''Bass Player'' is a magazine for

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a Bass (instrument), bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboar ...

s. Each issue offers a variety of artist interviews, lessons, and equipment reviews. The magazine was founded in 1988 as a spinoff of ''

Guitar Player ''Guitar Player'' is an American popular magazine for guitarists, founded in 1967 in San Jose, California. It contains articles, interviews, reviews and lessons of an eclectic collection of artists, genres and products. It has been in print si ...

'' magazine, with Jim Roberts as its first editor. The original headquarters was in San Francisco, CA. It began as a regular edition magazine in 1990. Currently published by

Future US Future US, Inc. (formerly known as Imagine Media and The Future Network USA) is an American media corporation specializing in targeted magazines and websites in the video games, music, and technology markets. Headquartered in New York City, t ...

, ''Bass Player'' held an annual event for bassists, Bass Player LIVE!. From 2004 until 2007 Bass Player LIVE! was held in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

; from 2008 until 2017 it was held in Hollywood,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Editors

*Jim Roberts, March 1990 to December 1996 *

Karl Coryat Karl Coryat is an American writer, comedian, and musician. ''Jeopardy!'' contestant In 1996, he was a two-day champion on the television game show ''Jeopardy!''. Subsequently, he wrote an online article with advice for prospective ''Jeopardy!'' ...

, January 1997 to January 1998 *Richard Johnston, February 1998 to July 2001 *Bill Leigh, August 2001 to March 2009 *Jonathan Herrera, April 2009 to December 2010 *Brian Fox, January 2011 to June 2014 *Chris Jisi, July 2014 to October 2018 *

Joel McIver Joel McIver (born 10 February 1971) is a British author. His best-known work is ''Justice for All: The Truth About Metallica'', first published in 2004 and appearing in nine languages since then. McIver's other works include biographies of Bla ...

, November 2018 to date

Lifetime Achievement Awards

In most years since 1998, Bass Player has awarded Lifetime Achievement Awards to notable bassists, as follows: * 1998

Milt Hinton Milton John Hinton (June 23, 1910 – December 19, 2000) was an American double bassist and photographer. Regarded as the Dean of American jazz bass players, his nicknames included "Sporty" from his years in Chicago, "Fump" from his time on the ...

, Bobby Rodriguez * 1999

Chuck Rainey Charles Walter Rainey III (born June 17, 1940) is an American bass guitarist who has performed and recorded with many well-known acts, including Aretha Franklin, Steely Dan, and Quincy Jones. Rainey is credited for playing bass on more than 1,00 ...

* 2000

Joe Osborn Joseph Osborn (August 28, 1937 – December 14, 2018Percy Heath Percy Heath (April 30, 1923 – April 28, 2005) was an American jazz bassist, brother of saxophonist Jimmy Heath and drummer Albert Heath, with whom he formed the Heath Brothers in 1975. Heath played with the Modern Jazz Quartet throughout ...

* 2001

Jerry Jemmott Gerald Stenhouse Jemmott (born March 22, 1946, in the Morrisania section of the Bronx, New York City) is an American bass guitarist. Jemmott was one of the chief session bass guitarists of the late 1960s and early 1970s, working with many of th ...

Leo Fender Clarence Leonidas Fender (August 10, 1909 – March 21, 1991) was an American inventor known for designing the Fender Stratocaster. He also founded the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. In January 1965, he sold Fender to CBS, and later foun ...

* 2002

o award O, or o, is the fifteenth Letter (alphabet), letter and the fourth vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in ...

* 2003

* 2004 Anthony Jackson,

Will Lee (bassist) Will Lee is an American bassist known for his work on the ''Late Show with David Letterman'' as part of the CBS Orchestra and before that " The World's Most Dangerous Band" when Letterman hosted the NBC " Late Night" show. Lee has recorded and ...

* 2005

Ron Carter Ronald Levin Carter (born May 4, 1937) is an American jazz double bassist. His appearances on 2,221 recording sessions make him the most-recorded jazz bassist in history. He has won three Grammy awards, and is also a cellist who has recorded nu ...

Jack Bruce John Symon Asher Bruce (14 May 1943 – 25 October 2014) was a Scottish bassist, singer-songwriter, musician and composer. He gained popularity as the primary lead vocalist and ‍bassist ‍of British rock band Cream. After the group disband ...

* 2006

Stanley Clarke Stanley Clarke (born June 30, 1951) is an American bassist, film composer and founding member of Return to Forever, one of the first jazz fusion bands. Clarke gave the bass guitar a prominence it lacked in jazz-related music. He is the first jaz ...

* 2007

Lee Sklar Leland Bruce Sklar (born May 28, 1947) is an American bassist and session musician. Sklar rose to prominence as a member of James Taylor's backing band, which coaleced into a group in its own right, The Section. This group of musicians so fre ...

Tony Levin Anthony Frederick Levin (born June 6, 1946) is an American musician and composer, specializing in electric bass, Chapman Stick and upright bass. He also sings and plays synthesizer. Levin is best known for his work with King Crimson (since 1 ...

* 2008

Carol Kaye Carol Kaye (née Smith, born March 24, 1935) is an American musician. She is one of the most prolific recorded bass guitarists in rock and pop music, playing on an estimated 10,000 recordings in a career spanning over 50 years. Kaye began play ...

Verdine White Verdine Adams White (born July 25, 1951) is an American musician, best known as a founding member and bassist for the band Earth, Wind & Fire. White was placed at No. 19 on Rolling Stone's list of The 50 Greatest Bassists of All Time. Early l ...

