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13 Amazing String Bass Solos You Must Hear!

Looking for some inspiration on your double string bass? The editors at StringOvation have compiled a list of some amazing string bass solos or duets that we thought would surely stir your imagination! They cross all music genres and let the string bass shine in all its glory!

  1. Adam Ben Ezra is an outstanding Israeli bassist with an unique technique of slap, tap, and strum that sounds like a full band. Check out his classic video here, and his performance of Flamenco in front of a live audience, from his new live studio album Pin Drop.
  1. Stanley Clarke lets loose and strums an outstanding bass folk song at the Newport Jazz Festival in 2003.
  1. Jean Russell of the group Tcha-Badjo, sings and swings in a Gypsy jazz version of Ain’t Got That Swing. Watch his solo with the tap dancer, live on the street in Switzerland (or Quebec)!
  1. In the mood for a double bass jazz jam session extraordinaire? Check out John Patitucci, Victor Wooten, Victor Bailey, and Steve Bailey in concert at the Berklee College of Music in 2013.
  1. Christian McBride, the legendary rhythm master, jams it out here, from Baltica 2003. Then hear some wild strumming and a good dose of humor with the McBride Trio here, live in Budapest, 2014.
  1. Let’s get back to some bowing, shall we? Lev Weksler performs Flight of the Bumble-Bee by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, which he arranged for two Double Basses and performs, in double!
  1. Rinat Ibragimov, principal Double Bass for the London Symphony Orchestra, performs a stunning version of Bottesini's Concerto for Double Bass No 2 in B Minor, on an original 3-stringed period instrument by Antonio Gagliano.
  1. Francesco Tesei plays a rousing rendition of the Game of Thrones theme on the double bass.
  1. The one and only Esperanza Spalding sings The Sunny Side of Street for the Obama’s in this 2016 clip. Be sure to wait for the bass solo.
  1. Talk about stage presence – it’s an upright bass showdown (at 3:46 in video) during Brian Setzer’s Rockabilly Riot, live on stage!
  2. The legendary Ray Brown Trio is superb in this Duke Ellington medley from the Umbria Jazz Festival in 1994.
  1. Danish bass player Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen plays Autumn Leaves in this amazing, obscure clip.
  1. Now for something completely different. In this clip from Chaos & Creation At Abbey Road, Paul McCartney plays Bill Black’s original bass from Black’s days with the Elvis Presley Trio. McCartney does a sweet solo version of Heartbreak Hotel.

If you are eager for more, check out the plethora of great bass videos on Youtube!

This article sponsored by Thomastik-Infeld

 

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