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Re: Role of acoustic/electric bass in klezmer ensemble; amplification

Author: ChrisC
Date: 2006-06-27 23:10

I remember seeing Hasidic New Wave live at the Knitting Factory over five years ago, and noting how well the electric bass (which was played exclusively) fit in with the klezmer repeteroire.
Then again, it's nice to have a bowed upright bass for 3/8 horas like Gas Nigun. Perhaps the bassist could switch off between instruments depending on the nature of the tune.
I don't hear any audible bass on the recordings of Tarras and Brandwein (on Brandwein's recordings the role is often taken by a *very* audible trombone). Not to say definitively that a bass was not there, only that the recording technology of the time failed to capture it if one was present.\
Ultimately, such a decision boils down to the specific sound one is looking for, and to the dictates of necessity. I have performed with a klezmer band that was without a bass player, or a drummer, for that matter; piano, guitar, and mandolin sufficed to keep the freylekhs flowing.

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