Jack Casady's "Chicago" school of bass quote? What does he mean?

In his "Bass of..." video he comments that he is not from the "Chicago" school of bass.

What does that mean? Anyone know what style/players he is referring to?

If he said "Detroit", I would be able to identify an approach from there. But I have never heard of a Chicago approach. Anyone know?

I'm no expert, so maybe Pascal or someone who knows what I am talking about can chime in to correct and elaborate.

Basically he is talking about the Blues. The evolution of the Blues has filled many books but in this case we can simplistically divide it into two main schools, Delta and Chicago. The former flourished in the South (think New Orleans as a center) and flourished from the 1920's-40's. It is characterized by acoustic instruments and accompaniments that can be done by one person on guitar. As jobs migrated north in the USA, so did the workers, so a lot of folks who had been exposed to Delta Blues found themselves in Chicago. So the Chicago school grew out of the Delta school, starting in the 1940's. The two biggest differences are the inclusion of electric instruments and performance by a band instead of a solo act. In the context Casady's comment I understand a Delta Blues bass style to be very much rooted in a fingerpicker's bass so it would be notes on the first and third beats and rests on two and four. Not a lot of runs and not a lot of harmonic variation. Chicago Blues bass lines move into a walking bass line, playing on all four beats and often stray from the basic root, fifth and an occasional third.

Most rock musicians who have only casually studied the Blues think the Chicago School is all there is (or all that matters) and so a modern rock bass line will often have its roots in the Chicago style.

I can't think of any bass players associated with Delta Blues because when you go back to the beginning, the style predates the instrument.

How's that? Now let's see how many mistakes I made and what other nuances I have missed.

I think you pretty much nailed it, frono! One could argue that jump blues evolved from the collision of blues and big bands and the standup players had a jazz-influenced style, more than blues-influenced.

lungimsam said:

What does that mean? Anyone know what style/players he is referring to?

Click to expand...

I wouldn't be surprised if he meant it quite literally, that he didn't pay any dues in Chicago or feel that he's a product of that "school of style", going by these excerpts from his bio at Jackcasady.com:

"Growing up in D.C. in the ’50s, Casady was exposed to music at an early age. “Washington D.C. was a wonderful place to grow up because it was the crossroads of so many styles — rhythm ‘n’ blues, blues, country music and bluegrass coming through the Appalachians. And all of those things could be heard at the local clubs. At the same time, I had the opportunity to hear classical music being performed at the famed Constitution Hall. So all of those influences were mixed together. One night I’d be down at the Howard Theater seeing Ray Charles, the next night I would be at the Shamrock Tavern in Georgetown hearing Mac Weisman, Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs among other bluegrass people. And the next night it would be jazz — people like Eric Dolphy and Roland Kirk. Plus, we had the Library of Congress nearby. You could go down there and lock yourself in a room and listen to Alan Lomax field recordings or listen to music of the rainforest or whatever. So I was really just a sponge soaking up a lot of this stuff. For me, music was the great escape.”

and:

"With the aid of a forged ID, made on Jorma’s grandfather’s copy machine, a 16 year old Casady began working at various clubs around the D.C. area and along the New Jersey shore. It was a great education and an interesting time for me being that young and yet being in what was considered an adult world. I’d go back to high school in the morning after spending all night playing in some club backing up Little Anthony and The Imperials.” By 1964, Beatlesmania was starting to come on strong in the States, suddenly shifting the nature of the club scene and greatly affecting working musicians. “I was kind of discouraged by it all,” says Jack in retrospect. “I would still play with bands on weekends and things like that. But at that point I was kind of lost.”

As for players, w-a-a-a-y back in about mid '68 in an interview for the book "Jefferson Airplane and the San Francisco Sound" he mentions jazz bassist Scott La Faro as his one of his major influences (at least at that time):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_LaFaro

For some reason I always remembered that, because when I read it the tender age of 13, I had no clue who scott LaFaro was, but Jack was and still is absolutely my favorite bassist.
:wink: