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The Latest Breaking News from James Jamerson

“My godfather played drums with Herbie Hancock, and he asked this guy to help me out on bass. Years later I found out it was Jaco”: How a chance family connection brought Raphael Saadiq a lesson with one of the greatest bass players of all time

Since breaking through as the frontman of Tony! Toni! Toné!, Raphael Saadiq has forged a career alongside A Tribe Called Quest, Snoop Dogg and Q-Tip, while playing a key role in the sound of D’Angelo’s acclaimed neo-soul albums

Guitar World

“I started playing some of Steve Cropper's riffs to him and told him how much Soul Man influenced one of our songs. He giggled and was very tickled by that”: Jimmy James on taking Parlor Greens’ funky sound “to the cosmos”

Jimmy James’ spartan approach and tone propel funk-instrumental powerhouse Parlor Greens into the stratosphere – minus any parlor tricks

Guitar World

“While the 6-string is my comfort zone, I missed the physical freedom of the 4-string bass”: Ernie Ball and Fender top this month's low-end releases with signature models celebrating two of the bass world’s most influential voices

John Myung’s new artist model kicks off another stacked month of bass releases, alongside an eye-catching Squier, a semi-acoustic Rickenbacker, and a raft of player-friendly upgrades

Guitar World

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“The most important and influential bass guitarist in the 66-year history of the Precision”: Fender honors legendary Motown bass great with recreation of James Jamerson’s workhorse bass

Jamerson’s beloved Precision Bass has been recreated in all its vintage, warm-voiced glory

Guitar World

“Jaco made a great contribution, but what came after was all these idiots trying to sound like him. That's why bass players today are so lame”: Bill Laswell gives his unfiltered verdict on modern bassists

The visionary producer also had his say on Lemmy, Paul Simon, and his failed studio session with Jaco Pastorius

Guitar World

“I look down, I see the empty pit, and I see a bass guitar against the wall. I said, ‘Right, I’m gonna show you guys what I’ve got’”: When a teenage Suzi Quatro laid down a marker by jamming with Jeff Beck and Cozy Powell

The bassist was determined to prove her worth, and the impromptu jam was the perfect platform to do it

Guitar World

“After the set, Hendrix came knocking on the dressing room door and said, ‘I want you to come on tour with me’”: Chicago bassist Peter Cetera reflects on signing for Columbia Records, opening for Jimi Hendrix and why Paul McCartney changed everything

The newly named Chicago were invited to open for The Experience on several dates during their 1969 US tour

Guitar World

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“Sometimes David had suggestions. If he wanted a specific thing, he'd ask for or try to explain it. Lenny's the opposite – he wants it to sound exactly like he did it!” How Gail Ann Dorsey honed her bass craft with David Bowie and Lenny Kravitz

Bowie’s long-time bassist salutes her mentor and unpacks her approach to the bass chair with Lenny Kravitz

Guitar World

“I was the most vocal about being unhappy. That's when George grabbed Bootsy Collins and his band to replace us”: He was schooled by James Jamerson and freaked Larry Graham out – how William ‘Billy Bass’ Nelson founded the Funkadelic sound

The late Funkadelic co-founder tells the story of his encounter with Larry Graham, bass lessons with James Jamerson, and life in George Clinton’s ever-changing band

Guitar World

“He is the funkiest bass player that ever lived. Every note a mighty oak, a bull elephant, a bomb”: William ‘Billy Bass’ Nelson, Funkadelic bassist who coined the band’s name, dies aged 75

Flea has led tributes to the Funkadelic bassist, who was one of the founding architects of funk’s most audacious musical revolution

Guitar World

“To think that Jamerson could compose this entire bassline spontaneously and still be locked into the groove is astounding. That's his genius”: How Motown hit-maker James Jamerson funked up a Christmas classic on this 1968 holiday gem

The Temptations' funky cover of Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer captured Jamerson at his peak powers, before personal problems began to take their toll

Guitar World

“Rickenbacker had a doubleneck guitar and bass, so I bought one. Then Fender came to me and said, ‘Why are you playing that?’” How Moody Blues bassist John Lodge found another gear with a Fender double-neck that was half P-Bass/half Telecaster

Having anchored the Moody Blues since the ’60s, the late John Lodge had a VIP seat for the Austin Powers-like era that made London the capital of cool

