to his 2015 solo album, Born in the ’80s
“There was that moment of, ‘My God! I’m recording with David Bowie!’” Bassist Tim Lefebvre on the making of David Bowie's Lazarus
The session for Bowie’s Blackstar album took place in early 2015 at the Magic Shop in New York
As a member of the Saturday Night Live house band, James Genus is the best-kept secret on bass
If you’re only as good as the company you keep, James Genus is bass royalty
Brian Wilson left his mark on the bass world through studio musicians, especially Carol Kaye, who he requested play his basslines note-for-note
In a rare interview, The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson reflected on bass playing, studio craft and his 2004 masterpiece, Smile
He’s one of the most influential bassists of all time, but did Motown’s James Jamerson make a mistake on this 1969 hit record?
How Jamerson’s ‘mistake’ helped set the foundation for The Temptations’ No. 1 hit
How bassist Mike Elizondo brought low-end and soul to Dr. Dre’s superstar productions
At Dr. Dre’s L.A. hit factory, Mike Elizondo carved up bass grooves with 50 Cent, Eminem, and Busta Rhymes
When Duran Duran fused Chic and Sex Pistols for one of bassist John Taylor’s standout performances
Duran Duran may be back in vogue – but for anyone who learned to play bass in the ’80s John Taylor has never been out of fashion
Played by a session great, this Chaka Khan line was hailed by Nathan East as “the perfect bassline”
Anthony Jackson tuned his ‘career girl’ – a Fender hybrid consisting of a ’75 Jazz Bass body and ’73 Precision neck – down two whole steps for Move Me No Mountain
