Customer Reviews

How Low Can You Go: Anthology of the String Bass (1925-1941)

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my favorite instrument is the upright bass or as i call it bull fiddle. i have been collecting music from the 20-s through 40s for many years. only other good collection of bass cds that i know

of from this era, brother he sure can pull sum bow(mostly blues and one disc) but this one is much better, covers more ground, from jug bands to bob wills, jack teagarden, duke ellington, cab calloway, jelly roll mortan, roy accuff, tampa red, , 3 disc and all the songs are good. many players on here ive never heard who play in ways ive never heard. comes with a very well made 96 page book with information on the the history of the the upright double bull fiddle. lots of information about the bands, and lots and lots of really cool pictures of basses throughout time. higly recommend.

Where else, I wonder, would you find Bobbie Leecan's Need-More Band on the same CD as Thelma Terry & her Playboys and Frenchy's String Band? That's just three little-known bands on the first CD, which covers 1925 to 1930. The second CD goes from 1931 to 1941, and includes Lionel Belasco, Milton Brown, Eva Taylor, and Bob Wills. The third CD concentrates on the output of bass player Bill Johnson, which takes in jazz, gospel, blues, and jug bands.

There's a total of 79 tracks in this eclectic compilation, and each gets a page to itself, with photo, line-up, and commentary, in the accompanying 96-page book. All that's missing is details of the original 78 issue. It's a fascinating collection, beautifully remastered, which should be more widely-known.

Wow! What an excellent historical overview of the string bass-an instrument that doesn't always get the attention it deserves. This anthology is a wonderful resource for my course about the jazz masters of the bass. Bravo!!

Pretty essential stuff here. Amazing how many bass players used the slap technique, and how good they were at it!