[jacksonplayer]

Wow, she's got a bright future. Very nice sense of pocket. She could probably push the groove a little more, but that's just a personal preference of mine--my current favorites are more funk-oriented guys like Alphonso Johnson and Michael Henderson.

[Holy Katana]

Originally Posted by DDDorian

^^Righteous

Anyway, I've got a pianist for y'all this time, Brad Mehldau! He rolls with the same crowds as the guys mentioned above and has a ton of recordings, mostly as sidemen; the only ones I'm intimately familiar with are the Mehldau/Metheny releases (the first is a duet, the second a quartet). Anyway, I just picked up his album Day Is Done which includes a few familiar standards, a couple of obscure ones and a few originals, as well as arrangements of more contemporary pop tunes, which I thought some of you might dig:


Rdiohead's "Paranoid Android"


Nick Drake's "River Man"


Paul Simon's "Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover"

Enjoy!

Sweet. I have Metheny/Mehldau Quartet. It's awesome.

[DDDorian]

Originally Posted by jacksonplayer

Wow, she's got a bright future. Very nice sense of pocket. She could probably push the groove a little more, but that's just a personal preference of mine--my current favorites are more funk-oriented guys like Alphonso Johnson and Michael Henderson.

Well the album pushes the funk a bit harder than the tracks I posted - 90% of clips were of her with Jeff Beck at Crossroads, with a few tracks from her album here and there (the two I posted and another ballad). To be honest I'm not sure I've heard either of those guys directly (more of the funk-oriented fusion has too much of a "Mexican restaurant" vibe for mine) but I'll definitely check 'em out

[jacksonplayer]

Alphonso Johnson has been all over the place (lots of fusion sessions), though he's probably most famous for his stints in Weather Report and Santana. In Weather Report, I recommend the "Mysterious Traveler" album, along with "Tale Spinnin'". I can't remember when he played in Santana (and I think I saw him in that context), but it wasn't anything to blow you away. I also love his work on Flora Purim's "Open Your Eyes You Can Fly" album, and his own solo album, "Moonshadow." He's not the guy to play real flashy stuff, but his groove is phenomenal.

Michael Henderson is most famous for his tenure in Miles Davis' bands in the '70s. He was the first bassist Miles worked with who never played upright bass. His work in Miles tended to seem like simple ostinatos on first listen, but he never played them the exact way twice. Probably not a conventional choice for a fun listen, but his approach has influenced me lately.

Of course, I also love stuff like Jaco and Stanley, but that's more inspirational than influential, if you get my drift.