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Israel Crosby’s Sweet Bass Line From “But Not For Me” by Alex Wilkerson
Meet Alex Wilkerson –
This months transcription is Israel Crosby’s sweet bass line from the song “But Not For Me” off of Ahmad Jamal’s album At the Pershing: But Not For Me. There are a lot of cool lines here. One great lesson from this piece can be found when you analyze where the roots occur. There are plenty of examples where the root doesn’t fall on one, and among those examples are plenty where the root doesn’t even happen on two. It just takes one listen to the song to hear that Israel is definitely taking care of biz. His lines are awesome, no question about it, so take this opportunity to explore more inversions for your walking lines.
Click below to view the transcription:
But Not For Me – Ahmad Jamal
I highly recommend analyzing the lines by the number compared to the chord. Take measure 34 for example. The chord is Cmaj7 in this case. Compare the line to the major scale of the chord. Since Cmaj7 is our example, we compare the line to the C major scale, by the numbers. The note C is the first note of the C major scale, A is the sixth. Do this for the whole measure and you get: 1, 6, 3, 5. The next measure (35) is on G7, so we’ll compare the line to the G major scale. When you’re done with that measure, you should have: b7, 3, 5, 4. It’s a pretty strange line. When you’ve done this for the whole song, take a listen to the song again, follow along with the transcription and mark the measures for the ideas that you especially like. Take the licks from these measures, memorize them by the numbers along with their rhythm and apply to an easy song. Let’s say one lick you like is all quarter notes and the numbers are: 7, 3, 5, 1. Take this lick and walk it on every chord of an easy song. Use a song like Autumn Leaves, Solar at a slow tempo, All the Things You Are, All of Me, etc. Even though this particular example has a major 7th, and a major 3rd, you can morph it to any chord you’re on. If you are on a D-7, just change the lick to: b7, b3, 5, 1. Doing this will give you: C, F, A, D. Keep in mind that this is a trio with solos. I did my best to accurately relay the implied harmony, but there are a wide variety of substitutions and in many times, only an upright to spell them out. Lastly, remember that in the realm of bass, feel is more important than note choice in most cases. It’s great to look through, analyze, and steal licks, but you can’t be a hater of someone who has a real good feel. I found one or two “mistake” notes, but they don’t matter…period. To prove it to yourself, listen to the song without the transcription and ask yourself how much better Israel makes the song sound, and feel.
If you’re scared to play wrong notes, you’re probably not going to be able to have a good feel. Just a thought. Enjoy this great find and check out more of Ahmad Jamal if you haven’t already.
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Photo: Self-portrait by Melissa Auf Der Maur
Melissa Auf Der Maur is a Canadian bassist who played with Tinker, Hole, and The Smashing Pumpkins. She released her own work and is a photographer with photos published in Nylon, Bust, and National Geographic. She released her ‘90s Rock Memoir “Even The Good Girls Will Cry” on 17 March 2026.
KB: Did you always want to be a singer-musician growing up?
I’ve played music my whole life. In school, I played trumpet and sang in a children’s choir, so music was always within me. My mother was the first female disc jockey on the Montreal airwaves; her record collection played a huge role in my inspiration and love of music.
KB: When did you start playing bass, and why this instrument?
When I was 19, the early 90s music explosion began to percolate in tiny clubs around the world. I was lucky to be a ticket girl at Montreal’s underground music club. In one year, I saw Hole, Sonic Youth, Smashing Pumpkins, White Zombie, and The Breeders – all had female bass players. That’s when the seed was planted. By the age of 22, I was the bass player of Hole.
KB: Which brands of basses have you used in your career, and which one are you using now?
The first bass that I learned on was a vintage Squier Precision. Hole was sponsored by Fender guitars, so I upgraded to Fender Custom Shop Precisions. That is all I play, but I have a cool vintage 8-string Greco that I use on recordings to thicken up guitar parts.
KB: What equipment do you use or have you used with your basses?
Ampeg SVT amps and cabinets, a couple of Sans-Amp pedals, and that is it.
KB: How did you become a member of Hole, and what is your fondest memory of that time?
Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins was helping scout a replacement for (RIP) Kristen Pfaff, Hole’s bass player. My band, Tinker, opened for them on the Siamese Dream tour, so Billy had seen me play and could vouch for me. Courtney trusted her talented friend, and that was it. I initially said “no thank you” due to my commitment to my photographic studies and the drama and chaos surrounding the band during the “Live Through This” album release. Courtney took it as a good sign that I said no, so convinced me to reconsider, and soon after, I accepted their invitation, in the name of helping put females in the male-dominated landscape of rock music. My fondest memory is every show we played as a mostly female band, symbolizing what a woman could do in a rock band. Every show had a purpose: get more women to play music.
KB: You are a photographer as well. What makes a great picture? Do you shoot in color or b/w?
I started shooting photographs at age 15. Initially only shot black & white and worked in the art school darkroom. In university, I took a color photography course, and shifted mostly and forever to that, because it was easier to process film on the road when I joined a rock band. I experimented with many cameras, point and shoots, manual, polaroids, medium format, and vintage finds. The trick to a good photograph is to shoot many and all the time – the magic is in the edit and selection process.
KB: Are there artists you would love to collaborate with or wish you had?
??I’ve been lucky to collaborate with some of my favorite musicians in my career. I would still love to collaborate with a new generation heavy electronic artist on an analog bass, heavy electronic drums, and synths collaboration project. Take me out of my usual zone, merging the past and future: my love of 80s dark new wave and new artists exploring that genre. It was very futuristic back then, and we are now, after all, living in the future. I am in the mood to play bass to heavy beats I want to dance to.
KB: What are your 7 favorite bass lines in music across all genres? And why these 7?
“Mountain Song” – Jane’s Addiction (love a rambling, rolling bass line – feels like the ocean waves)
“Black Top – Helmet” (was the first bass line I taught myself)
“Gold Dust Woman” – Hole from “The Crow 2” Soundtrack (it was my first bass line contribution to the band)
“Get Ready” – The Temptations (Motown just feels so good, because of the bass)
“Lucretia My Reflection” – Sisters of Mercy (makes me want to hit the dance floor and play bass simultaneously)
“Be My Druidess” – Type O Negative (full chord bass playing at its best by iconic, demonic, Peter Steele, RIP)
“Romantic Rights” – Death from Above (1979 – unique distorted overdriven tone, combined dance rhythm and melodic intelligence, all in one shot – also! Shout out to a bass & drum only band, which is awesome, and we should have more of, but the bass player needs to be a killer to fill that role.
KB: What are you currently up to?
Releasing my ‘90s Rock Memoir “EVEN THE GOOD GIRLS WILL CRY”. Visceral healing process, it was to get it out of me and write it, but I suspect the real magic will begin by putting it into the world and reflecting with others on what the magic of the ‘90s was all about. Powerful music decade that carried us into what is now a brave new world of digital corporate weirdness – may the past shed a light on our future. That’s my hope for this book release and tour.
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