ABSTRACT
Traditionally, the term 'jazz bassist' evoked visions of a string bass player in a big band or small group setting, performing the blues or songs from the Tin Pan Alley canon. Allan Chase, former chair at the New England Conservatory's Jazz department, offered his assessment of what constitutes 'jazz' in the modern context and, by implication, what it means to be a contemporary jazz bassist: 'Jazz to me is more of a process of music making or an orientation rather than a set of definite stylistic guidelines'. Clearly aesthetic preferences are currently being realigned in order to prioritize the human element of jazz performance on the bass. As the future unfolds, jazz bassists will be obliged to continually reassess their role in the jazz ensemble and find new ways to increase their viability or risk being marginalized by the very technologies that have contributed to their development.
