2002 Northern California Bass Club
"Bass Bash" Review
by Kurt Ribak
May 4, 2002, was the Northern California Bass Club "Bass Bash", held in Local 6's main room at 116 9th Street, San Francisco. Upright bassist Rufus Reid and electric bassist Benny Rietveld were announced as the performers for clinics. Rietveld had to cancel to play additional sessions on an upcoming Carlos Santana record. Michael Manring agreed to step in on short notice, an especially generous gesture as he had two other gigs the day of the Bash and was flying out of the country the following day. Manring is probably best known for recording with the late guitarist Michael Hedges. Today Manring displayed his remarkable solo bass style. Manring brought three electric basses, all four-string Zon basses. Two were fretless, and the fretless basses also featured Hipshot transposing tuners on all strings, as well as special transposing bridges. These basses allow Manring to change tunings during songs, something he did repeatedly. These basses were specially built for him by Zon and are available as a signature model, but as Manring noted, "you’d have to sell your car to buy one." Manring used a capo on some tunes, demonstrating how with a CGDA (low to high) tuning and a capo he could play the Bach cello suites in the original octave and tuning. Manrings playing displayed a remarkable ability to play complex right-hand hammer-ons and juggle complex and changing tunings.
Manring spoke of his love for music and his joy at being able to make his livelihood. He also spoke of when he was 21, studying with Jaco Pastorius, and how he eventually realized that he could not totally copy Pastorius and had to develop his own style. His comments paralleled later comments by Rufus Reid, who said he tried to duplicate Ray Brown and realized that some of the ways that he could not duplicate Brown became elements of developing his own style. Manring spoke of how Jaco emphasized that the electric bass guitar was a different instrument from the upright bass and should play a different role in music.
Next up was Rufus Reid, who is well known as a jazz educator in addition to his work in numerous major jazz bands. Reid spoke at length about what is expected of a jazz bassist, emphasizing the ability to recall tunes and their harmonies. He also spoke of the importance of singing a melody so one could play more melodically and with better phrasing. He noted that Gary Karr studied with an operatic singer to compare his phrasing and interpretation with a great singer. He also displayed his "EGG" endpin, a carbon fiber endpin specially fitted to his bass to allow for a greater rake to the instrument while standing, which Reid felt made it easier to play in thumb position. He said the great bassist Francois Rabbath recommended it to him. Reid also noted that such decisions were very personal ones, noting that Gary Karr, the virtuoso, plays with a very upright angle to the bass.
Rufus Reid played a couple of solo bass pieces, one a Thad Jones tune and the other a Sam Jones composition. He later had local pianist Larry Dunlap join him on some standards. Dunlap and Reid had not played together before but immediately clicked as a duo. Reid explained the process of playing with somebody without rehearsal, being aware of the different chord changes a player is using, etc. Reid also emphasized the importance of playing well whenever and wherever you are performing, noting that "you never know who is listening." He recounted how the great trombonist J.J. Johnson hired him for his band because he heard Reid play in the rhythm section on the Jamey Aebersold practice records.
Reid noted many players relied too heavily on fake books rather than experience and their ears for playing tunes. Reid observed the older fake books were riddled with errors but that the Chuck Sher series of fake books were of much higher quality, a comment that pleased Dunlap, the Musical Editor of the series.
Both bassists were remarkably generous with their time, as the workshop started shortly after 10 AM and wrapped up around 2:45 PM, with Reid playing and talking for almost three hours. The Northern California Bass Club raffled a couple of useful items for bassists, a case for a German style bow and a copy of Reids bass method "The Evolving Bassist."
Thanks to Local 6 and the Northern California Bass Club for organizing the event, which was free to the public.
Northern California Bass Club Website: http://members.aol.com/pizzikato/NCBC.html
Kurt Ribak Website:
www.ribak.com
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