Mike Watt Michael David Watt (born December 20, 1957) is an American bassist, vocalist and songwriter. Watt co-founded and played bass guitar for the rock bands Minutemen (1980–1985), Dos (1985–present), and Firehose (1986–1994). He began a solo ...

* 2009

Rocco Prestia Francis Rocco Prestia Jr. (March 7, 1951 – September 29, 2020) was an American bassist, best known for his work with the funk band Tower of Power. Biography Born in Sonora, California, Prestia started playing electric guitar as an adolescent. ...

Charlie Haden Charles Edward Haden (August 6, 1937 – July 11, 2014) was an American jazz double bass player, bandleader, composer and educator whose career spanned more than 50 years. In the late 1950s, he was an original member of the ground-breaking ...

* 2010

Bootsy Collins William Earl "Bootsy" Collins (born October 26, 1951) is an American bass guitarist and singer. Rising to prominence with James Brown in the early 1970s, and later with Parliament-Funkadelic, Collins established himself as one of the leading n ...

Alphonso Johnson Alphonso Johnson (born February 2, 1951) is an American jazz bassist active since the early 1970s. Johnson was a member of the jazz fusion group Weather Report from 1973 to 1975, and has performed and recorded with numerous high-profile rock and ...

* 2011

Jack Casady John William "Jack" Casady (born April 13, 1944) is an American bass guitarist, best known as a member of Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna. Jefferson Airplane became the first successful exponent of the San Francisco Sound. Singles including " S ...

James Jamerson James Lee Jamerson (January 29, 1936 – August 2, 1983) was an American bass player. He was the uncredited bassist on most of the Motown Records hits in the 1960s and early 1970s (Motown did not list session musician credits on their releases u ...

Larry Graham Larry Graham Jr. (born August 14, 1946) is an American bassist and baritone singer, both with the psychedelic soul/funk band Sly and the Family Stone and as the founder and frontman of Graham Central Station. In 1980, he released the single "O ...

* 2012

Chris Squire Christopher Russell Edward Squire (4March 1948 – 27June 2015) was an English musician, singer and songwriter best known as the bassist and backing vocalist of the progressive rock band Yes (band), Yes. He was the longest-serving original memb ...

Aston Barrett Aston is an area of inner Birmingham, England. Located immediately to the north-east of Central Birmingham, Aston constitutes a ward within the metropolitan authority. It is approximately 1.5 miles from Birmingham City Centre. History Aston wa ...

Jaco Pastorius John Francis Anthony "Jaco" Pastorius III (; December 1, 1951 – September 21, 1987) was an American jazz bass guitar, bassist, composer and producer. He recorded albums as a solo artist and band leader and was a member of Weather Report from 1 ...

* 2013

Geezer Butler Terence Michael Joseph "Geezer" Butler (born 17 July 1949) is a English musician and songwriter. He is best known as the bassist and primary lyricist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath. He has also recorded and performed with Heaven & Hell ...

Lee Rocker Lee Rocker (born Leon Drucker, August 3, 1961) is an American musician. He is a member of the rockabilly revival band Stray Cats. He is the son of the classical clarinetists Stanley Drucker, the late former principal clarinetist of the New Yo ...

* 2014 Abe Laboriel, Sr * 2015 Lemmy,

Nathan East Nathan Harrell East (born December 8, 1955) is an American jazz, R&B, and rock bass player and vocalist. With more than 2,000 recordings, East is one of the most recorded bass players in the history of music. East holds a Bachelor of Arts degr ...

, Louis Johnson * 2016

Billy Sheehan William Sheehan (born March 19, 1953) is an American musician. He is best known for playing the bass guitar with acts such as Talas, Steve Vai, David Lee Roth, Mr. Big, Niacin, and The Winery Dogs. He is also known for his "lead bass" playing ...

George Porter Jr George Porter Jr. (born December 26, 1947) is an American musician, best known as the bassist and singer of The Meters. Along with Art Neville, Porter formed the group in the mid 1960s and came to be recognized as one of the progenitors of fun ...

Tim Bogert John Voorhis "Tim" Bogert III (August 27, 1944 – January 13, 2021) was an American multi-instrumentalist, musician. He graduated in 1963 from Ridgefield Memorial High School in his hometown of Ridgefield, New Jersey. As a bass guitarist an ...

* 2017

Flea Flea, the common name for the order Siphonaptera, includes 2,500 species of small flightless insects that live as external parasites of mammals and birds. Fleas live by ingesting the blood of their hosts. Adult fleas grow to about long, a ...

, Jimmy Johnson,

Donald "Duck" Dunn Donald "Duck" Dunn (November 24, 1941 – May 13, 2012) was an American bass guitarist, session musician, record producer, and songwriter. Dunn was notable for his 1960s recordings with Booker T. & the M.G.'s and as a session bassist for Stax Rec ...

* 2018

* 2019

John Patitucci John Patitucci (born December 22, 1959) is an American jazz bassist and composer. Biography John James Patitucci was born in Brooklyn, New York. When he was 12, he bought his first bass and decided on his career. He listened to bass parts in R ...

* 2020

* 2021

Marcus Miller William Henry Marcus Miller Jr. (born June 14, 1959) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his work as a bassist. He has worked with trumpeter Miles Davis, pianist Herbie Hancock, singer Luther Vandros ...

Gail Ann Dorsey Gail Ann Dorsey (born November 20, 1962) is an American musician. With a long career as a session musician mainly on bass guitar, she is perhaps best known for her lengthy residency in David Bowie's band, from 1995 to Bowie's death in 2016. Asid ...

, John Taylor, Charles Berthoud

References

{{Authority control 1988 establishments in California Guitar magazines Magazines established in 1988 Magazines published in San Francisco Monthly magazines published in the United States Music magazines published in the United States