Barbara Dennerlein differs from most organists by not sounding all that much like Jimmy Smith. She utilizes MIDI with her organ in order to get a different sound and her baselines (which she operates through her foot pedals) really do sound like a bass. Dennerlein began playing organ at 11 and four years later was already gigging in local clubs.... [+] Read More

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Best-known for his stint with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, bassist Charles Fambrough has led three very effective all-star dates for CTI that were filled with his stimulating originals. He originally studied classical piano but switched to bass when he was 13. In 1968, Fambrough began playing with local pit bands for musicals and after some... [+] Read More

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Everyone's favorite young acoustic bassist of the 1990s, Christian McBride's large sound and expertise, both with plucked and bowed solos, recall Ray Brown and particularly Paul Chambers. He actually started on electric bass when he was eight and took R&B gigs in high school, but by then he was getting more interested in jazz and playing the... [+] Read More

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David Friesen's music ranges from hard bop to mood music that borders on spiritual new age but on a higher emotional level. While stationed in Germany with the Army in 1961, he taught himself the bass. After short stints with John Handy and Marian McPartland, Friesen worked with Joe Henderson for two years. He toured Europe with Billy Harper... [+] Read More

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Inspired to switch from piano to organ by Jimmy Smith, Don Patterson was one of the Hammond B-3's most bop-rooted players, able to play bluesy soul-jazz grooves or break out of the pocket for some nimble, sharply defined solo lines. Though he led numerous recording dates for Prestige and later Muse, he was best-known as Sonny Stitt's favorite... [+] Read More

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If Jimmy Smith was "the Charlie Parker of the organ," Larry Young was its John Coltrane. One of the great innovators of the mid- to late '60s, Young fashioned a distinctive modal approach to the Hammond B-3 at a time when Smith's earthy, blues-drenched soul-jazz style was the instrument's dominant voice. Initially, Young was very much a Smith... [+] Read More

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A brilliant player on both acoustic and electric basses, Stanley Clarke has spent much of his career outside of jazz, although he has the ability to play jazz with the very best. He played accordion as a youth, switching to violin and cello before settling on bass. He worked with R&B and rock bands in high school, but after moving to New York,... [+] Read More

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