Evolving Bassist

Rating:
Summary: Standard Method for Jazz Bass
Review: "The Evolving Bassist" has come to be the standard bass method book in the world of jazz. In it, Rufus Reid explains his "concept" of playing bass, moving beyond merely playing quarter notes to progressive and thoughtful bass lines.

As the title of the book indicates, this is a process. The book is designed for players of any level to develop a well-rounded approach to the bass.

The main portion of the method includes etudes, scales, and standard patterns for Latin bass lines, Rock bass lines, etc. Also included are many practical hints, answers to frequently asked questions, discography, and transcriptions of a number of Mr. Reid's compositions.

"The Evolving Bassist" is all around an excellent aid for the growing jazz bass player.

Rating:
Summary: Standard Method for Jazz Bass
Review: "The Evolving Bassist" has come to be the standard bass method book in the world of jazz. In it, Rufus Reid explains his "concept" of playing bass, moving beyond merely playing quarter notes to progressive and thoughtful bass lines.

As the title of the book indicates, this is a process. The book is designed for players of any level to develop a well-rounded approach to the bass.

The main portion of the method includes etudes, scales, and standard patterns for Latin bass lines, Rock bass lines, etc. Also included are many practical hints, answers to frequently asked questions, discography, and transcriptions of a number of Mr. Reid's compositions.

"The Evolving Bassist" is all around an excellent aid for the growing jazz bass player.

Rating:
Summary: Standard Method for Jazz Bass
Review: "The Evolving Bassist" has come to be the standard bass method book in the world of jazz. In it, Rufus Reid explains his "concept" of playing bass, moving beyond merely playing quarter notes to progressive and thoughtful bass lines.

As the title of the book indicates, this is a process. The book is designed for players of any level to develop a well-rounded approach to the bass.

The main portion of the method includes etudes, scales, and standard patterns for Latin bass lines, Rock bass lines, etc. Also included are many practical hints, answers to frequently asked questions, discography, and transcriptions of a number of Mr. Reid's compositions.

"The Evolving Bassist" is all around an excellent aid for the growing jazz bass player.

Rating:
Summary: One of the two or three must-haves for a jazz bassist
Review: I came to bass playing in my late 30s after a lifetime of playing mainly guitar, banjo and mandolin, and I went through a lot of books looking for a clear and solid foundation for upright jazz playing.

Of all the methods out there, Reid's is the one that has really stood the test of time, and for good reason. He starts the reader off with basic scales and simple patterns for playing over changes. From there it's on through more complex scales and patterns and finally, soloing, illustrated with a number of transcribed classics.

Combine this book with the Simandl book for basic technique (and a good library of jazz albums), and you have just about everything needed to guide the beginning bass player through the intermediate stage. For a player who already had a basic classical technique, this book alone is just about all that's needed to learn to play jazz.

Rating:
Summary: Jazz fanatics only (it should have been obvious)
Review: I was really looking forward to this book--I thought, finally, a great method book. Unfortunately, I found his hand notation hard to read and his exercises excessively tedious. Of course, if you aspire to be a jazz musician and chase the chords of a pianist or some other character for hours on end, then this is for you. I've got CD's by Coltrane, Miles Davis, Charles Mingus and others, but frankly, they all bore the holy ...out of me. If you really want to swing in every key and in any style, take a hard look at what Carol Kaye has done. But to be fair, if you love jazz, this book might be excellent for you. Rent it from the library first, or be prepared to return it, like I did.