Bass Desires
Marc Johnson- bass (and band leader)
Bill Frisell- guitar
John Scofield- guitar
Peter Erskine- drums
Jonathan Swift's
Cambridge, Mass. U.S.A.
March 11, 1986
(2 shows, one about 83 minutes, the other about 91 minutes.)
performance quality: mostly an A, quite good
recording quality: B to B+ some speed problems
in a few parts, not as bad now after some
speed adjustment, mostly quite enjoyable.
If you are real fussy about speed being exactly right,
which I usually try to be, don't download this torrent
unless you know how to speed-adjust and are willing to
fix it exactly right.)
source: master audience tapes
lineage: Naka. 100 microphones (I think, maybe AKG 190E?) >
Sony D-5 cassette deck (maybe Sony 158? dolby off) >
Maxell XLII-S master cassettes >
soundforge 4.5 > FLAC 6 > torrentially yours.
four piece band. two show night. three step torrent.
(because that's my idea of balance for this posting).

setlist set 1:
(sortakinda again, the etree setlist guide doesn't even list this gig at all
They only list 2 shows of 86, both from Germany, nothing from the U.S.A.)
1: stage introduction (cut)
2; bass desires
3: mojo highway
4: ?
5: resistor
6: ?
7; band introductions
8: samurai hee haw (although enjoyable too, this track has the
most noticable speed problems in this recording to my ears
and also happens to be my favorite version of SHH, it's a good one
with a nice finish to it led by Erskine, crowd liked it too.)
9: encore (? John Coltrane song)

set 2:
1: basss desires
2; mojo highway
3: (? Scofield song)
4: band introductions
5: ? (spliced, tape flip)
6: ?
7: samurai hee haw
8; encore break
9: resistor (Frisell)
comments:
This was originally posted, and banned, because until not very long ago Bass Desires were
banned desires here at dimeadozen. But there's been a change of heart, or should I say desire,
on this matter. And more importantly, a change of the ban on Bass Desires, just recently agreed to
by not one, but apparently most or maybe even all of the dime mods in a lengthy discussion on the
subject, which began out of my banned posting. It caused quite a panic at first, but now this show
can start causing something alot more, um, desirable. I consider it a big day on dime, a few days
ago sharing my Jan. 22 1985 Ryles shows. There was already 1 Bass Desires show up on dime, the
only Bass Desires show I've ever heard without John Scofield in it, and not the whole concert.
Ultimately this change of banning came about upon them realizing that this band and album of same
name is Marc Johnson's project, not Bill Frisell or Scofield's which would have made them off limits
for posting anywhere. That is why I posted it initially, and though behind schedule, that's hardly
anything new for glasnostrd19 uploading, and this one is special for me, both because I feel I have
helped do something good for dime beyond just sharing a torrent that people like (which is also very
gratifying to me), and because I wouldn't go through all this and put the mods through it if I didn't
think people want and need to share their bass desires. This was going to be my 1st Bass Desires
post, but this recording does have some issues with speed and that's why I did the Ryles one first.
That one is a 1st gen. but it has no speed issues. Although this one has some variations in
speed and I cannot offer any assurance that this is not still offspeed, anyone who's heard the raw tape
copy knows it needed some help. Whether it got it from me or not, I'm not sure, but I think
this thing sounds alot better than the raw tape version. The worst of the speed variation problem is
in 1st set of Samurai Hee Haw, one of the best songs in the concert.
In this case I would invite anyone good with speed adjusting to try a remaster of this, because
otherwise it is a pretty nice recording and could be made into a very nice recording quality. It
is listenable (at least) as is, and it is my favorite Bass Desires concert. They were very warmly recieved
for this show in both sets
We like many kinds of desires here on the dime. I am happy to be able to share some of my most
"bassic" desires with you. I've tried to get the setlist complete for this triumphant moment for
Bass Desire appreciators, but there are a few missing titles. Not as bad as some of mine though.
Such is life posting shows not listed on etree, and in some cases, not heard anywhere else.
This one has seen some circulation, but I don't know if it ever got snatched before being banned
the 1st time, so this is essentially the world premiere post of my one and only, Bass Desires master
recording. thanks to those who have shared their bass desires shows with us.
I don't know if this was my 1st attempt to make a D-5 master tape of my own recording,
but it might be. The D-5 that (I think) made this recording had been used to make alot of recordings,
(before I got it), but I was able to make a few before it became unusable, and get a couple
that it made before it became mine. Most of this sounds nice and better than ever now after
some mike knock removal and reduction, only a few parts have the noticable (to my ears) speed problem,
(if Bass Desires ever had a "hit" song Samurai Hee haw would probably be it, also one of my favorites
of theirs). Someone with both technical knowhow and a good knowledge of this band could probably turn
this into a solid B+ recording throughout without alot of effort, since there are only a few sections
of noticable speed variation. D-5's are not prone to this problem, but I know it's not from the transfer,
this tape had some problems, but it is still quite enjoyable throughout even as is. (for me, anyway)
This was my 1st Bass Desires ROIO. I would later get about 4 or 5 more, but this is probably my
favorite concert of theirs. The frequency response is pretty good (needed for this band too)
and I think all but the very fussiest of Bass Desiring ears will find this concert and recording
of it pleasurable listening. The 1st set is complete, 2nd set 1 tape flip cut, otherwise also
complete. Since Bass Desires posting is new to dime, not to mention this recording being digitized
recently for the 1st time ever, this is a new recording to dime, and probably new to most of you.
I have traded it on tape a couple of times, but never in torrent form. This entire torrent comes
from my original master cassettes. I have barely played them, due to the mike knocks, and offspeed
problem but now you may be asking, if you heard the tape version of this and now this one, what
mike knocks? What remain of them are a mere shadow of what they were before. Jonathan Swift's is
not a very big place and I was about 20 feet (maybe slightly less) from the stage and almost in the
middle of everything so the balance of the band is good. I think Frisell was mostly on the left and
Scofield on the right side of mix. I attempted to fix the speed problem, and I'm sure it's not quite
as good as an expert speed-adjuster could get it, but I managed to get an almost unpostable quality
recording to sound alot more like Bass Desires are supposed to sound, the speed problem is not as
noticable now, not nearly as bad as to the poor fellows who may have heard my tape version. the
speed has to be REALLY off for it to be THAT noticable in one of these concerts, and it was REALLY
off. Now after an adjust to 103.5% of master speed, it sounds alot nicer, at least enough so I can
listen to my favorite Bass Desires concert without cringing! When it's that off it's tough to tell
how much is inconsistency and how much is just plain off speed problem, until I fix it, and fortunately
the variation is not real bad at all, only in a few parts, or this thing would be a mess. It is
noticable, unfortunately, but if you heard my Free Spirits March 1/96 Cambridge post, you get the idea.
That was recorded on different deck, but similar problem. More noticable on that one though than this one.
Just enough speed variation to notice it, but not enough to ruin it. (I don't have alot of tolerance
for offspeed recordings of anyone, which is why I made an attempt to fix the speed the best I could
before posting it. Just be advised in advance, it may very well still need speed adjusting.)
this one is for punkjazz and the rest of the rather large Bass Desires Appreciation Society. I knew it
was more than just a small niche, but it's bigger than I thought, so here's another glasnostrd19 1st:
The 1st offspeed Bass Desires recording posted on dime. Just in time for Dad's day.
Do not sell this recording.
Trade freely and losslessly.