Backbeat Books Introduces The Funky Bass Book

Backbeat Books, publisher of books for performers and fans who are passionate 

about music, has published The Funky Bass Book ($14.99) in partnership with

Bass Player Magazine.

Edited by Bill Leigh, former editor of Bass Player Magazine and with a foreword by

the always entertaining Bootsy Collins, The Funky Bass Book is part history, part

wisdom, and part inspiration from the roots of R & B, soul, and funk to the

flame-tending funkateers of hip-hop, neo-soul, and gospel of today. With interviews

and analyses from both groundbreaking old-school innovators and ongoing

revolutionaries – players like Larry Graham, Anthony Jackson, Chuck Rainey,

Bootsy Collins, Stanley Clarke, Victor Wooten, Meshell Ndegeocello, and Andrew

Gouche – the secrets of how to take a groove and make it funky are revealed.

The Funky Bass Book is written in chronological sections, beginning with The Funky

Founders in the 1960’s and continuing through the 70’s and 80’s as

the Funk Bass Flourishes before entering the 90’s through today covering the

Modern Funk Bass. In-depth interviews with the players reveal a first-hand account

of the evolution of funk bass playing. Throughout the book, sidebars called

“Deep Cuts” point readers to recorded tracks that illuminate the text

with examples and insights about the playing or the actual recording sessions.

For bass players, musicians, historians, and music fans, The Funky Bass Book digs

deep into the grooves that have moved generations, illuminating what lies at the

heart of funk.