Who's Your Favorite Bass Players; Why?

Mr. Geddy Lee........bar none!

For rock I like Stuart Hamm, onfortunately his songwriting abilities are a bit less. And then there is Rob Wasserman. Check out 'Trio's', which is stunning imho.

Perhaps, the most influential bass player in modern popular music must be Larry Graham (Sly and the Family Stone, Graham Central Station), as he invented the ubiquitous "popping" bassline. Even such monsters as Stanley Clarke, Jaco, etc. acknowledge(d) this.

My faves (in no particular order):
Larry Graham - see above
Oscar Pettiford - virtuoso of his era
Stanley Clarke - nuanced, power, speed, light touch
Percy Jones (Brand-X) - speed, harmonically advanced
Reggie Workman - big, fat tone, comfortable at speed
Jaco Pastorius - flat out improvisational genius
Brian Bromberg - great tone, technically phenomenal
Fred Hopkins - wrapped David Murray's bands in a warm hug
John McVie - a Chicago Blues legend that happens to be a Brit
Scott LoFaro - no technical limits, great tone, big ears
George Mraz - fast and clean, light tone, great accompianist
Charles Mingus - Flat out genius as a bassist and composer
Flea - great stylist, melodic, the Peppers's foundation
Jack Bruce - One of the best solists in early rock
Allen Wentz (Wild Cherry) - Funky, FUNKY bass lines
Ray Brown - Timekeeper par excellence
Johnny Dyani - Avantgardist with huge tone and soul
Tommy Shannon - muscular playing with Stevie Ray Vaughn
Charlie Haden - the "Round Sound", great with Ornette
Duck Dunn - The center of the earth, and the Memphis Sound
Sorry, got to go.

Siliab:

Right on regarding the ultra-influencial Larry Graham. I'd say it's tough to decide who was more influencial, Larry or James Jamerson. Both are legends.

And yes, thank you for reminding me of Duck Dunn. He is definitely one of my favorite players.

Later, Tom.

Can't believe no one's mentioned Jack Bruce!