Monday, June 29, 2020
Leland Sklar
Bassist extraordinaire and long time session man Leland Sklar has been posting videos from isolation almost daily. He can't seem to help it. He needs to work. There are dozens upon dozens of these videos where Sklar talks about a particular session and most of the time plays along live to a favorite track from his past.
The commentary can occasionally be a drag, but when he hits on a story, it's as much fun as you'd expect. But the playing? Never short of astonishing.
Take a look at the "Hall & Oates" episode above. The playing doesn't always start the episode, but this time it does. So, if Sklar's reminiscing is not your thing, at least watch him play "Rich Girl." The bass line over the verses is truly a thing of beauty.
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9 comments:
I watch him too, but haven't caught up with everything, and likely never will :) The other cool channel I discovered via Sklar is David Northrop's videos behind his drum kit. Here's an example with Boz Scaggs https://youtu.be/Py0fCDHgvj4
Lee did a Q and A with my high school music history class. He was gracious and insightful and it was one of my favorite moments as a teacher.
Paul
Brilliant and effortless. But the one thing I thought of was that for every Hall & Oates session there was a Ted Baxter session.
He's been one of the best for a long time The Moses of bass players.
This is great,,,. Thanks
A Master.
I had no idea the guy from ZZ Top played with Hall & Oates.
That was very sweet and fun to hear. What a talent!
And there's Leland at #47 on Rolling Stone's new list of the 50 greatest bassists of all time. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/50-greatest-bassists-of-all-time-1003022/leland-sklar-1003055/
Ive been watching a lot of these. Some of the commentary gets a bit repetitive (everyone who he has played with is "amazing"... and probably they are!) Some great commentary on various drummers he has worked with. Lovely comments on Jeff Pocaro. The playing is exemplary. Makes you go back and listen to the track again. A revelation for me was Doctor My Eyes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQqJJYfg-6E
and great stuff on Billy Cobhams Spectrum... cut live with no overdubs! Just superb. So much to learn... even though he does like Barbra Streisand and Phil Collins!
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