All about that bass

 

Mr James Jamerson, a Detroit-based Jazz bass player, rapidly acquired a solid reputation in the area, getting studio gigs at a fairly young age. With good reason: an accomplished and highly creative musician, he could play almost any type of genre, always adding a unique phrasing to his bass melodies. This got Berry Gordy interested: he was in the process of creating the greatest studio band known to man for his label — Motown Records. The band was called the Funk Brothers and went on to record with Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Diana Ross & The Supremes, The Four Tops… The list is simply ridiculously long.

Perhaps the most brilliant artist out of this stellar group of musicians was indeed Jamerson, who seamlessly weaved together Jazz, Soul and Pop. If you take any of his work and isolate the bass track, you will notice that it is incredibly subtle, intricate and creative. Yet, when played along with the rest of the instruments (and vocals), it always perfectly matches the ensemble, adding a remarkably complex layer to the track without ever crowding it. Any song he played on would be a great example of this, we over at Sondz particularly enjoy his “Bernadette” bass track (originally sung by the Four Tops). Almost makes you feel like the rest of the song is ornamental…

The most famous Jamerson anecdote, however, concerns an even more historic song — Marvin Gaye’s “What’s going on“, taken from the groundbreaking 1971 album of the same name. Interestingly, although the Funk Brothers performed on an endless string of hits, they were never credited for any of that work. Until Gaye decided to take the band from Detroit to Los Angeles and record arguably his most memorable work there. The day they were supposed to get busy on “What’s going on”, though, they couldn’t find Jamerson. After checking out several bars — Jamerson’s other passion — they did find the musician, although he was too inebriated to stand up for a recording session. The story goes that he recorded the piece while lying on the floor…

Whether or not that story is entirely accurate, the genius of Jamerson is however indisputable. And will live on for generations of listeners to come…