What makes a great bass player? For most of us, the concept of greatness probably means technique, tastefulness, influence, or just doing something useful on bass that no-one else has done before. All those elements apply to this issue’s long-awaited results of the 100 Greatest Bass Players poll that we ran online last year, and to which an astounding 100,000 and more of you responded.
Of course, there’s more to greatness than just being good at what you do. There’s another factor, too: whether a bassist stood their ground in the face of opposition, or persevered with their art in impossible circumstances, or went above and beyond in their search for excellence. Add those into the mix, too, and what you come up with is something very close to true greatness.
