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Bass Transcription – Eddie Gomez Bass Solo on Bill Evans’ We Will Meet Again by Lucas Pickford

Published on July 1, 2013

Bass Transcription – Eddie Gomez Bass Solo on Bill Evans’ We Will Meet Again by Lucas Pickford…

Acoustic bassist Eddie Gomez in one of my all time favorites. I’ve contributed one other Gomez transcription here for Bass Musician Magazine awhile back. This is another Eddie Gomez solo from that same album, this time on a beautiful Bill Evans waltz called “We Will Meet Again”. Eddie Gomez grew up in New York City and after attending Juilliard in 1963 he began playing with people like Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Steve Gadd, Miles Davis, and countless other jazz greats. But it was his twelve year long stint with pianist Bill Evans (himself a former Miles Davis sideman) that really made Gomez a legend.

The Bill Evans Trio started out with another legendary acoustic bassist Scott LaFaro. LaFaro’s life was cut short however when he was killed in a car accident at the age of just 25. LaFaro left some very big shoes to fill and Gomez stepped right in and took over where LaFaro had left off. Gomez is an incredibly deft soloist especially up in the high register of the acoustic bass. He’s also one of THE most melodic bass players acoustic or electric. I chose to transcribe this solo on “We Will Meet Again” because it IS so melodic.

Bass Transcription - Eddie Gomez Bass Solo on Bill Evans' We Will Meet Again

The solo begins at 0:52 seconds into the tune and Evans sets up the time (3/4) and the tempo during the two bars before Gomez begins his perfectly crafted solo. Because Eddie plays in the very high register of the bass I’ve chosen (as I often do) to write the solo in Treble Clef as to avoid having to use excessive ledger lines in Bass Clef. If you have a fretless you may enjoy playing this solo on it.

No matter what you bass you play this solo on it will teach you volumes about how to really make melodies during your solo and not just playing your best licks as fast as possible.

This solo is a master class in economy and the use of space. And of course you should pay close attention to the chord scales and the specific notes Eddie chooses to play over the different chord types. Like at the end of bar #3 where Gomez chooses to emphasize the natural 13th ( a D note) over an Fmin6/9. Also pay attention to the fast triplet arpeggios Eddie plays. He uses them when he wants to “climb” higher on the fingerboard. In the 6th bar of the 2nd chorus Gomez plays an amazingly fast arpeggio over the G7(alt) hitting a high F which is really up there on an acoustic bass. That lick is hard to play period! So there you go. If you take the time to really mine this solo for all its valuable melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic information, you are sure to end up will a very large pile of musical gold.

Lucas Pickford

lucaspickford.net