3 Most versatile bassist?

[fyrwyr]

Which 3 bassists do y'all think are some of the most versatile; living or dead...

Off the top of my head:

-Dave LaRue

-Michael Manring

-Paul McCartney

[Gordon_Gecko]

Tony Levin

John Wetton

Victor Wooten

Jean Baudin

[yZe]

Scott Thunes

From punk Rock to Zappa

Come on, now !!

His Blog is quite entertaining

http://www.geoscott.com/

[Serious Poo]

Victor Wooten
Victor Wooten
Victor Wooten

Oh, and that Tony Levin guy isn't too shabby, either.

:D

[Shnook]

I can name one. Bryan Beller!

[Jake]

Looking at the breadth in their body of work, I come up with...

Jerry Jemmott
Carol Kaye
Tony Levin

"Versatility", to me, doesn't just mean that you can pull off a bunch of styles. It means that you can also capture the nuances in those styles necessary to support the song you're playing properly. These folks do just that, time and again.

[VH5150]

http://www.rockstarphotos.net/gallery/albums/wpw-20070201/thumb_Picture%7E3.jpg

I don't know if you guys think so but Oteil kills

[dillonfiore]

Dylan
Dylan
Dylan

[yZe]

http://www.rockstarphotos.net/gallery/albums/wpw-20070201/thumb_Picture%7E3.jpg

I don't know if you guys think so but Oteil kills

Oteil is mos def mong the illinest

Pretty cool cat who is up for the hang and actually will have a responsive conversation with you as opposed to some of these cats whose level of social skills are at a serious imbalance with their musicianship

[zombywoof]

Joey Spaminato
Jack Cassady
Teddy Thompson

[TNJ]

Victor Wooten
Oteil Burbridge
John Pattitucci

Versatile and toneful!

(not to mention, creative as all get out!)

S.
j

[big mike]

Vic Wooten
Oteil Burbridge
Nathan East

[westrock]

Victor Wooten
Oteil Burbridge
John Pattitucci

Versatile and toneful!

(not to mention, creative as all get out!)

S.
j

100%:AOK

[JRenn]

I can't believe no one's said Pino yet...

[fyrwyr]

I forgot Chuck Rainey:o what a monster!!!

[Bassomatic]

Tony Levin
Lee Sklar
Melvin Gibbs

[Luke]

Versatile means fretted, fretless and slapper.

Alan Clarion
Kim Stone
John Patitucci

Honorable mention, Mark Egan.

[Bassomatic]

Versatile means fretted, fretless and slapper.

To me, it means you can hold it down respectably in the most genres.

[Palmetto Kid]

Aw come on!!! You guys are just naming virtuosos. Except maybe Levin.
The question is versatile???

Duck Dunn
James Jamerson
John Siegler

[codo]

i'm not a bass player but my vote goes to Pino

[GDking]

Jaco Pastorius was the best. John Glasscock from Jethro tull was even better.

[Bassomatic]

Aw come on!!! You guys are just naming virtuosos. Except maybe Levin.
The question is versatile???

Duck Dunn
James Jamerson
John Siegler

C'mon, is Duck more versatile than Tony? Not to my ears.

[orangewizard]

Guy Pratt.:RoCkIn

[hollowbody]

Anthony Jackson

David Shields

Marcus Miller

[Thor]

Pino

LaRue

Levin

Jeff Berlin

(I know I can't count)

Cheers,

Edward

[alanbass1]

For versatility it would be hard to top:
Tony Levin
Leland Sklar
Pino Palladino

[Bassomatic]

Definitely Pino.

Howzabout Me'shel and Bill Laswell, while we're at it?l

EDIT:

And Brad Houser covers a lot of styles with conviction, pocket, and mojo.

[jzucker]

matt garrison. Done.

[Bassomatic]

How could we all have forgotten John Paul Jones?

[LL1]

How could we all have forgotten John Paul Jones?

Yeah if anyone else saw the Zooma tour, or have seen the video, he is very versatile. Plays alot of great hand made instruments. 8 string bass mandos, Mandolin /12 /and 6 string all in one loop solos. All the keyboard parts. Lap steels,,,Simply amazing. :crazy The guy on the stick is really good too, reminds me of Trey Gunn.

[The Golden Boy]

Fieldy.

[Bassomatic]

Yeah if anyone else saw the Zooma tour, or have seen the video, he is very versatile. Plays alot of great hand made instruments. 8 string bass mandos, Mandolin /12 /and 6 string all in one loop solos. All the keyboard parts. Lap steels,,,Simply amazing. :crazy The guy on the stick is really good too, reminds me of Trey Gunn.

That's Nick Beggs. Kilted badass!

