Music out there with good bass


Looking for music jazz, classical, rock etc. that has great bass. What do you recommend!
russb
Boy, that's almost like asking, "any good music out there with good notes"! At the moment listening to Christian Mcbride SCI-FI. He covers Havona (Jaco Pastorious) and Butterfly Dreams (Stanley Clarke)! One would need some self confidence to take these songs on as a Bassist, and he does it well! PS: He starts out with a version of Aja (Steeley Dan)
"Uranus,the Magician"-Gustav Holst(The Planets)TELARC Rec.
"Deja`s Theme"-Stanley Clark(At the Movies)
"East River Drive"-Stanley Clark(album title)
"Sweet Thing"-Boney James(album title)
"Body Language"-Boney James(album title)
"Who?"-Richard Elliot(Chill Factor)
"Do It In Luxury"-Cris Botti(A Thousand Kisses Deep)
To test for ability to deliver various details in the bass in a musical way and with authority: the opening track "Waltz for Ruth" off the album "Beyond the Missouri Skies" by Charlie Haden (bass) and Pat Methany is a good test.

For just plain powerful bass with a kick, try "The Black Pearl (Dave Darell Radio Edit)" by Scotty.

Audiogoners who perhaps might do Les Mills "Body Combat" MMA fitness class will recognize this in the latest release.

Shiver My Timbers!!!
A lot of the Alligator Records blues artists have very well recorded bass. Also the Stevie Ray Vaughan studio albums.
Madonna's Immaculate Collection CD.
Stevie Wonder - Innervisions CD.
Both have very deep bass.
'The Organ Works' by J.S Bach performed by Werner Jacob
a Box set of 16 cd's from EMI Classics 5 73878 2
Anything by the Cowboy Junkies. They seem to elevate the bass in their recordings. May I suggest One Soul Now. It reminds me of a Cowboy Junkies CD with Neil Young on it although it's only the guitar player who sounds a hell of a lot like him.
Michael Franks- Passionfruit. Mixed nice and warm. Will Lee and Neil Jason on Bass, Steve Gadd and Christopher Parker on Drums. Floor toms sound fantastic, full, natural and punchy. Astrud Gilberto makes an appearance. Great record.
Any Jah Wobble generally has excellent bass.

But if you can find his 12" (may be available on cd too) of 'The sun does rise' the B-side Oh Namah Shiva is simply stunning. Btw I could be wrong about the single but its one of the 12"'s :)

Yello are great to listen to anyway. Don't remember about the bass.

Also Bob Marley. Particularly Catch a Fire.

Underworld.

http://vinylfanatics.com
I happened to revisit Jennifer Warnes yesterday for the first time in ages. Her record/cd "The Hunter" has impressive bass guitar/drums on several tracks. It recalls Rickie Lee Jones "We Belong Together" (I believe that song is on her eponymously titled cd) in sound quality, although RLJ is, for me, much the more interesting artist.
Some of Celia Cruz' (Queen of Salsa) last recordings are mixed with some very rich bass. Santana/Puente covers.
Yes, Tool is my preferred choice for bass in rock music. They never dissappoint me. Also their spinoff, A Perfect Circle" is also very good.

Victor Wooten is a bassist I also enjoy.
Some suggestions: "Secret World" by Peter Gabriel has bass that wraps around and envelopes you in a way that's difficult to explain until you experience it. Tool on any of their cds has generally some of the coolest bass tones ever recorded. "Perfect Drug" by Nine Inch Nails is a tour de force of interesting sounds of all kinds but the bass will shake the house with the right speakers.
Don Dixon is well known producer (REM,Smithereens, etc.) and a less well known bassist, singer, pop songwriter. He knows how to record a pop-rock rhythm section and evidently loves the sound of his own bass. Try "Romeo at Juliard" which features a cover of "Cool" from West Side Story that features very good electric bass reproduction. He has also covered "Fever" on an Arthur Alexander tribute cd (I forget the title) to similar effect. These do not showcase deep, thunderous bass, but are effective (to my ear) electric bass guitar recordings.
if you like acoustic jazz upright bass

Brian Bromberg - wood and wood II - such technique
Paul Chambers - bass on top
Lafaro with Bill Evans Quartet
Niels Henning Ormsted Peterson - any of his work with Oscar Peterson Trio or solo
I will second the Maxwell "Embrya" album's bass. It opens with one of the most seductive bass lines (and song)and just rolls along from there and from the start you know it's going to be smooth sailing. It's a good album, mostly mid-tempo cuts with a few really choice tracks on it and the gent can sing, my wife LOVES him. If you want to feel a little younger and cooler than you are, put this album on in the background one evening and if your wife doesn't come closer then there's no help for you. I hate to even compare but I think he's like the younger generations Marvin Gaye and Marvin gaye is as good as it gets IMO.

