Articles by: Chris Jisi

Guitar World

Chris Jisi was Contributing Editor, Senior Contributing Editor, and Editor In Chief on Bass Player 1989-2018. He is the author of Brave New Bass, a compilation of interviews with bass players like Marcus Miller, Flea, Will Lee, Tony Levin, Jeff Berlin, Les Claypool and more, and The Fretless Bass, with insight from over 25 masters including Tony Levin, Marcus Miller, Gary Willis, Richard Bona, Jimmy Haslip, and Percy Jones.

Articles by: Chris Jisi

Tim Lefebvre of The Tedeschi Trucks Band performs at Red Rocks Amphitheatre on July 25, 2014 in Denver, Colorado.

“The higher up you wear your bass, the more it makes you think about what you’re playing. I don’t want to think that much”: Tim Lefebvre explains the belt-level placement of his low-slung P-Bass

By Chris Jisi published 27 November 23

From Tedeschi Trucks to Knower to Saturday Night Live, how Tim Lefebvre became the bass player everyone wants to work with

“I knew Eric was going to put his guitar on later, so the bass fills were like telegraphed messages”: Listen to Nathan East’s fill-laden bassline on Eric Clapton’s Change the World

By Chris Jisi published 14 November 23

Nathan East recorded with his Yamaha Signature 5-string direct through a custom DI box

Portrait of Marvin Gaye & Bass player Bob Babbitt

“Marvin Gaye was used to hearing James Jamerson, so he had me overdub a second bass part to fill out the original track”: An untold story from Motown’s Studio A. How Bob Babbitt's '65 P-Bass drove Marvin Gaye’s Inner City Blues

By Chris Jisi published 7 November 23

By 1971, James Jamerson’s demons had started to affect his consistency, so Bob Babbitt was called for this Motown classic

Will Smith and Tommy Lee aiming their weapons in a scene from Men in Black. Freddie Washington performs at Bass Player Live.

“The whole track is driven by the bassline!” How “Ready” Freddie Washington conceived the dance-funk classic that later became a massive hit as Will Smith's Men In Black

By Chris Jisi published 1 November 23

The story of Patrice Rushen’s Forget Me Nots, the song that became more famous as the theme from the Will Smith and Tommy Lee film Men in Black and was sampled by George Michael

Jack Bruce of West, Bruce & Laing performs on stage in 1973 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He plays a Gibson EB-3 bass guitar

“Unlike Jimi Hendrix, we never deliberately tuned down”: Listen to Jack Bruce’s bassline on Cream’s Politician

By Nick Wells published 25 October 23

Jack Bruce wrote with Pete Brown for Cream’s third album, 1968’s Wheels of Fire

Daft Punk performs onstage during the 56th GRAMMY Awards

“Daft Punk was dancing in the booth while we cut it!” Listen to James Genus stretch out on Giorgio by Moroder from Random Access Memories

By Chris Jisi published 6 October 23

While Nathan East played on the chart-topping Get Lucky, James Genus added a fresh spin to Daft Punk’s Grammy-winning album

Bassist/Producer Marcus Miller performs at Freedom Hill Amphitheater on August 10, 2016 in Sterling Heights, Michigan.

“I'd never heard somebody play the bass like that”: How Don Blackman’s 1982 classic album inspired a young Marcus Miller

By Chris Jisi published 25 September 23

The session ace-turned-solo artist recalls his earliest bass hero, and the swung-funk bassline on Don Blackman’s Heart’s Desire

Bass player Bob Babbitt poses during a private photo shoot on April 20, 2010 in Nashville, Tennessee.

“You played on Midnight Train to Georgia? You don’t need no other credits!” How Bob Babbitt bolstered a ‘70s soul classic with a touch of James Jamerson

By Chris Jisi published 22 September 23

A graduate of “Motown Funk University,” Babbitt said that he took from James Jamerson, but rightly so: “he was the original”

The record cover of the 1969 Dusty Springfield classic album 'Dusty In Memphis.

“Like James Jamerson, Tommy Cogbill was a take-charge guy in the studio”: Inside the recording of Son of a Preacher Man

By Chris Jisi published 6 July 23

Why Dusty Springfield’s mega hit was indebted to bassist Tommy Cogbill

"If you’re overplaying, you’re under-listening": Rocco Prestia on 50 years with Tower of Power

By Chris Jisi published 13 April 23

From the archive: in our last in-depth interview with Rocco Prestia he looked back over his five decades with Tower Of Power

Sheryl Crow: the bass is my muse

By Chris Jisi published 9 January 20

The singer songwriter tells us about how bass has become central to her creative process and performances