Hardbopjazz Posted August 1, 2004 Report Share Posted August 1, 2004 Took this shot tonight at the Heath Brothers show. They were wonderful. Between set, they hung out with the audience. I even got to talk with Percy. When I took this shot I had asked him about the small bass. Between the sets, he asked me if the instrument sounded good. I told him, you make anything sound good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardbopjazz Posted August 1, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 1, 2004 one more shot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Fitzgerald Posted August 1, 2004 Report Share Posted August 1, 2004 (edited) The small bass is actually a cello. It's not in the same family - the rounded rather than sloped connection to the neck is the giveaway. Viols (like the bass) are actually the predecessors of the violin family (violin, viola, violoncello). Mike This photo I took at the former Potting Shed at Music Inn in Lenox, Mass. lets you see the difference. Edited August 1, 2004 by Michael Fitzgerald Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardbopjazz Posted August 1, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 1, 2004 The small bass is actually a cello. It's not in the same family - the rounded rather than sloped connection to the neck is the giveaway. Viols (like the bass) are actually the predecessors of the violin family (violin, viola, violoncello). Mike This photo I took at the former Potting Shed at Music Inn in Lenox, Mass. lets you see the difference. Yes, but Percy kept calling it his baby bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardbopjazz Posted August 1, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 1, 2004 Another thing from last night show, some asked Percy to sign an album. He looked at the album and told the guy that this was one album he didn't have. Don't know what album it was. I wish the guy would have offered a copy to him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeweil Posted August 2, 2004 Report Share Posted August 2, 2004 The small bass is actually a cello. It's not in the same family - the rounded rather than sloped connection to the neck is the giveaway. Viols (like the bass) are actually the predecessors of the violin family (violin, viola, violoncello). Mike This photo I took at the former Potting Shed at Music Inn in Lenox, Mass. lets you see the difference. Yes, but Percy kept calling it his baby bass. The shape to me looks slightly different from that of a cello, and I remember reading he tunes it in 4ths like a bass, not in 5ths like a cello. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bright Moments Posted August 2, 2004 Report Share Posted August 2, 2004 i really like the iridium. small, quaint, a nice place to hear jazz. B-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Fitzgerald Posted August 2, 2004 Report Share Posted August 2, 2004 How someone tunes the strings can't possibly change *what* an instrument is. Just because Red Mitchell or Glenn Moore tuned their basses differently than the traditional EADG doesn't make those *not* basses. Scordatura (alternate tuning) is used by guitarists all the time. It was more common in olden days for bowed strings, but is still called for sometimes. So, anyway, this *is* a cello, regardless of what Percy likes to call it. It is a specific model designed by Ray Brown (replacing the tuning pegs with machine tuners) and built by the Kay company. See below. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrdlu Posted August 2, 2004 Report Share Posted August 2, 2004 I think the distinction is a bit like that between a "bass guitar" and an electric bass. You may recall that Wes recorded with a bass guitar, and the name was literally true, as it was handled like a low guitar, rather than a bass. Simlarly, Sam Jones and, now, Percy, seem to be playing a cello-like instrument (and maybe just a real cello), but played as a higher bass, and definitely tuned in fourths. (I don't like the sound that Sam got - I didn't like the tone, and the intonation was a bit dodgy.) Harry Lookofsky's "tenor violin", which appeared on the Gil Evans Verve recordings, is a similar phenomenon, but that instrument is genuinely different from anything else. There was a thread about that on the old Blue Note board. A bass-player friend of mine used to have a blond Kay bass (full-size). He was very fond of it. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Getting back to the real reason for the thread, it's great to hear that all three Heaths are still performing. I got to see them in Victoria, British Columbia, in about 1982, and they were fantastic. They played "On The Trail", which has been in Jimmy's repertoire for many years, and Jimmy really got stuck into those changes, which are very tasty for horn players. He called it "The Marlboro Song". I still remember the first time I heard Percy. Someone lent me the "Modern Jazz Giants" LP with the two versions of "Bags' Groove". Percy's tone there is really rich, and is a big factor in keeping those marathon performances interesting. Someone recently said that Percy has the best ever tone of all jazz bassists. I'm not sure whether I would say that, but it's something to think about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim R Posted August 9, 2004 Report Share Posted August 9, 2004 I think the distinction is a bit like that between a "bass guitar" and an electric bass. You may recall that Wes recorded with a bass guitar, and the name was literally true, as it was handled like a low guitar, rather than a bass. I'll disagree. I think this topic came up before, on the AOTW thread devoted to Wes' MOVIN' ALONG. Technically, the 6-stringed, hollowbody instrument Wes played on that album was called (by the Gibson company, which built it) a "baritone guitar". Calling it a "bass guitar" is not only incorrect in that regard, but it is also in conflict with the fact that the term "bass guitar" commonly refers to the 4-stringed, solidbody instrument also known as the "electric bass". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Storer Posted August 10, 2004 Report Share Posted August 10, 2004 I think I'd go along with Jim (not that I know what the hell I'm talking about). For me a "bass guitar" is the four-stringed instrument played by Monk Montgomery, Paul McCartney, Bootsy Collins, Jaco Pastorius, Steve Swallow, etc. Actually I think Swallow added a string, but that's irrelevant. I think it's best to call that instrument a bass guitar because it's really a guitar rather than a member of the same family of instruments as the bass violin, commonly known in jazz as just a bass. An "electric bass" for me should be synonymous with what people call an "electrified bass," i.e. a stand-up instrument resembling a bass violin but with electric sound production, like Eberhard Weber or Tyrone Brown are known to play. Always happy to meddle with other people's long-standing habits, Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrdlu Posted August 10, 2004 Report Share Posted August 10, 2004 That's fine with me. The ax that Wes played could definitely be regarded as a baritone guitar. The point is that it was played as a guitar, and not as a bass, just as Sam Jones (it seemed to me) played the cello as a kind of higher bass, and not as a cello. I never liked Sam on that, nor did I like the sound that Wes got on that low guitar. Wes was just too good on the regular guitar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim R Posted August 10, 2004 Report Share Posted August 10, 2004 The small bass is actually a cello. It's not in the same family - the rounded rather than sloped connection to the neck is the giveaway. Viols (like the bass) are actually the predecessors of the violin family (violin, viola, violoncello). Mike, thanks for the interesting posts here. For various reasons, the cello has been in my consciousness lately. A friend of my parents brought a Stradivarius cello to our home when I was very young (too young to remember it), circa 1960. I've been trying to research what ever became of that cello, which has been fun. At any rate, this thread has contributed to my education. One thing puzzles me, though. According to most websites I've come across, the bass/double bass/contrabass is considered to be in the violin family (violin - viola - cello - bass). I suppose it's all a mater of semantics- the construction and lineage of the bass is obviously different from the other three instruments. I believe I've seen references to round-shouldered basses I wonder if they have ever been accepted to any degree...? In terms of experiments with different instrument designs in the violin family, here's a site I found kind of interesting: http://www.catgutacoustical.org/research/a...m/fiddfam3.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leeway Posted August 11, 2004 Report Share Posted August 11, 2004 Has anyone head Percy's new album. "A Love Song," which I understand is Percy's first album as a leader. Would like to get some reactions to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardbopjazz Posted August 11, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2004 Has anyone head Percy's new album. "A Love Song," which I understand is Percy's first album as a leader. Would like to get some reactions to it. No, I too would love to hear more about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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