By Teresa Wyman on Sunday, April 11, 1999 - 12:30 pm: EditHey out there.
I see that some of you have some pretty extensive swing collections, so I'm hoping you can help me out. My husband is a stand-up bass player and he's looking to check out more of the styles of the great (but often overlooked) bass men of the swing era. He's already gone through the rockabilly set.
I know you're probably thinking I'm from another planet, but we really were about as far from the swing scene as you could get for the last several years. My husband spent 9 years in the Navy and we just got back from a place quite similar to that desert island you were talking about in the other discussion. We lived on La Maddalena, an Italian island that took an overnight's ferry ride to get you to mainland Italy. It was an awesome place, but they didn't swing. I think their WWII history has a bit to do with that, but that's another story.
My husband is kind of new to swing, but I have been into it all my life. When we left though, the music was still hard to come by. I was blown away when I came back to find swing so popular. We haven't been here long enough to really find the best places to look for music, best local bass men, etc. Rob's familiar with Vance of Indigo Swing already. They talk "bass" often, but it's from the musician's point of view. The dancer/audience view point is often a lot different.
Anyway, who do YOU think is a hot swing/jump bass player? It doesn't matter if it's old or new stuff. Please include who the guy plays for. Thanks.