One of the most underrated bass players of Rock and Roll, Geddy Lee was always a crucial part of Rush's sound. He was influenced by a huge variety of musicians and praised many of his heroes during his career. Rock and Roll Garage selected three lesser-known bass players for the mainstream Rock audience that Geddy praised and said were some of his favorites of all time. 3 lesser-known bassists Geddy Lee said are some of his favorites Jaco Pastorius https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgntkGc5iBo&pp=ygUPSmFjbyBQYXN0b3JpdXMg0gcJCYsJAYcqIYzv The first one is Jaco Pastorius, who was one of the most influential Jazz musicians of all time but is not that well-known for the mainstream Rock audience. Geddy even consider him the greatest Jazz bass player of all time. "Judging a bass player is really about the context of that bass player. If I were to pick the greatest jazz fusion bassist of all time, of course it would be Jaco Pastorius," he told UDiscover Music in 2019. He also believes that Jaco's playing became a "new kind of watermark" for the bass guitarists. He said that when he was interviewed for the documentary "Jaco" (2015). "Jaco was a Jazz player, more than any other kind of player. He had those environments and those arrangements that were loose enough to allow him to be so free and to use all the tools of his toolbox." Geddy Lee continued: "He certainly did that, the harmonics, the lyrical, the bending of notes, the strong melody. And at the same time you take a song like 'Teen Town', where he is just off the charts, fast, complex. That became the new kind of watermark for bass players. Incredible, incredible musician," Geddy Lee said (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage). Jaco was born in Norristown, Pennsylvania in 1951 and started his musical career when he was still a teenager, in 1966. Besides five solo records, he also was part of six albums as a member of Weather Report. As a sideman, he worked with many famous artists like Herbie Hancock, Joni Mitchell, Brian Melvin, Santana, Ian Hunter and Jimmy Cliff. He tragically died in 1987 at the age of 35, after being beaten by a club employee when he tried to sneak into the Midnight Club in Florida. Some reports claim he was trying to watch a Santana concert, though that has never been confirmed. Jeff Berlin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5ntnjM9IE8 The second bassist is Jeff Berlin, who first achieved fame as a member of Bill Bruford's band Bruford. He has a prolific solo career but also worked with many other famous artists. Some of them are Allan Holdsworth, Herbie Mann and Ritchie Kotzen. The Rush frontman had the chance to meet Berlin in the United Kingdom when he went to watch Bruford playing in a club. He already was a huge fan of Berlin's playing but told Rolling Stone he was "knocked" out after watching him playing live. “He used all his fingers. And he could play like a Spanish guitarist on a flamenco guitar. He could turn that bass into so many different things. His playing really affected me,” Geddy said. Berlin is one of his favorites and Geddy said he still is one of the top bassists in the world."He's more of a Jazz bass player now but he used to play kind of fusion, Rock and Jazz with Bill Bruford on Bill’s solo records. Bruford was a fantastic band and Jeff is still among the top bass players out there. Different calibre, he’s just off the planet," he told Music Radar. Curiously, the bass guitar wasn't Berlin's first instrument. He studied Violin from 5 until 15 years of age. The musician decided to attend the Berklee College of Music to learn the bass guitar after hearing The Beatles for the first time. Les Claypool https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taS06rvN8gk&pp=ygULcHJpbXVzIHJ1c2g%3D The third bass guitarist is Les Claypool. He is known by part of the Rock and Roll artist because of Primus and also for being one of musicians who auditioned to Metallica after Cliff Burton died. His band had the chance to tour with Rush back in the early 90s as their opening act. Geddy Lee loved their music and even said that Claypool influenced him a lot at the time. “He (Les) actually influenced me as a player to try to push the boundaries of my rhythmic abilities. I would say that tour I did with Primus was transformational for me,” he told Rolling Stone. During the same conversation he said that he loved them from the start. Especially how "wacky" they were and for Claypool's "adventurous" and "creative" playing. They became really good friends over the years and frequently see each other. Like Rush, Primus is also a power trio and was formed in El Sobrante, California in 1984. "Frizzle Fry", their debut album, was released in 1990. Then in 1991 the praised second record “Sailing the Seas of Cheese”. Curiously, in 2021 and 2022, the band launched the tour "A Tribute To Kings". During the shows they played the entire Rush album "Farewell To Kings". The band gave them their blessing and Lee said it was a really impressive performance. The band also performed a peculiar version of Rush's "Spirit of The Radio".
