I honestly don’t know why it took me so long to get around to transcribing this one properly. It’s long been one of my favourite Jamiroquai songs, and Nick Fyffe’s bass playing is fantastic here.
I always thought Nick is unfairly maligned as a Jamiroquai bassist – I’ve always been a fan of his understated playing. Well, I say “understated”, but this bassline is surprisingly difficult to get right. His use of ghost notes, 16th note syncopation and the frequent “pops”, combined with the upbeat disco tempo, make for an unrelenting sight-read! I think I got through it relatively unscathed after a few attempts!
I also had a go at matching his tone. I believe he would have been playing a Yamaha TRB5-PII, an absolute beast of an instrument. My Anaconda UJ5E is passive, but the nearer of the 2 bridge pickups when combined with the neck pickup creates a modern scooped sound. I think I got pretty close! The only thing I couldn’t quite match was the slide on the 1st string coming out of the breakdown chorus – not enough frets!
As always, the transcription is available to download below:
(NB: the tab is written for 5 string bass, but there are only a couple of occasions where the 5th string is used)
Isolated bass available on Patreon for Pentatonic Patrons and above.