Guitar World

“I was almost throwing down a challenge with some of those basslines: play me if you can!” John Paul Jones’ best Led Zeppelin basslines – including an eight-string classic

A choirmaster, organist and expert in many archaic music styles, John Paul Jones also happened to play bass guitar in the biggest heavy rock band there has ever been

Guitar World

“We hit it off right away. He saw me playing my '63 P-Bass and said, ‘That's a Bootsy bass, right?’” How a chance meeting between Pino Palladino and D’Angelo helped create the sound of the late neo-soul legend's Voodoo album

The A-list bassist sheds some light on the late R&B legend's beguiling behind-the-beat hip-hop grooves

Guitar World

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Guitar World

“They had an 8-track demo for Livin’ On A Prayer. When the producer came in, we both agreed we had to come up with a better bassline”: How Hugh McDonald became Bon Jovi’s uncredited recording bassist

Hugh McDonald was at New York’s Power Station when he was asked to lay down a bass part for the band’s 1986 working-class anthem

Guitar World

“I wrote Flea a fan letter, and I was like, ‘I want to do what you're doing. Do you have any advice?’ He wrote me back – it's unbelievable”: Vulfpeck’s Joe Dart on the priceless bass advice he got from Flea as a teenager

Dart’s ultimate fan dream came true when he received a letter from Flea in the mail

Guitar World

“He played upright but wanted to play the P-Bass. Motown said, ‘Nah, you ain't making no money playing that.’ But he said, ‘If you want me, I'm playing the P-Bass’”: Bootsy Collins on the musician that totally “changed his mind” about bass playing

James Jamerson's immense contribution to Motown Records in the ’60s and ’70s went largely uncredited – but his game-changing adoption of the P-Bass, coupled with his off-kilter technique, makes him an electric bass pioneer

Guitar World

“Sly turned his back on me in the control room, giving a shout whenever he heard something he liked”: How Larry Graham’s hand-picked replacement supercharged this 1973 hit for Sly & The Family Stone with an iconic bassline

On Graham’s recommendation, Rustee Allen arrived at the Record Plant in California to overdub his iconic If You Want Me to Stay bassline

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MusicRadar

“When I'm listening to Dear Prudence or those other great Beatles songs, you’re aware of what the bass is doing. That doesn’t happen with the Stones”: Why Gene Simmons calls Paul McCartney the king of bassists

His other favourites include Motown legend James Jamerson and — surprise — Ronnie Wood

Guitar World

“He fined me 50 bucks and fired me, even though I didn’t mess up”: The bassists of James Brown reveal what life was really like playing alongside the Godfather of Soul

Fred Thomas, Ray Brundidge and Bootsy Collins dig into what it meant to play with Soul Band No. 1

Guitar World

“We took 36 hours to cut Good Vibrations. We knew it was a big deal”: Carol Kaye’s 10 greatest basslines

The session legend was responsible for some of the finest bass playing ever committed to tape – here are her best moments

Guitar World

“That move from F to Ab is either a clever allusion… or it’s an accident!” He’s one of the most influential bassists of all time, but did Motown’s James Jamerson make a mistake on this 1969 hit record?

How Jamerson’s ‘mistake’ helped set the foundation for The Temptations’ No. 1 hit

Guitar World

“The door burst open. It was James, who was late and had come into the wrong room. He started listening and said, ’No, no, that's not the way you do it,’ and grabbed my EB-3”: Jack Bruce on his chance meeting with Motown hit-maker James Jamerson

Speaking in 2001, the late Cream bassist recalled his encounter with Jamerson at the Record Plant in L.A.

Guitar World

“I played a 5-string with Lauryn Hill, but it didn’t feel like a real bass”: Raised on R&B, schooled by fusion, and empowered by punk rock, Bad Brains bassist Darryl Jenifer remains a 4-string purist

The bass powerhouse behind Washington DC’s Bad Brains pioneered a style that changed the history of punk

Guitar World

“Was that open-string a mistake or pure brilliance? Who cares? It’s a masterpiece”: Did bass maestro Willie Weeks miss a note on this Donny Hathaway classic?

Willie Weeks is best known for his storied bass solo on Hathaway’s 1972 Live album, but the disc also features what may be his baddest bassline

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