YOU’VE GOT IT GOOD, BECAUSE EVERYONE needs a bass player. With the high ratio of horn players to bass players, and horn players running around starting bands, composing tunes, and writing arrangements, sooner or later you will get called to play in a big band. Big band playing rewards musicians with the power and intensity that only comes from single-minded ensemble playing.
Several types of large ensembles fall into the big band category: jazz bands, dance bands, concert jazz bands, and show bands. They all share one characteristic: There’s typically only one bass player.
THE BASS ROLE
A jazz big band has up to 14 horn players, plus a rhythm section. A concert band might also have horns, woodwinds, or strings, and a show band might be a stripped-down version of either of these. Holding things together isn’t always easy. Big band bassists often must balance between written lines—you have to play what is on the page—and sections of improvisation. You’ll need to be able to read basic quarter-, eighth-, and 16th-note lines, but not fly footprints at fast tempos. The main required skills are the abilities to groove, follow a chart, and keep your place.
The big band bassist is solely responsible for playing time and grooves, while simultaneously outlining the harmony. The pianist plays in time, but doesn’t provide a rhythmic groove like the bassist or drummer. One other instrument—the swing-style rhythm guitar— sometimes plays a quarter-note groove while outlining the harmony. This complements the bass but doesn’t replace the bass function. As bassist in the big band, you’re on your own.
THE ROOTS
To understand how to play in a big band, you need to know how the music sounds. Let’s sample some of the killin’ bands and star bass players of the 20th century.
Big band bass playing developed from the jazz tradition of the ’20s, ’30s, and ’40s. Want to know how to play in a dance big band? Listen to the toe-tapping two-beat groove laid down by Benny Goodman’s bassist brother, Harry Goodman, and drummer Gene Krupa on the now-classic tune “Don’t Be That Way,” on Benny Goodman’s The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert [Columbia]. When your bandleader says, “Play a dance two-
The Count Basie Orchestra swung harder than any big band, and at the heart of its famous beat was the “All-American Rhythm Section” with Walter Page on bass. Count Basie: The Complete Decca Recordings [Decca/GRP] is a perfect two-CD introduction to Page’s big fourfour walking style.
The Duke Ellington Orchestra offered a more elegant take on the big band sound. Duke Ellington: The Blanton-Webster Years [RCA] presents the young Jimmy Blanton at the top of his game. “Jack the Bear” is the best-known Blanton solo feature, along with “Sepia Panorama,” “Ko-Ko,” and “Bojangles.”
Big bands had a hard time surviving after 1945, but notable exceptions include the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band featuring Ray Brown on bass [The Complete RCA Victor Recordings: 1937–1949, RCA], and large ensembles led by bassists Oscar Pettiford [The Complete 1959 & 1963 United Artists Complete Big Band Studio Recordings, Lonehill Jazz] and Charles Mingus [The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady, Impulse].
The most influential big band recordings of the ’60s and early ’70s came from the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra with bassist Richard Davis [Consummation, Blue Note]. If you’re playing in a school jazz band, you will probably play some of their classics from the ’60s: “The Groove Merchant,” “Three in One,” and “Big Dipper.” In the 1990s the group evolved into the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, which is still making cutting-edge music. Up From the Skies, The Music of Jim McNeely [Planet Arts] features the late Dennis Irwin on bass.
Over the last 30 years, big bands have evolved into showcase ensembles for brilliant arrangers, composers, and instrumentalists like Toshiko Akiyoshi, Carla Bley (with bassist Steve Swallow), Jaco Pastorius [Word of Mouth, Warner Bros.], and Dave Holland [Overtime, Sunnyside].
Check out Examples 1–3 to get started with some swinging lines. Listen to the classic recordings and strive to ignite your band in the style of Walter Page, Richard Davis, Dave Holland, or Jaco. Play as if each musician in the big band is depending on your every note. They are!
5 TIPS FOR PLAYING IN A BIG BAND
1. Look through a chart completely before you start to play. Look for repeat signs, coda signs, and page turns. You will gain a reputation as an ace reader if you always keep your place.
2. If bass lines are written out, play them. If the bass lines also have chord symbols written above, this suggests you can improvise your line.
3. Listen for unison lines that you might have with horn sections, and try to phrase precisely.
4. Don’t play too loud—give just enough amp to support the band in the loud passages, but do not bury the horns in the soft passages.
5. You are the link between the drummer and the lead trumpet, lead trombone, and lead alto. Listen to yourself, but also keep your ears open for what is happening in the rest of the band. Be flexible, fluid, strong, and accurate.