Funky/fusion jazz with heavy base emphasis....


Happy 03 audiogoners...looking for stripped down, bass dominant jazz/percussion sounds...with little to no trumphets,sax,piano,etc...real funky/fusion type of groove...any thoughts...Bitches Brew is cool...but looking for something more straight forward...less pyschedelic...also...good recording a plus
128x128phasecorrect
Brand-X with bassist Percy Jones that plays frettless bass like he's playing lead-guitar. Actually the whole band is built on bass-solo of Percy Jones.

Percy Jones solo albums will certainl impress you as well.

Stanley Clarke funko-bassist of Electric Band of Chick Corea. Check out Bass-ic collection.

Dave Weckl band basically consists of Chick Corea members and certainly either Stanley Clarke or Eddie Gomez that I don't realy remember.

You have to grab ANYTHING you find for the following bassists bellow:

Pekka Pohjola and Jeff Berlin
Every their album is different and full of action they might be pretty-costly though due to the very limited production.

Grab solo albums of former vibraphonist and percussionist of Frank Zappa Ed Mann "Get up" album stands up on my mind.

If you will be able to find Pierre Moerlen and Gong you also enjoy the furious fusion with great bassists played on the different tracks even including Pekka Pohjola.

That's almost the half of my funko-fusion library. The items I have listed almost all on vinyl and I'm not sure if all of them available on CD.
Check out Victor Wooten if you like funky and outrageously great bass! He's a madman and so incredible live it was almost beyond belief.
Second Victor Wooten. Check out Wooten's pet project "Vital Tech Tones" for crazy funk/jazzy bass heavy stuff. He's insane. Seen him solo, with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, and he never ceases to amaze. Cheers!
Try:

Flim and the BBs (New Pants or Further Adventures of...)
Yellowjackets (I like Dreamland and Club Nocturne)
Chick Corea & RTF - Romantic Warrior

Just a few of my "fun" discs. Hope you like them.
George Duke-"After Hours" "Illusions" Is Love Enough"(!)
Herbie Hancock "Thrust" "Disis Da Drum"
Nuyorican Soul "Fabrica De Nuevo York"
Steps Ahead "Yin Yang"
Billy Cobham "Total Eclipse"
Rachelle Ferrell "Individuality"
email for others if you wish,
tracer
Medeski Martin & Wood - any titles (very groove oriented)

Johansson Johansson and Holdsworth - Heavy Machinery (no bass but has HEAVY synth bass grooves)

Gong: Expresso II

Wayne Peet's Doppler Funk: Blasto! (nine winds label)

Hebie Hancock: Thrust

Kazumi Watanabi: the one with Bruford and Jeff Berlin...think its called "spice of life"

John Fumo: After the Fact (has fair amount of horns but it still grooves)

Doctor Nerve: Armed Observation/Out to Bomb Fresh Kings (2 on 1 cd)

Praxis: Transmutation

Dedalus: Dedalus (vynyl magic label)

Miles Davis: Decoy
Brian Bromberg is your man...trust me on this.
Album titles include "Jaco", "Wood" and "You know that feeling".
Grade Boy All Stars are prettty groovy, but do have some horns.

Billy Cobham: Spectrum, has some funky tunes

Zao: Shekina, actually a prog lp but some of the funkier tunes blow me away, beautiful record
To continue thought of Benthar on Bill Laswell works I'd add

Material "Halucination Engine" and
"Mastermind"

Ambitious Lovers "Greed" with avant-funco guitarist Arto Lindsay.
Oops! Sorry, there is no Grade Boy All Stars...they are called Greyboy Allstars. I only knew them from a radio program and it sounded like the announcer was saying "Grade Boy All Stars"! Went to a record store and DISCovered the truth

BTW, I think Maraketz recomendation of Material "Hallucination Engine" is good one, it's more bass heavy & groovy than Praxis (also Bill Laswell produced). Get Material and forget about Praxis, I dont think it's what you are looking for (based on your description).
Also...Beastie Boys import only jazz instrumentals.."in sounds from the way out"...pricy and hard to find...but well worth the effort...if you like funky,groove jams...
The following are in addition to the great funky bass playa's mentioned above.

Marcus Miller - The Sun Don't Lie &/ M2
Jimmy Haslip - Red Heat
Braxton Bros. - Steppin' Out &/ Now & Forever
Abraham Laboriel - Dear Friends &/ Guidum
Michael Manson - The Bottom Line
Chuck Smith - Bassically Bass
Zachary Breaux - Uptown Groove
Max Bennett - Great Expectations &/ Private Reserve &/ People & Places
The following are in addition to the great funky bass playa's mentioned above.

Marcus Miller - The Sun Don't Lie &/ M2
Jimmy Haslip - Red Heat
Braxton Bros. - Steppin' Out &/ Now & Forever
Abraham Laboriel - Dear Friends &/ Guidum
Michael Manson - The Bottom Line
Chuck Smith - Bassically Bass
Zachary Breaux - Uptown Groove
Max Bennett - Great Expectations &/ Private Reserve &/ People & Places
Marakanetz, sorry I spelled your name wrong if you notice above...BTW if you are still following this post could you recommend some Pekka Pohjola records? I only have "Consequences of Indecisions" w/Oldfield and Moerlin (great lp).
Benthar, I would realy recommend to grab ANYTHING where you see Pohjola or Moerlen. His albums are realy difficult to remember how to spell since many of them weren't ever printed in US or for US and they're on Finnish or Norwegian. US issues are "Space Waltz" and "Urban Tango" that are certainly less rare than the rest of european issues and certainly cheaper. The european issues are $$$!
I've been running into some fairly great jazz/electronica fusion as of late. If you're inclined to dig into that kind of sound, check out the Tied & Tickled Trio 'Electric Avenue Tapes' or DJ Spooky 'Optometry'. This stuff uses real players, real-time sounds, etc. and is not simply your standard acid-jazz fare that garners a jazz 'flavor' by slipping in a few samples and rhythm loops (even though some of that stuff is very nice as well). The 'Optometry' recording even uses, as it's band, some choice playing by some very hot, very 'now' jazz players; Joe McPhee, Matthew Shipp, William Parker, Billy Martin, etc.
Return to Forever - Romantic Warrior. This was remastered last year. Heavy bass, not a bad recording
Brand X and Jeff Berlin albums have wonderful bass. You may also want to try Tribal Tech albums such as Dr. Hee, Illicit, and Spears. Also solo recordings from Chad Wakerman and Laurence Cottle are quite heavy in the bass registers, if you like jazz fusion. Lots of these recordings are hard to find but Audiophile Imports can help you find most of them.
Kelvin
You could try: Music Revelation Ensemble very funky power fusion, PBD with Jaco on bass,Stuttgart Aria with Bireli Legrand on guitar and Jaco on bass, Essence (featuring Jaco) Last Flight.....These won't be easy to find but they might satisfy your jones for power funk jazz fusion, for a little while anyway.
I forgot to mention Stanley Clarke. Several choices are good but for power bass fusion the first one I like the best. Several Tony Williams Lifetime discs might work for you also as well as a couple of Tony Levin titles.