Chuck Israels Publishes “Bass Foundations” Instructional/Transcription Book – No Treble

Jazz bass legend Chuck Israels has teamed up with Sher Music to publish a new book called Bass Foundations: Principles of Jazz Bass Line Construction. The 123-page book includes three main sections – “Principles of Jazz Bass Line Construction,” “Transcriptions with the Bill Evans Trio,” and “Transcriptions and Arrangements” – broken down into smaller lessons.

“All jazz bassists recognize the pivotal role that the Bill Evans Trio played in creating a new model for the bass’ function in jazz. In this book, Chuck Israels (one of Bill’s long-time bassists) has created a masterpiece of explaining what that revolution consists of,” Sher Music writes. “Among other crucial concepts, he shows how the bass can both lay down the pulse and have a dialogue with the other musicians at the same time.”

Each transcription includes a YouTube URL for each song to make it easy to listen, watch the bass lines go by, and then play along.

Bass Foundations is available now in paperback or PDF versions through Sher Music.