Need info on the history of steel strings, amps in jazz

[Eric Hochberg]

Originally Posted by Ken Smith

On that Ellington record, was it Gut or Steel or could you tell?

I don't recall, but mid 50's would mean gut, wouldn't it? If I can locate the album I'll check it out.

[Arnold Schnitzer]

A few years ago I heard Wynton Marsalis play in a 1500-seat theater (Performing Arts Center, Purchase College). The only amplification was a speaking mike for Wynton, as he was doing a program on trumpet-playing history. Renee Rosnes was on piano, Carl Allen on drums, and Carlos Henriquez on bass (I think about 20 years old at the time!). Carlos was playing on a nice Kay with gut strings, set at medium height. The group playing was so sensitive and mindful that I could hear every note of the bass (when I wasn't concentrating on something else). This was, I believe, both a testament to Carlito's fantastic technique and sound, and to the beautiful musicianship of all the players. And the concert was not all soft stuff. There was some uptempo hard swinging going on, and again, no problem hearing enough bass. One thing I did notice was Carl Allen playing somewhat sparsely, with a very crisp ride cymbal on the hard-swinging stuff. Sometimes I think drummers try to take up too much sonic range, and their wide range of sound (rather than volume) overlaps the bass more than you want to hear. For example, a drummer who plays a lot of kick drum and rides on a riveted cymbal can be a bass killer. I don't know if this post is relevant, but I hope so...

[Eric Hochberg]

Originally Posted by Arnold Schnitzer

Sometimes I think drummers try to take up too much sonic range, and their wide range of sound (rather than volume) overlaps the bass more than you want to hear. For example, a drummer who plays a lot of kick drum and rides on a riveted cymbal can be a bass killer.

I think this is especially true from the perspective of us jazz bassists. I was on a gig a few years ago when the drummer's kick drum beater broke and he had to play the rest of the gig with no bass drum. I could hear myself 100% better and what I was playing meant a lot more to the music than when the bass was "competing" sonically with the bass drum for a place in the music. It was also so much more comfortable to play without all of the disparate rhythmic interaction between bass and bass drum.