“Do I Do” 287 Bars of Uncut Funk!

"Do I Do" Uncut Funk - Nathan Watts, Bass Player Magazine, June Issue 2010

In Other Words – Rickey Minor on Nate…

“Nate is synonymous with Stevie Wonder to the point where I don’t want to hear anyone else play bass with him, including myself! If Stevie is performing on a project I’m doing, I’d rather call in Nate and conduct. I’ve heard a lot of bassists play Stevie songs and try to emulate Nate’s nasty, greasy, fatback, down home Detroit feel, but it can’t be done. On bass or keyboard bass, Nate has Stevie’s spirit all through his veins. He’s also a great, no-ego guy with a huge level of respect for all the players before him and all the ones coming up.”

“As for ‘Do I Do,’ it’s an amazing, joyous song that features Dizzy Gillespie, but the core of it is Nate; what he plays is so right t and so grooving!  His bass is a little distorted and he digs in like crazy. He sounds almost like someone who’d been deprived of playing for years, and they finally grab a bass and just break loose. When he gets to the bridges and plays with such rhythmic and melodic sensibility and harmonic context, wow! Who does that but James Jamerson? And like Jamerson, he never plays anything the same way twice during the song,  he’s constantly developing the part. His mind is always so free when he plays. ‘Do I Do’ will go down as an all-time bass classic. If I ever need a little inspiration I just put that song on and I’m good.”

— Rickey Minor

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Read the full article here…  Enjoy!