Date : 25th October 2004
The School for the Performing Arts
Attendance : 8
Apologies : Kai, Kerry & Graeme

Present: Martin Simpson, Concord Nkabinde, Jason Green, David Jenkins, Johannes van Heerden, Marcio De Brito, Carlos Benargo & Nick Cook

Tonight was a first for the SA Bass Collective. Our multi-talented Concord, not only took the minutes, but also took all but two of the pix. Is there no end to this man’s abilities?

Nippy actually popped along to the venue but couldn’t stay as he was on a tight schedule. He did however, renew his yearly subscription to the Bass Collective for a third term – Thanks for the support Nippy.

Martin

Martin Simpson opened the meeting and welcomed everybody. Martin spoke a bit on how we should not loose sight of the purposes of the collective because of lack of attendance in big numbers. He added that we should keep going and in due time more and more bass players will realize that their involvement will be beneficial for them, not only for the South African music industry but internationally as well. Through the website the collective has been receiving a lot of attention from bass players and musicians overseas. With cross-cultural collaborations taking place across the world, some people are looking at what is coming out of South Africa quite closely. We can’t afford not to step onto that world stage and be a part of the new move that is taking the world by storm. The website, through the biographies, contact details, photos, interviews, gig guide, etc. can help us to expose our creativity to the world.

Martin also spoke and reminded us about the STRINGS FOR AFRICA project, whereby we are collecting used and/or new strings so we can donate them to those that need them badly. In some of our neighbouring countries bass players are using wire or curtain hanging strings for their basses. We would like to help them with strings and your help will be valuable to them.

Martin then introduced Jason Green to us. Jason is the bass guitar lecturer at the School for the Performing Arts.

Jason gave a workshop on ways of approaching different styles of music as a bass player. This is a crucial issue but largely ignored by many. Some players think if they can play one style then they can play any other.
So Jason took a chord progression and used it for all different styles. He touched on ways of locking with the drummer’s bass drum in different contexts. He also talked about playing soft and hard, how that affects the sound.
Towards the end he touched on a few issues around professionalism. Why some players get called back again and again and other don’t.
He then invited us to come and jam with a drummer, Marcio De Brito, who also lectures at the same school with Jason. It was fun and interesting to experiment with all the different styles after discussion about them.

This was really an eye-opening session, for the students and the professionals. That is what the South African Bass Players’ Collective is all about, to learn and grow together. Everyone’s point of view is treated with respect and listened to. We trust that more bass players will get involved, have fun and learn.
Concord

Our final meet for the year will be Another first. It’ll be the first time that we have a gathering in the southern suburbs of Johannesburg. The meeting will be held at St.Pauls Church in Mulbarton and is another recital evening – this time with the focus being more on the bass than the guitar. Hope to see you all there – it’s going to be a very special evening so come along and enjoy the performances.
Martin