Bass | All About Blues Music

Danielle Nicole

When it comes to an ability to belt out blues that bring your bones to a simmer, vocalist and bassist supreme Danielle Nicole is cut from the same soulful cloth as Etta James, Koko Taylor and Shemekia Copeland. In other words she is the vocal personification of everything blues fans love about the genre. She…

LARRY TAYLOR

Canned Heat was one of the biggest Blues-based American bands of the 60s, which took up the challenge to Tin Pan Alley’s emasculated pop music set up by The Rolling Stones and other British ‘invaders’. As American youth culture struggled with War and Civil Rights issues, Canned Heat added important anthems of awareness and solidarity…

RONNIE LANE

Good-time Blues Rock was one of the offshoots of British music at the end of the 60s, and The Faces were at the forefront of the movement. Bass player and songwriter Ronnie Lane was the heart and soul of the band and when they split, he went on to explore some musical byways of his…

QUEEN SYLVIA EMBRY

Very few women seem to play bass, but Queen Sylvia Embry was a fine player who impressed Willie Dixon so much he sent her to Europe to play on the American Blues Festival tours. She also had an expressive, deep-toned Gospel voice that made her a hit on the Chicago club circuit, and was even…

TAL WILKENFELD

Tal Winkenfeld is the ultimate ‘rock chick’. An astonishingly accomplished bass guitarist, with a complex, light and delicate style, she has attracted the attention of many Blues-rock and Jazz legends. Legions of fans all over the world with have been impressed by her appearances on records, DVDs and at prestigious gigs that players of such…

WC CLARK

Austin, Texas has a vibrant live Blues scene, enriched by the presence of WC Clark, whose solid Blues band and soulful voice have been a mainstay of the club circuit there for decades. As a bass player he has backed many legendary players and as a guitarist his elegant lines recall the laid-back, tasteful style…

WILLIE KENT

Willie Kent was a Chicago bass man with deep roots in the Delta, and his solid style, his strong voice, and his disciplined backing musicians made his Blues sound heartfelt and convincing without ever being flashy. With his tight, regular band providing the perfect backdrop, his passionate and committed vocals told of a man who…

JACK BRUCE

Jack Bruce is best known as the thunderous yet delicate bass player and singer in the 60s ‘Supergroup’ Cream whose short career laid a huge foundation stone in the basement of Blues-Rock. A gifted multi-instrumentalist and composer, Jack was at the heart of the London jazz and Blues scene before setting up Cream to form…

DONALD ‘DUCK’ DUNN

Donald ‘Duck’ Dunn played bass for everybody from Muddy Waters to Elvis by way of Otis Redding, Albert King, Ray Charles and Bob Dylan. As part of the Stax house-band he contributed some memorable bass-lines to hundreds of hit records and of course he is remembered for playing himself in both the Blues Brothers films.…

DAVE MYERS

Dave played his guitar alongside his harp and guitar playing brother Louis in The Aces, one of the most influential backing bands in the classic period of Chicago Blues. The brothers came from Mississippi, where they had played local dates with Robert Nighthawk, Sonny Boy Williamson II and Memphis Minnie. They moved to the Windy…