The Jazz Bass Book: Technique and Tradition

Rating:
Summary: An entertaining and instructive collection
Review: This book is essentially an annotated and expanded collection of columns originally published in Bass Player magazine. As such, it's more of a disconnected set of essays than a narrative; the discussion of significant bass players is somewhat spotty, and doesn't go into great detail on their music and style in the way that (for example" Todd Coolman's "The Bass Tradition" does. But it's still both entertaining and educational. The chapters, being mostly self-contained, can be read at random as the reader's interest dictates.

The first section of the book is primarily short snapshots of significant bassists, each being composed of a short biography accompanied by brief musical examples. The latter section- almost an appendix- consists of longer examples of styles and techniques. It's not really a method book, but it does offer some insight into styles and harmonic and rhythmic concepts for the beginning or intermediate jazz bassists. The accompanying CD helps illustrate the musical examples for those whose reading and playing technique are at a more basic stage.

All in all, a very entertaining and useful book for jazz bassists of all abilities, and an excellent choice for bedside reading.