Who's Your Favorite Bass Players; Why?

Goose bumps at every note. Signature style playing.

Well, I DO really like myself, and it's not like I personally know many of the others mentioned, so... ;^p

Actually, y'all have covered it pretty well. I'll second Dean Peer, but he's so expansive in his playing that it's hard to even consider him a "bass player." Truly, a remarkable musician, and "Ucross" is one of the best made recordings that I own.

I will throw out the name Karl Gunther, although if you are not from Columbus, Ohio, or you don't very closely follow Blue Murder (who is now defunct, but with whom Karl did work on a never-to-be-released third alubum), you probably won't know who he is. He's the only bass player I've seen who draws a huge crowd TOWARDS the stage for his bass solo! He's stupid good, with musical taste, and is a heck of a nice guy. Probably even nicer than myself, so I guess I lose again...

But back to the question at hand, I would have to say that if I had to pick one bass player to be my favorite, it would have to be John Paul Jones. When I have friends who express an interest in learning to play bass, and they ask me for a good first step, my advice is always "Listen to JPJ on every Zep tune you can get your hands on. That, is what it means to play bass guitar."

Of course, on upright, Christian McBride and Charlie Hayden are two of my faves.

Tom.

Rockette Morton

Check out Scott Thunes, who played for Zapppa in the 80s. Evidently, he is a jerk, so cannot get work. But man can he play. Also, it would be a shame not to mention Paul McCartny here. No band can be as great as the Beatles were without a great rhythm section, and if you listen closely, you'll hear that Paul always made music with that lefty Rickenbacker. Not flashy, but note perfect and choice.

RM

Jaco Pastorius