BassPlayer 2017-01

To lock in the groove, honor the eighth-note
rest on beat two of each bar. Also watch for the rests
that happen often on beat four. These rests create
space for the drummer’s backbeat, and makes the
listener bob her head and do that cool, nonchalant
finger-snapping thing that beatniks did in the
’60s. On the Village Gate recording, Tucker starts
the bass line—it was his tune, after all—and then
Abdul-Malik joins with high harmonic accents.
When the bass solo begins at 5:50 into the
track, Abdul-Malik switches to the bass line and
Tucker takes the lead. Example 2 shows the
fifth chorus of his solo, beginning at 7:00. Tucker
quotes the melody in the first four bars. In bar 5,
he plays a repeated riff from the note C. In bars
7 and 8, Tucker throws off a nice blues lick with
a left-hand pull-off. The last eighth-note of bar 8
pushes into bar 9. Be sure to push the anticipated
eighth-notes in bar 9, but don’t rush. Dragging
might be a drag, but rushing is for squares.
In bars 11 and 12, Tucker finishes the chorus
with a G7 lick, landing on the 3rd (the note B) in
bar 12. Maybe he meant to play a Bb because the
rest of the tune always has the G minor sound in
that spot. But Tucker can play any beatnik note
he wants, because it’s his tune and solo. Long
live the ’60s! BP
Swinging
eighth-notes
= 158
Gm7
Fsus
Ex. 2 Ex. 1
7
7
5
7
5
7
5
7
5
7
5
Gm7 Bb A Ab Gm7
7
5
5th solo chorus:
7:00 into track
5
5
Fsus
7
5
5 5 3
Gm7
7
5
3 6 7
(5)
5
7
5
5
9
7
5 5 3
10
8
(5)
5
10
8
5
7
5
9
7
3 7 5 3
5
7
5
7
5
8
6
5 (0) 5
Gm7
6
4
3
PO
3
5
3
7
5
7 7 5 3 0
5
3
7
5
5
3
7
5
5
3
7
5
5 5 5
3 5
3
5
3
6
4
1
9
Bb A Ab G7
5
3
3 2 2
2
0
2
1
1
(3)
(4)
5 3
5
2 0
3 1 2 5
bassplayer.com / january2017 53