Latest articles by Chris Jisi
Listen to Robert ‘Pops’ Popwell rip it up on The Crusaders’ Sweet ’N’ Sour
Popwell played a red 1962 Fender Precision, with an added Telecaster pickup near the bridge
How Neil Jason put on a slap bass masterclass on David Sanborn’s 1979 instrumental classic Hideaway
The studio session for Hideaway took place in early 1979, at Minot Sound, in White Plains, New York
“If I overplayed behind a singer, there’d be a guy waiting for me with a knife!” Marcus Miller looks back on his 2008 solo effort, Marcus
Always in demand, Marcus Miller looks back on his 2008 solo effort, Marcus
Listen to Stuart Zender’s isolated bassline on Jamiroquai's Virtual Insanity
Stuart Zender made an audacious statement with this killer bassline from Jamiroquai’s Traveling Without Moving
![Tower of Power [L-R: Greg Adams (trumpet), Mic Gillette (trumpet), Stephen Kupka/Doc/The Doctor (sax), Emilio Castillo (sax), David Bartlett (drums), Lenny Picket (sax), Francis Prestia/Rocco (bass), Lenny Williams (vocals), Bruce Conte (guitar), Chester Thompson (keyboards)] performs on Soul Train episode 126, aired 2/1/1975](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/NnjoDxnJtQojDr6A7hH4XJ-840-80.jpg.webp)
The magic of Rocco Prestia’s bassline on Tower of Power’s Only So Much Oil in the Ground
How to play Rocco Prestia’s classic Tower of Power bassline
How Jerry Jemmott stayed on top of Aretha Franklin’s Respect, recorded live at Fillmore West in 1971
Jerry Jemmott plucked his sunburst ’65 Jazz Bass in front of his Acoustic 360 rig
Inside the sound and style of Motown master James Jamerson
Five top low-enders with links to the bass great dissect the James Jamerson style
Why Klaus Voormann’s bassline on John Lennon’s Whatever Gets You Thru The Night is a must-listen
The German musician and artist was John Lennon's bass guitarist of choice for two decades
Listen to John Deacon’s isolated bassline on Killer Queen
John Deacon’s bass playing on Killer Queen is guaranteed to blow your mind
“Playing with a pick is not something you learn over the weekend. It requires the same commitment as learning to play upright bass with a bow”: Listen to Anthony Jackson’s landmark bassline on the O’Jays’ For the Love of Money
Anthony Jackson’s use of a pick and phase shifter was famously first heard on the O’Jays’ 1973 hit
“George Martin wasn’t going to leave his own studio, and Jeff never gave directions or said much, so there was nobody telling us what to do”: Listen to Wilbur Bascomb’s bassline on Jeff Beck’s Goodbye Pork Pie Hat
New York session bassist Wilbur Bascomb Jr. recorded on Jeff Beck’s 1976 version of this Charles Mingus ballad
“Jaco’s groove is like a fingerprint – nobody can duplicate it”: Listen to Jaco Pastorius’ isolated bassline on Weather Report’s Barbary Coast
Weather Report’s 1976 cut introduced the world to the full-tilt boogie of Jaco Pastorius
“I was scared to death. Miles didn’t say a word to me. Afterwards, I asked what he thought of my playing. He said, simply, ‘It was cool’”: T.M. Stevens on playing with Miles Davis and James Brown – and what went wrong on Vai’s Sex & Religion project
Vai hired the “flashy bassist with the long hair” after spotting him in a Joe Cocker video
“I'm a completely different bass player now… When I was in Jeff Beck's band, I hadn't even been playing for four years!” Tal Wilkenfeld on her evolution from bass phenomenon to solo artist
The bass player for Prince, Ryan Adams and Jeff Beck on going it alone as a singer-songwriter
“The drum, it is the heartbeat, and the bass, it is the backbone” Listen to Aston “Family Man” Barrett’s isolated bassline on Bob Marley’s Is This Love
Bob Marley’s enduring hit is rife with reggae bass Barrett-isms: quarter-note triplets, resting on one, and unison riffs
“You’re always trying to get rid of buzzes when recording, so I came up with the idea of trying to make them groove instead”: How Victor Wooten created a groove without touching his bass guitar
Victor Wooten gives a track-by-track tour of his second solo album, What Did He Say?
“When someone wants to rehearse before the session, that’s the kiss of death”: Watch Lee Sklar’s playthrough of Steve Lukather’s Stab in the Back
Bass legend Lee Sklar used his “Frankenstein 4-string” on Lukather’s 2008 nod to Donald Fagen
“There was bass before Jaco and after Jaco; his playing turned my whole life around”: How Norman Watt-Roy brought a bit of Jaco to Ian Dury’s Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick
Just a few weeks after seeing Weather Report at London’s Hammersmith Odeon, Norman Watt-Roy found himself in the studio with Ian Dury and the Blockheads
“Bass players can solo through changes just like a horn player or a guitarist”: Watch Nathan East raise the bar as a soloist on Al Jarreau’s Our Love
Recorded live at Wembley Arena, Nathan East’s melodic 16-bar solo was played on a Yamaha BB3000 5-string
“We had it in about two takes. The funk was there as soon as we hit it”: Watch Louis 'thunder thumbs' Johnson slap a classic bass solo on the Brothers Johnson’s Stomp!
Johnson used a Music Man StingRay (which he helped design), and strung it with new D’Addario roundwounds
“I introduced Sting to Miles Davis, and that blew Sting’s mind!” Darryl Jones on providing the punch for Sting, Madonna, and the Rolling Stones
After stints with Miles Davis, Madonna, and Sting, Darryl Jones found a home on The Rolling Stones’ Voodoo Lounge
“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
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
Nathan East recorded with his Yamaha Signature 5-string direct through a custom DI box
“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 1971, James Jamerson’s demons had started to affect his consistency, so Bob Babbitt was called for this Motown classic
“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
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
