Top of the week, bottom of the scale...our lot in life!

It's time for the Bass Groove of the Week...and what a week it's been! I've been planning to publish this groove for the past couple of weeks, and then, out of the blue, I get to meet the man in the flesh! Anthony Jackson is our groove master of the week, and this groove is in the style of his playing (this is the required legal mumbo-jumbo)!

Anthony is one of the foremost bassists on the scene today, and definitely one of the most respected members of the low end. If you've ever read any of his interviews, you'll know what I love about him...the cat is candid! And, of course, he's a wonderful player! He's also the inventor of the modern 6-string bass guitar, which he calls the contra bass guitar. His contributions to the world of bass are massive, and his recording career spans a great number of great and diverse artists, ranging from Chaka Khan to Michel Camilo...go get'em!

Without further preamble, here's a groove in the style of Anthony Jackson:

Settings:

Tempo: 160 (We're fooling the AB system into 16th notes...the actual tempo is 80)

Sound: Elec Pick (You've read correctly, our man loves to play with a pick!)

Click: Start

Loop: 4 times

Groove Skeleton: 1-a (dotted 8th and 16th)

Tonality: Dominant...well, sort of. The groove has major and minor 3rds, and a minor 2nd...it's an altered dominant. The mode would be probably Superlocrian...yikes!

Style: World (It's a Latin tune of sorts)

You can see that this guy does not fit into any one category neatly...he's way too creative!



The best thing about Anthony is, you never know what you can expect, but you always know it'll be great! Enjoy, fellow bassists, and enjoy fellow bassists...know what I mean?

Peace,

Patrick

P.S.: If you're playing the TAB version at the bottom of the page, set your tempo to 80.