BTW, this gentle did a version of Kate Bush's "A Womans Work" that put my jaw on the floor and my wife in the mood, YMMV.
If you like "metal" and seek "pounding double bass" kick drums, check out Master's "Faith is in Season".

If you want to see just how much bottom end extension and output your speakers really have, check out Ayre Acoustics "irrational but efficacious" test disc. Starts off at 5 Hz and climbs from there using the "Cardas sweep tone". This disc CAN damage your woofers, tweeters and wallet, so proceed with caution. Sean
>
The Uruk-Hai LOTR The Two Towers (in general lots of bass on LOTR sound track)
Classical Telarc disc's are known for great bass I have maybe five and like them all.
Cassandra Wilson - New Moon Daughter

Patricia Barber - Cafe Blue

Marcus Miller - M2

Dave Grusin - Gershwin Connection

Dave Grusin – Migration

Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade; Stravinsky: Song of the Nightingale (RCA Living Stereo) SACD

Keb Mo – Slow Down

Sting - Brand New Day

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Michael Brook – Night Song
Jazz:
Patricia Barber - "Modern Cool", "Night Club"

Classical:
Mahler Symphony no.5 conducted by Riccardo Chaily
Shostakovich Symphony no.5 conducted by Rostrapovich with National Orchestra

Rock:
Metallica - "Load"
Pink Floyd - "The Wall"

just to name a few....
I have to agree with all the pipe / church organ posters. Not my style of music really, but nothing will stoop so low naturally as a pipe organ.

I think there is a lot of very manufactured / sampled / looped bass on Moby "Play" but won't sound as great as the real thing.
Prodigy - Fire Starter
Collective Soul - Heavy
Lorin Maazel and Cleveland Orchestra - Shostakovich Fifth (especially the end with the kettle drums)
Eric Kunzel - Jurrasic Lunch, Batman, Terminator
Police - Murder by Numbers
a must listen is Junior Mance cd 'Blue Mance.' absolutely excellent bass,and just great music.The title cut is a boogie,bass lovers dream.
A couple of jazz Cds:
--Alan Broadbent/"'Round Midnight": Brian Bromberg's acoustic bass is a little heavy-handed at times, but is still fun to listen to.
--Kyle Eastwood/"Paris Blue": This is an all-around excellent CD (yes, from Clint's son), and both his bass playing and compositions are quite good. Track 4 makes a great demo.
Charlie
David Holland Quartet: Conference of the Birds is one of the great free jazz albums ever recorded, and Holland's bass playing is out of this world.
Stanley Clark's Journey to Love and School Days has some pretty good driving song's mixed in with some spacey interludes.
For classical music, you might try Edgar Meyer - Bach Unaccompanied Cello Suites. It's performed on double bass and sounds wonderful. It continues to surprise me with its delicacy. Other classical music with strong clear bass is almost any organ work written by Max Reger.

For good vocal bass, you might try Isaac Freeman, especially in his work with The Fairfield Four.

For acoustic bass in jazz music, I recommend starting with Paul Chambers for older jazz, and a few of the albums of Brian Bromberg for more recent jazz. For electric bass, I think Jaco Pastorius has to be considered among the best there has been.
Try "The Gladiator" soundtrack. It has some wonderful deep bass notes, but a lot of great french horn.

Stanley Clark "If this Bass Could Only Talk" bass as a lead instrument

Stuart Hamm "Outbound" bass as a lead . . . This also has excellent songs.

Most anything by Bill Laswell.

Massive Attack "Mezzanine"

Tracy Chapman

Gillian Welch "Revival" this is more country-rock flavor, but has some amazing, and different stand up bass lines
Roger Waters "Amused to Death". Made my REL Stentor III walk across the room.
Try some of Bill Evans live recordings with Scott LaFaro on bass. Waltz for Debby and Live at the Village Vanguard. Also get some Ray Brown.
Here's 2 more for Yello- BABY and YOU GOTTA SAY YES TO ANOTHER SUCCESS. Every Yello CD I have heard sounds fantastic.