SKF NOTE: This piece was thoroughly enjoyable to put together. My intent was to write similar pieces with pianists, guitarists, and other instrumentalists as subjects. Don’t remember why I never did.

Some of the best advice I received in my playing days was from non-drummers, starting with my high school music teacher, Art Simeone. And that’s where the idea for this piece came from. Thirty-five years up the road, this is an impressive group of bassists — if I do say so myself: Jack Six, Carol Kaye, Calvin Hill, Larry Ridley, Jr., Ron Carter, Miroslav Vitous, Eddie Gomez, Reggie Workman, Richard Davis, Gordon Edwards, Will Lee, Bob Cranshaw, Lee Sklar, Max Bennett, Sam Jones, and Wilton Felder.

Also, it is interesting to me, looking at this piece this morning, that on the July 1981 Modern Drummer cover this piece is titled, The Great Bass Players: On Drummers. Every where else in the magazine the piece is, Bassists: On Drummers. In his introductory Editor’s Overview, Ron Spagnardi wrote, “As drummers, we’re all well-aware of the importance of a good musical relationship with the bass player. If you’ve ever wondered what a bass player really looks for in a drummer, well, we talked with some of the best. Their illuminating comments are here to absorb in Bassists: On Drummers.”

[SKF NOTE: 6/17/17 – The Great Bass Players: On Drummers full article is now available on MD‘s Archive Page.]

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