Bass Musician Magazine - 8th Anniversary Issue with Stu Hamm | Page 18

“Harmoni-Cali” is all harmonics, “Te Extraño”

and driving it on. Then on November 8, 1978

is all tapping, “Slap Happy” is all slapping,

I saw Jaco with Weather Report do his solo

“Just a Blues” has a lot of guitar techniques,

thing – you know, I had heard bass players

and so everyone can use these techniques to

play solos, sort of like Chris Squire’s version

learn solo bass.

of “The Fish” live off of Yes Songs, where it’s
kind of a solo, there’s drums and guitars there

What we try to do is tell a story, but if that story

and he’s playing in time - but Jaco sort of blew

is just “Look how fast I can play E minor”, that

the lid off of what could be possible on electric

story gets boring.

bass. Then I just tried to see how much of my
cl assical piano repertoire I could translate into

Could you talk about your path of finding

electric bass and quickly ran out of digits and

the way to incorporate these techniques

ways to get all of the notes to come out. At

into your playing?

that time there was Van Halen and Steve Vai

bassmusicianmagazine.com | 08.15

and tapping was starting, but not outside of
Growing up, I was surrounded by an academic,

that style of music. So I just saw there was a

musical family in the collegiate environment.

way to, instead of fretting the note with one

I studied piano, as well as popular music and

finger and making it sound by plucking with

jazz, but I was always attracted to people who

the other hand, hammer straight down on the

could really play their instruments. My favorite

string and let your other hand be free to play

musician is Glenn Gould; I listen to a little bit

something else. That made the bass a much

of Glenn every day. I was always amazed how

more polyphonic instrument. Then, listening

one guy and one instrument could make you

to guys like Percy Jones, who was sliding

feel so much emotion.

harmonics in Brand X and the chordal stuff that
Jeff Berlin was doing and all of the open string

I played the traditional role of the bass, outlining

notes that Stanley [Clarke] uses, it just sort of

the harmony and the melody, holding it together

blurred all together. I just tried to figure out