Walking Bass

[Charlie]

Every now and then I get a request from the Oxford English Dictionary to approve or question their definitions and attributions for a music entry.

The latest is for 'Walking bass' which I've always associated with jazz, so I'm intrigued to discover was first used in classical circles:

Walking Bass: a bass part, often consisting of broken octaves, that goes up and down the scale in 4/4 time in steps or small intervals, often with a sustained or legato sound.

1825 London Mag. A chorus of Handel followed‥, ‘Let none despair’; it is upon a fine walking bass, and the voices burst in upon it with an expression of confidence truly admirable.

1919 H. F. Jones 'Samuel Butler'. It was like Handel's music—a diatonic melody harmonised with common chords over a walking bass.

1939 W. Hobson 'American Jazz Music' . String bass, more often plucked or slapped than bowed, usually playing two or four notes per bar on a ‘walking’ (melodic) bass.

1950 R. P. Blesh & H. Janis 'They all played Ragtime'. He could play the ragtime stride bass, but it bothered him because his stomach got in the way of his arm, so he used a walking bass instead.

1952 B. Ulanov 'History of Jazz in America'. If you listen carefully to the Ellington recording of ‘C Jam Blues’, you will hear a definitive example of the walking bass — 1234/1234/1234, over and over again.

1967 Crescendo May 18/2 The way James Moody wrote led to the invention of what's called the ‘walking’ bass, which the Americans took up later.

1995 Wire Jan. There is a gently cheerful, loping 6/8 tune‥; something sinister, funky and bluesy on a grooving, walking bass; and the occasional bit of anarchic free improvisation.

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CG comment.

I would have expected to see an earlier jazz reference than 1939 - Jimmy Yancey's slow boogie woogie left hand would aptly be described as 'walking'. But I wonder who wrote about jazz in the 1920s and early '30s . The Melody Maker was being published back then, and John Hammond was its New York correspondent for a while.

[Gordon Neill]

Please sir, some of us sitting in the back row had stumbled across this ancient walking bass thing ages ago:

http://www.charliegillett.com/phpBB2/vi ... php?t=5502

The fifth paragraph of the CD review has this scoop:

Track 15 is perhaps the best of the lot. A reviewer on Amazon refers to its ‘walking bass’. To my ears it sounds more like a prowling bass, with hints of menace in the tone of the (I’m guessing here) bass lute thing. I found myself thinking of blues and r&b bass lines (‘1586 to 1639, the early rock’n’roll years’?).

I don't know if they actually used the phrase 'walking bass' but it definitely has legs.

[Alan Balfour]

This enterprise might provide some help

http://nonjohn.com/History%20of%20Boogie%20Woogie.htm

but there again it might not....

[Chris P]

fairly pointless post removed !

[Des]

[Gordon Neill]

Interestingly, Des, the anorak is actually a lot older than you might think and dates back well before the jazz age. There are examples which go back several centuries, such as this traditional Inuit design (see picture below).



These gut parkas, or kamleikas, show the ingenuity of Inuit clothing design, making use of the intestines of seals, whales, and sea lions. The intestines turn into translucent strips of waterproof material which "breathe" and let humidity escape from the inside. But there's no history of Eskimos making use of a walking bass.....

[judith]

But I wonder who wrote about jazz in the 1920s and early '30s . The Melody Maker was being published back then, and John Hammond was its New York correspondent for a while.

I haven’t been as fortunate as Gordon in researching the origins of things. My expectation to see an earlier date than 1939 has turned into an enigma and what somebody else might describe as a lost afternoon. I wouldn’t call it such. It’s certainly been informative. I have discovered that in the 1920's, “jazz journalismâ€

[c hristian]

first learned of walking bass in school when studying bach and the like . that seems like centuries ago, now.

[Des]

Is Peter Maxwell Davies's magnificent 'Farewell to Stromness' using a walking bass I wonder?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mb_N_tWk9V8

Sadly Max's piano version is not on Youtube.

[Alan Balfour]

1939 W. Hobson 'American Jazz Music' . String bass, more often plucked or slapped than bowed, usually playing two or four notes per bar on a ‘walking’ (melodic) bass.

I've looked this up. It's contained in the chapter The Jazz Language (page 51) and is lacking what might be a crucial word. It should read "playing two or four BASS notes". This is as in the 1939 first edition as published by J. M Dent. Apologies for the pedantry...