Jazz for aficionados

Well as it turns out, I could be wrong and the bass player that was in the forefront of that Weather Report Album Sweetnighter may have been the electric bass playing of Andrew White and not Miroslav Vitous?

If it was Andrew White, the way he pulled bass strings in his playing method made think it was Miroslav Vitous? I know there were the two bass players and both were on Boogie Woogie Waltz, 125th Street Congress, and Non-Stop Home but I thought they were playing off each other? Can anyone expound on this?  

@tyray 

Don’t know if this answers your question but according to Weather Report Annotated Discography: 

"White was recruited for that album specifically to provide a Motown feel on electric bass; he can be heard on “Boogie Woogie Waltz,” “125th Street Congress,” and “Non-Stop Home.” Joe and Wayne previously knew White as a reed player—he played English horn on I Sing the Body Electric—but when Zawinul saw the 5th Dimension on television one night, he recognized White playing electric bass. “Joe was looking at the television and saw me doing that crap, and we knew each other,” White recalled to me. “He said, ‘Wait a minute! I know Andrew from the JFK Quintet and ‘Ball and Art Blakey.’ So he called Wayne and said, ‘Wayne, call Andrew to see if he’ll come over here and make this record with us.’”

Thanks @stuartk , much appreciated. And unbeknownst to me, Ralph Towner was on I Sing the Body Electric too on twelve string guitar. Interesting.

@tyray 

Another Towner appearance on an early Fusion date: Horacee Arnold’s "Tales of the Exonerated Flea". Unfortunately, I can’t seem to pin down which track/tracks he appeared on. 

If you enjoy early Fusion and haven’t heard this album, or Arnold’s Tribe, you might find them interesting: 

Flea:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-I0ZabeGRRg&list=OLAK5uy_nFU_IRzD1SvDJu5wPQ4gh4zQBt81c4qgc&index=2

Tribe:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3GGUdtJkQ0&list=OLAK5uy_kPhzaC11rHynCIg1YEbQuLBa869EuBh9g&index=2

@stuartk,

Horace Arnold is fantastic and right in my wheelhouse. For lack of better words, Horace Arnold’s Flea and Tribe sound organic, refreshing.

Truth be told, even when I Sing the Body Electric came out, even then as a kid I felt it was too contrived and sound like a rehash of Bitches Brew. And with all that talent, Joe and Wayne were not on their game then. No creativity or originality.

People forget just how good a producer/arranger John Hammond was. And to hear his other works in other genres that’s just as good as his straight ahead jazz work is way cool.

I’ve always liked anything Dom Um Romão was on also. Again, thank you for the intro. Keep droppin ’em.