Horace Silver (piano), Gene Taylor (bass) and Louis Hayes (drums). From the album Blowin’ the Blues Away (1959).
The double bass is a string instrument with a low-pitch tessitura that usually has four strings. It can be played with a bow or by plucking the strings (pizzicato) and is the lowest stringed instrument in the symphony orchestra. The history of modern jazz double bass starts with Jimmy Blanton, bass player in the Duke Ellington’s big band.
Jimmy Blanton
Blanton rewrote the language of his instrument, although he never recorded under his name, and took part in the jam sessions at Minton’s Playhouse, where the bebop style began. Oscar Pettiford is the second most important bassist and replaced Blanton in the Ellington’s big band when he died.
Oscar Pettiford
Silver starts playing with Taylor and Hayes a dark theme. His phrases are slow and heavy: it is the melancholy that torments him and makes fun of him. His sad solo reaffirmed by the double bass is one of despondency and desperation. There’s no trace of joy or consolation. Then he begins to strike the notes harder to express his mood looking for a warm embrace. He shares his nostalgic speech with the piano, which seems to be his only friend. Hayes then sets a more lively pace, but the darkness takes over the theme again until its final re-exposure.