It was wonderful to catch JPJ locally on that tour. It was about the time Pagey and Mr. Planet had dissed him so hard on their Zep-warmed-over thing, and he really nailed the spirit of the Page stuff he covered on that bass lap steel.

[JohnSS]

There are countless bassists who would qualify - understanding the question being "most versatile" not necessarily "The Best" or "Favorite" :

Jack Casady
Flea
Larry Graham
John Entwistle
Stanley Clarke
Pino Palladino
Chuck Rainey
Randy Jackson (yes - the American Idol guy)
Tony Levin
Nathan East

All of the above guys have recorded and/or performed in a variety of musical genres, from pop, various forms of rock, R&B to jazz, et al.

If you're speaking of "most influential" or most significant" within a particular genre:

Jaco Pastorius
James Jamerson
Paul McCartney
Chris Squire

[agreatheight]

For versatility it would be hard to top:
Tony Levin
Leland Sklar
Pino Palladino

Those are my three.

[thesedaze]

Judging those who I've seen live...

I'd have to say I've seen quite a bit of versatility out of Reed Mathis lately.

Certainly there are more skilled players out there, but with versatility in mind I'd have to say in no particular order:

Reed Mathis
Alphonso Johnson
Kai Eckhardt

I've seen Victor, great player, but I wouldn't really see him as versatile as others. He seems to bring the same styling to the table in whatever situation he is in.

[Hard2Hear]

I think my friend Todd has most of these guys beat as far as versatility. He plays his 7/8 doublebass with a regional symphony orchestra, plays his 3/4 standup with a couple of local jazz groups, plays electric and standup for a gospel bluegrass guy out in the hills, and plays electric on rock/funk with me.

[vladorg]

For some reason nowhere did I see mentioned Will Lee and James Genus!I think they do belong!

Vlad

[Brick]

I'm gonna add my friend Benny Rietveld

He's played/toured with

Miles
Santana (current)
Shelia E
Herbie

how versatile do you want?

http://a443.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/00848/24/49/848629442_l.jpg

[arfalax]

Fans of the man don't call Casady God for nuthin'! He hits bedrock.

Saw Pete Sears in Las Cruces, NM with JS and he was amazing even with a cast on his broken leg in '75.

Wooten is in the top tier for sure.

I like Mike Gordon too.

There are so many, my head hurts.

[leigh]

David Schools

Carol Kaye

Oteil Burbridge

All are quite versatile, now as for favorite bassist... three isn't enough. no where near enough.

[The Golden Boy]

John Mayer

[J-DUB]

victor wooten
John Ro Myung
Michael Peter Balzary
Marcus Miller

[SGNick]

sometimes I feel like I'm the only one on this board who absolutely can NOT stand to listen to Victor Wooten...

[testing1two]

For versatility over their entire body of work (not just 'how many styles can you play in a fusion tune') my vote goes to:

1. Leland Sklar
2. Chuck Rainey
3. Neil Stubenhaus

honorable mention to Nathan East who sounds good in every session.

[SybianRiot]

1.Trevor Dunn
2.Trevor Dunn
3.Trevor Dunn

[The Golden Boy]

sometimes I feel like I'm the only one on this board who absolutely can NOT stand to listen to Victor Wooten...

As Mick Jagger once said... "You're not the only one..."

[thesedaze]

For versatility over their entire body of work (not just 'how many styles can you play in a fusion tune') my vote goes to:

1. Leland Sklar
2. Chuck Rainey
3. Neil Stubenhaus

honorable mention to Nathan East who sounds good in every session.

+1 on Lee Sklar

[SmoothFall]

Manring is the one and the only... He is the man, the myth, the legend... Nobody even touches that guy, enough said!!!

[Bassomatic]

Will Lee
Justin Meldal-Johnson
Jon Paul Jones

[ghoti]

Most of the truly versatile ones are studio players, and thus you don't hear a lot about them.

[lalaland]

Mike Gordon

[bard2dbone]

Chuck Rainey
Roscoe Beck
Pino Palladino
Leland Sklar

They've got it ALL covered.

[BudLite]

There is Jaco and .....well he is the best....I dig Roscoe Beck...

[elkym]

Yeah... I think we've only heard a couple here mention Jaco-- I figure he was probably as versatile as they come-- but I don't really follow bassists, so take that with a grain of salt, I guess.

[Ricman]

Versatile?
Well, uh, me. I can play bass, guitar, drums, and sax, plus I know 5 or 6 pretty darn good card tricks, not to mention I won first place in a chili cookoff earlier this year. That's pretty versatile.
That's not to say I'm as GOOD as some of the other fellows mentioned....:D