Posted by withheld this time on July 21, 1999 at 01:04:30:
In Reply to: Re: Doubling and bass players posted by Ike H. on July 20, 1999 at 11:55:50:
A local band director of high regard (and a busy local professional sax and clarinet player) called me on the phone one night worried about finding the printed melody and chord changes to a particular song. I started trying to help him think of places that he could locate the sheet music, and he had already tried all of the sources that I thought of.
I then remarked, "Too bad you don't have a recording of it." He replied, "I've got one right here." Thinking to myself "GOOD GRIEF", I asked him to play the recording over the telephone. After hearing it three times on the phone and tuning in to the bad tape recorder and telephone fidelity, I dictated back to him the melody and chord changes. It was not a song that I had heard before, but it certainly contained no melodic nor harmonic "tricks". I tend to agree about "bass line" musicians having some of the biggest ears. I was quite surprised to discover my friend's lack of skill along these lines, considering his technical and improvisational abilities on his instruments combined with decades of band directing experience with excellent results.